The Bronco passing game had it going on against LaTech's secondary. But just how good were they? Boise State missed a lot of tackles on Tuesday night. But did anyone bother counting all of them? (Yes. I did.)
Get a look at some stats you won't see anywhere else in this week's LaTech edition of BIFFF. Missed tackles, Ross Jenkins pressure, field position, and more are after the jump. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
The Bronco Institute of Football Facts and Figures (BIFFF) seeks to add context and numbers to Boise State statistics. Some of it is math, much of it is game charting, and the rest is pie charts.
The BIFFF Box Score
| Statistics |  |  |
Explanations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Score | 20 | 49 | |
| Swing Points | 0 | 7 | Points on defense, special teams or drives < 25 yds |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 | |
| Total Yards | 394 | 468 | |
| Net Yards | 349 | 447 | Yards on offense minus penalties |
| Wasted Yards | 218 | 51 |
Yards on non-scoring drives (including penalties) |
| Yds on Scoring Drives | 189 | 434 | Yards on scoring drives (including penalties) |
| Passing Yards | 222 | 305 | |
| Completions | 24 | 21 | |
| Attempts | 40 | 29 |
|
| Yds per Attempt | 5.6 | 10.5 | |
| Rushing Yards | 172 | 163 | |
| Attempts | 49 |
36 | |
| Average | 3.5 | 4.5 |
|
| Penalty Yards | 45 | 21 | |
| Penalties | 5 | 3 |
|
| Average | 9.0 | 7.0 | |
| Plays | 89 | 65 | |
| Yds per Play | 4.4 | 7.2 | |
| Run:Pass Ratio | 44:45 | 36:29 | |
| Negative Plays | 8 | 5 | Plays that gained negative yardage |
| Third Down Conversion Pct | 33% | 40% | |
| Conversions | 6 | 4 | |
| Attempts | 18 | 10 | |
| Avg Yards to go | 6.4 | 5.7 | |
| Avg Field Position | LT34 | BSU 37 | Average starting field position |
Notable:
- Boise State's swing points came from Titus Young's first quarter kickoff return to the Louisiana Tech 17-yard-line. The Broncos scored four plays later on a pass to Austin Pettis. On a semi-related note, did anyone else notice the Ian Johnson homage by Titus Young as he ran down the field with his hand on the back of a blocker? Classic IJ.
- The Broncos' wasted yards total is one of their lowest all season, but it gets even better. They wasted 51 yards on non-scoring drives. The breakdown went like this: 60 yards wasted on the opening drive that ended with the missed field goal and minus-9 yards the rest of the game for drives that didn't end in points.
- The Broncos put LaTech in six different 2nd and more-than-10 situations. Louisiana Tech converted 1st downs on the next play three times and a fourth time picked up all but one of the needed yards.
- The official play-by-play credited Tyrone Crawford with a forced fumble on the third quarter strip of Myke Compton. But watching the replay, it looked like the FF might have belonged to Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe who was the second man on the tackle and the one nearest the ball when it came out.
- For that matter, the play-by-play failed to credit Winston Venable with a forced fumble on that fly-by he did of a LaTech wide receiver screen.
The five most interesting stats from Boise State versus Louisiana Tech
Boise State missed 30 tackles
Yes, you read that right.
Breakdown by player: Jeron Johnson (5), George Iloka (4), J.C. Percy (3), Billy Winn (3), Chase Baker (2), Ryan Winterswyk (2), Byron Hout (2), Daron Mackey (2), Winston Venable (1), Brandyn Thompson (1), Derrell Acrey (1), Hunter White (1), Jamar Taylor (1), Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe (1), Jason Robinson (1).
Boise State's defensive line got plenty of pressure on Ross Jenkins
A man sitting next to me at the game lamented, around the third quarter, that Boise State had been getting zero pressure on Ross Jenkins all night. Ha! Little did he know that an OCD Bronco blogger with an obsession for Microsoft Excel was dropping eaves. You, sir, have been BIFFFed!
- Quarterback hits: Six (Ryan Winterswyk, Chase Baker, Hunter White, Tyrone Crawford, Winston Venable, Jarrell Root)
- Quarterback hurries: Twelve (Billy Winn (5), Chase Baker, Jerrell Gavins, J.P. Nisby, Ryan Winterswyk, J.C. Percy, Tyrone Crawford)
It should be noted that of the team's 12 hurries, four of them included missed tackles and three of the missed tackles were by Billy Winn.
Charting note: QB hits are when a defender knocks a quarterback to the ground. QB hurries are when a quarterback is forced to throw early or move in the pocket.
LaTech ran 89 plays because LaTech only gained 4.4 yards per play
The Idaho Statesman would have you believe that Louisiana Tech ran 89 plays because of their up-tempo offense, but this could not be more wrong on a basic football level. Per the Statesman:
The Bulldogs amassed 394 yards against the nation’s No. 1 defense — but they also ran 89 plays, 24 more than the Broncos, because of their up-tempo attack.
False. You do not run more plays because you snap the ball faster. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the total plays statistic. Let me explain.
The Bulldogs ran 24 more plays than the Broncos because LaTech took forever to move down the field. Boise State averaged 7.2 yards per play and moved the ball in chunks. Louisiana Tech averaged 4.4 yards per play, ran seven fourth down plays, held the ball for the first seven minutes of the third quarter, won time of possession, had worse starting field position (and therefore farther to go), and had one more possession than the Broncos. Those are the reasons why they ran 24 more plays.
Up-tempo offense does create more possessions over the course of the game. If anything, it creates more possessions for both teams, not just for the team running the up-tempo offense.
Louisiana Tech ran 57 percent of its plays in Boise State territory
This stat is also known as Field Position Percentage, and the standards for this are 40 percent being very good and anything over 50 percent being great.
Also great? Boise State stopping the Bulldogs on three separate fourth downs inside the 20 yard line. Field Position % does not account for that.
Boise State was hugely successful passing on 1st and 2nd downs
The Broncos had successful plays on 15 of 22 passes on 1st and 2nd down. That will definitely help set you up with 3rd and manageable, which the Broncos had often on Tuesday night. They weren't too shabby passing on 3rd down, either. Boise State was 3-for-6 with passing success on 3rd.
Your turn
What do you think of these stats? Did you make it through that table alive? Even more impressed at the domination of Boise State's defense? Share your thoughts in the comments.