There has been lots of talk about how the fast-paced Phil Longo offense will mean a reduced TOP advantage, which will mean the defense may be great but stats will be worse because they will be on the field longer and see more plays themselves. Being a curious sort, I looked at some stats from the last few years to gauge whether that would shed any light. Not enough statistical knowledge to create the analytical tool, so here are some numbers.
2022 Stats (Rank) - Opp Plays - 66.4 (#19), Opp TOP - 28.3 min (#32), Pts Allowed - 21.9 (#24), Opp Pts/Play - .330 (#31). Opp Yds/Play - 4.6 (#11)
All were worse than the previous three years, where the Badgers were largely Top 10 on all of these metrics but pts/play, where they were ranked #9, #14, and #12 going back three years.
Opp TOP going backwards from last year - 28.3, 26.1, 23.4, 24.2, with both 2020 and 2019 being ranked #1.
So yeah, conventional wisdom is likely right.
Unless we're the 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes, who saw 71 plays per game (#70), were ranked #111 in Opp TOP but finished 3rd in Scoring Defense, and 1st in both Points/Play and Yards/Play.
Saturday can't come soon enough.
2022 Stats (Rank) - Opp Plays - 66.4 (#19), Opp TOP - 28.3 min (#32), Pts Allowed - 21.9 (#24), Opp Pts/Play - .330 (#31). Opp Yds/Play - 4.6 (#11)
All were worse than the previous three years, where the Badgers were largely Top 10 on all of these metrics but pts/play, where they were ranked #9, #14, and #12 going back three years.
Opp TOP going backwards from last year - 28.3, 26.1, 23.4, 24.2, with both 2020 and 2019 being ranked #1.
So yeah, conventional wisdom is likely right.
Unless we're the 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes, who saw 71 plays per game (#70), were ranked #111 in Opp TOP but finished 3rd in Scoring Defense, and 1st in both Points/Play and Yards/Play.
Saturday can't come soon enough.
