I'll update these numbers after the Orange Bowl for the final tally, but I was honestly surprised at how much we improved almost across the board on offense year-on-year. Of course, we bottomed out pretty badly on offense in 2021, but our offense was still so choppy this season that it didn't feel at times like we had made significant strides.
Conversely, I don't think a lot of people realized just how good our defense was in 2021. It's insane that they finished #2 in scoring defense while carrying that terrible offense on their collective back. I will admit that I thought we'd have less of a decline on defense, especially with the offensive improvement. I think the defensive decline can be attributed to a number of factors:
Conversely, I don't think a lot of people realized just how good our defense was in 2021. It's insane that they finished #2 in scoring defense while carrying that terrible offense on their collective back. I will admit that I thought we'd have less of a decline on defense, especially with the offensive improvement. I think the defensive decline can be attributed to a number of factors:
- DL never felt 100% healthy/complete and underachieved (although they still led the nation in QB pressure rate and had good TFL/sacks numbers)
- LB corp gained athleticism but lost a ton of leadership in Skalski/Spector. Not sure anyone filled the leadership void of Skalski in particular.
- DBs struggled early in the year to replace the departed starters. Booth was a monster, and Goodrich should have returned for a strong final season instead of going undrafted. Nolan Turner's steadying influence was missed, and guys like Mukuba/Greene and others couldn't stay healthy.
- Obviously hard to account for losing this era's greatest DC in Venables, both in terms of strategy and fire-breathing leadership.
