(08-19-2017 01:59 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote: (08-18-2017 08:55 PM)sdcritter Wrote: (08-18-2017 08:37 PM)eaglewraith Wrote: So once again, what are we actually measuring here?
I'd tell you but I'm pretty sure the moderators would delete it. Just another silly thread. Both are great coaches and will move to the next level soon.
That was the entire point of the thread. If I wanted it to be a measuring contest I would have included a lot more trash talk. I genuinely would like to know more about Anderson's history before he came to Arkansas State. Satterfield as well for that matter. I'm curious because when he beat Michigan, his offense was much more of an up tempo spread offense. His current offenses get the job done for sure, they are no slouch at all, but they certainly looked different when Armanti Edwards was the quarterback. These are curious questions, not veiled attempts at "you guys suck, all hail Troy".
It would be nice if you guys wouldn't crap on people who are trying to learn the game and the ins and outs the programs that make up our conference.
As for the "best defense in the conference" comment, no one ever dogged the other defenses and in fact, most gave a great deal of respect to APPs and ARKSTs defenses. Troy had a legit claim to that title at the time, at least statistically, so it wasn't like Troy was giving up 40 ppg and trying to claim such a thing. Here's the deal: whenever APP, TROY, and sometimes Arkansas State fans say something good about their programs, someones there to take a dump all over it. Saying good things about your team does not equate to talking smack about all other teams, so lets drop the false equivalencies and stop acting like this is a zero sum game.
If you have a problem with multiple fans who have pride in their program and it makes you uncomfortable, the problem is with you, not the person or people enjoying their program's success.
This is ultimately not about the two posters quoted. It's more a general statement about the sometimes toxic nature of this board. See APP's recent thread on their Michigan win for an example.
Fans being proud of their program doesn't make me uncomfortable. Far from it. You should be proud of your team. If you aren't then there's a problem. I also tried to be a voice of reason in that App thread, especially when it was our fans causing all the drama.
I think discussing offensive performance is an interesting topic. However it seems like people use stats/measures that don't really tell the whole picture. Like I said with the PPG comment, you were using it to say Anderson's offense was amazing, when in fact it was their defense that boosted them to that high of a number coupled with their offense because 2 other teams in the conference matched their scoring output over the entire season. Their offense was good, just not as good as the numbers seemed to indicate.
And no I didn't say that you were inaccurate in your statements about Troy at the time, but there were several qualifiers about what was actually being referred to when that statement was made.
That's why I asked what you want to base the conversation on. YPG is a terrible stat because it doesn't take into account pace of play. 500 yards on 60 plays is MUCH different than 500 yards on 90 plays. That's why Yards Per Play is a much more accurate stat, because it can isolate offense/defense and takes into account negative plays. PPG is all inclusive, and is a good general comparison stat, but by its nature can't be used for offensive comparison. Average points scored per opportunity shows how well teams are finishing their drives and scoring once they get inside the opponent's 40 (for the record, in 2015 - App: 5.55, stAte: 5.25, Troy: 5.00, GS: 4.99). Some points aren't accounted for if they happen outside the 40, but if you're scoring nothing but 41+ yard touchdowns, then you're going to be up around 10 YPP for the game anyway and that's an insane offensive performance all by itself.
Based on what I've seen looking back, since us and App have entered the conference, the best offense each year has been 2014: Georgia Southern, 2015: Georgia Southern (although you could argue App), 2016: App (NOTE: this is entire season, not just in-conference because I don't like excluding an entire third of everyone's season for these conversations).
stAte and Georgia Southern both have a tremendous amount of work to do to improve production on their offenses (GS has the most questions ahead of them though). Troy needs to improve a lot in certain situations. Troy was hot garbage in passing downs, like 120th in the country bad. The run game also needs to improve a good bit...if Troy couldn't succeed on standard downs, they tended to fall apart when they were forced into a passing situation. App is a very efficient team, but not very explosive, mainly due to their lack of a downfield passing threat (much like us in 2015). If they improve that, coupled with their defense they are going to be extremely hard to beat.
App is going to do what they're going to do, although I have no idea why they haven't tried to mold the offense back similar to 2007. That one still confuses me. stAte has a lot of retooling to do on offense if they're going to try and be mini-Baylor. Baylor had a power run game hidden behind some gaudy passing numbers. The problem is that stAte isn't built to be physical up front like Baylor was/is. It'll be interesting to see if the approach works. Troy has looked, up to this point, like an Air Raid team with an inconsistent/inefficient run game and no reliable vertical passing game. They rely on the quick hitters and lateral dink and dunk. If those options are covered though, the offense is disrupted.
The offense that I think people are sleeping on though is Idaho. They did well last year, not top of the conference good, but enough to put them close enough to see what happens this year. I think they have a chance to make some noise on their way out.
As to the title of this thread. Neal Brown's offense has been fairly consistent the last 2 years, improving some last year. Anderson's offense was better than Troy's in 2015, but dropped of dramatically last year. So by that simple eye test, right now it would have to go to Brown. That said, right now, neither have the top offense in the conference.
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DISCUSSION: Neal Brown vs Blake Anderson
DISCUSSION: Neal Brown vs Blake Anderson 
