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10 Impact Stats to Build a Championship team • #9 - Turnovers Gained

Turnovers Gained: Giveaways/Takeaways
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Turnovers Gained, the statistic that ranks No. 9 in the overall listing of “10 Stats to Build a Championship Team” correlates to the success of teams at all levels of competition. USC led all Division I-A schools with 38 Turnovers Gained and, in the process, won their second consecutive National Championship.

Hampton was the Division I-AA leader with 43 Turnovers Gained and they finished last fall with a 10-2 mark.The colleges with the most interceptions in Division II and Division III were Edinboro and Carthage, respectively. Edinboro had an incredible 42 total Turnovers Gained (fumbles and interceptions) and led all D II colleges in that category.

Among NAIA schools, Central Methodist University had the most interceptions last fall with 33 and Hastings College followed with 25. Junior College national champion Pearl River Community College led all Juco’s with 30 team interceptions. “Interceptions completely change the game around,” said Hastings’ Defensive Coordinator Ian Nokes. “It really becomes a pride factor for our defense and the more you create turnovers, the less time your defense is on the field.”

Norm Parker, pictured above, Iowa’s Defensive Coordinator, agrees. “We finished second in the nation in Turnovers Gained among D I-A colleges (32) and you don’t realize how many yards are affected by turnovers. But we practice not to over commit in creating a turnover and give up a big play; rather, we let the game come to us.”

Practicing the art of creating turnovers is also becoming a specialized part of practice at all levels. Gary Rankin, head coach of Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, TN, emphasizes their importance in every practice. “I stress the importance of both creating turnovers and ball security at every practice. Both are extremely important.”

Rankin’s record at Riverdale echoes his philosophy. Last fall his Warriors had their ninth trip to the Tennessee 5A state title game since 1993. They won their fourth state championship and had a perfect 15-0 record which was their third undefeated season.

“Our motto is when we cross the sidelines at practice ‘no balls hit the ground.’ By that I mean we emphasize special teams play by having coaches stationed with punters and place-kickers and both kicking and receiving teams. We have players ready to catch the ball on all specialty situations and we don’t want any footballs dropped. We place importance on this every day in practice.

“If there’s a fumble or interception in a practice or scrimmage situation, every one with a football helmet on has to do five push-ups or ups and downs. We give the turnover/ball security part of the game so much importance that the players realize the role turnovers – whether caused or created – play in each game. We work on it every day.”

Hastings College has drills designed to create fumbles and interceptions. “Whether it be a tackling or tip drill, we focus daily on the importance of turnovers” says Nokes. Parker and the Hawkeyes have the same emphasis: “We have different kinds of fumble drills in practice and talk about the value of turnovers in making or breaking a game. We try not to be blanked (with no turnovers) in a game but don’t call specific plays to cause a turnover.”

The importance of turnovers at every level cannot be over-emphasized. “It really has a huge impact at any level of football,” says Rankin. “More often than not, turnovers are a deciding factor in a game. Our philosophy is to make sure we don’t beat ourselves and do everything we can to protect the ball but play aggressively to cause turnovers. We had a team one year that didn’t commit a turnover until our 8th game of the year.”

Enough said.

Next month AFM continues its 10-part series by breaking down each of the top 10 statistical categories in building a championship team. October’s subject: Total Offense. The original article on “10 Impact Stats to Build a Championship Team” appeared in the July issue of AFM.





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