Letter from the Editor

by: Rex Lardner
© More from this issue

          
Are Penalties Really a Negative?

Last July, American Football Monthly featured an article entitled, “10 Impact Stats to Build a Championship Team.” Statistical categories were examined among the top ten teams in NCAA Division I-A football over the last five years and matched with where they finished over that period. A total of 20 different statistics were included in an effort to determine which were the more meaningful stats that translate to success.

Two adages were a result of the survey: statistics don’t lie and defense wins championships. Of the stats compiled, defense dominated five of the top six categories with ‘Scoring Defense’ leading the field. The rest of the top five included Rushing Defense, Scoring Offense, Total Defense, and Pass Efficiency Defense.

Surprisingly, Rushing Offense finished 15th on the list. The least impactful statistics included Fumbles Recovered, Kickoff Returns, and Fumbles Lost. After talking to many coaches about statistics and their meaning, the one stat many felt should be added to the NCAA inventory of statistics is Time of Possession. Many coaches feel it’s the most important statistic of all and, in essence, determines success and failure when computed over the course of a season.

One of the more recent statistics the NCAA has added to their weekly listing is ‘Fewest Penalties Per Game.’ The correlation of fewer penalties translating to success isn’t necessarily true when computing the leaders among last fall’s D I-A schools:

Least Penalties Per Game	Most Penalties Per Game
1. Michigan (7-5)	117. Ark State (6-6)
2. Vanderbilt (5-6)	116. Arizona State (7-5)
3. Navy (8-4)	115. Colorado (7-6)
4. Iowa (7-5)	114. Texas Tech (9-3)
5. Kentucky (3-8)	113. Oregon State (5-6)
6. Clemson (8-4)	112. South Florida (6-6)
7. Penn State (11-1)	111. Florida State (8-5)
8. Rice (1-10)	110. TCU (11-1)

Interestingly, the overall records of the eight most penalized teams (59-38) are higher than the composite of the least penalized teams (50-43). This may correspond to defensive aggressiveness or an over-anxious offense. But one coach put it succinctly: “We want our players – both of offense and defense – to always be aggressive. There are certain penalties that are tolerable because of aggression. But it’s the penalties that result of a mental breakdown – not focusing or acting after the whistle has blown – that drive a coach crazy.” Isn’t that the truth no matter what level of the game.

We hope you enjoy this month’s issue of AFM.

Respectfully,
Rex Lardner
Managing Editor
American Football Monthly
American Basketball Quarterly
rlardner@lcclark.com
561-355-5068

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