The Winless – Week 9

Everyone talks about the undefeated teams at the top of the rankings, what about the other side? It’s not easy going winless.

Five FBS teams remain winless. This week I’m going to look at the team offensive and defensive rankings to see if we can figure out what the problem is.

Rice (C-USA) (0-8)
This Week: Off
Best Chance: 11/14 @ Tulane (2-5)
According to Wikipedia, Rice is the 2nd smallest school in the FBS. (Tulsa is the smallest.)

Offense: Rushing (#111), Passing (#69), Total (#108), Turnovers (#113), Time of Possession (#87)
Defense: Rushing (#111), Passing (#109), Total (#116), Takeaways (#100)
I think I sense a problem. No defense gives the offense very little chance to climb the rankings. Although Time of Possession indicates they should be a little better. I need some sort of yards/minute stat.

Miami Ohio (MAC) (0-8)
This Week: Toledo (4-4)
Best Chance: 11/12 vs Bowling Green (3-5)

Offense: Rushing (#117), Passing (#36), Total (#103), Turnovers (#120), Time of Possession (#20)
Defense: Rushing (#95), Passing (#30), Total (#76), Takeaways (#117)
It’s very difficult to win if you give the ball away. 16 of their 26 turnovers are interceptions. Their passing game appears to move the ball down the field, only to have it eventually picked off. They also don’t take the ball away, -19 TO differential.

Eastern Michigan (MAC) (0-7)
This Week: @ Arkansas (3-4)
Best Chance: 11/27 @ Akron (1-7)

Offense: Rushing (#85), Passing (#115), Total (#119), Turnovers (#31), Time of Possession (#24)
Defense: Rushing (#120), Passing (#1), Total (#90), Takeaways (#71)
How many people would guess that EMU has the #1 passing defense? Of course, when you give up 275 yrds/game on the ground, who is going to even attempt a pass?

New Mexico (Mountain West) (0-7)
This Week: @ San Diego St (3-4)
Best Chance: This week.
New Mexico is in trouble. After this week they have Utah, BYU, Colorado St, and TCU.

Offense: Rushing (#109), Passing (#75), Total (#110), Turnovers (#92), Time of Possession (#118)
Defense: Rushing (#94), Passing (#105), Total (#109), Takeaways (#100)
Mediocre on both sides of the ball. At least it’s a team effort.

Western Kentucky (Sun Belt) (0-7)
This Week: @ North Texas (1-6)
Best Chance: This week.

Offense: Rushing (#97), Passing (#114), Total (#113), Turnovers (#107), Time of Possession (#99)
Defense: Rushing (#119), Passing (#94), Total (#120), Takeaways (#92)
Statistically the worst FBS team so far this year, by a little bit. Looking at Sagarin’s rankings, they are #178. There are only 120 teams in FBS. Not the worst though, Eastern Michigan is #181.