What is wrong with Second half performances

[CajunRed]

I saw a offense that was outclassed the entire game. It was a jail break from play one. We caught them on a couple of blitzes early, but overall we were just beat, not outcoached. igeaux.mobi

That's what I saw too.
igeaux.mobi

[Turbine]

_ Turbine...with all due respect, I think your middle statement is just plain wrong.

igeaux.mobi _

The weakness (wrongness) in my statement is not in the talent being out there, it is in our ability to search/identify/sign it.

Only 1.4 percent of high school football players in a given year earn a scholarship at a Division I university.

I am going to use the star system since it is easily identifiable. The aq-BCS schools sign almost all the 5,4,3 star athletes, leaving what the charts often say is UL getting the 2 stars.

Well if the aq-BCS schools chew up the top tier athletes, then the pool of 2 star athletes is HUGE. I would go so far as to say a large portion of 2 star athletes never sign a scholarship.

I am saying there are enough 2 star athletes to fill your roster top to bottom and have no talent drop off between first string and 4th string. The only variable should be experience.

Recommendation: Football coaches should stop looking for the finished product and start signing pure athletes like wrestlers and soccer players. In those two sports, the number of D1 scholarships offered in a given year is even less than football, somewhere around 1/2 a percent.

There is a large untapped pool of great athletes out there; enough to where there should be zero talent drop off from 1st to 4th string.

jmo

[BabbForHeisman]

I decided to put a few numbers behind the "we don't play well in the second half" statement.

Looking at our +/- (PF-PA) in the first half of all games this season, we are at -30. Looking at the second half, it drops to -125! That means that this season, we are 95 points WORSE in the second half than the first.

So how does that compare? Well, for starters, ULM is actually 48 points BETTER in the second half than the first. That probably explains why they are in contention for a bowl and we aren't.

Of course, numbers can be deceiving. Looking at the top of the standings, Troy is actually 72 points WORSE in the second half. Wouldn't have guessed that. I guess they just start out really really strong and hold on at the end.

Then look at the bottom of the standings. North Texas is 75 point BETTER in the second half. Go figure.

Bottom line: does it need to be addressed? Of course.