Need more forced-turnovers in 2006

[StatTiger 3,188]

With all the latest posts and comments about Coach Gibbs and our defense, we need more forced-turnovers than anything else in 2006. During the 1997 season, Oliver's defense gave up 344 yards per game but came through with 28 forced-turnovers. Though we gave up plenty of yards to our opponents, we forced turnovers in critical moments of some of our games. Turnovers kept us in the game against UT in the SECCG even though Tennessee had over 500-yards in total offense and we had under 300.

In 1994, our defense gave up over 300-yards per game but we forced 35 turnovers and had over 40 sacks during the season. We scored 42% of our points off of our opponent's turnovers in 1994. Of course it helps to have an offense that can cash in on the early Christmas gifts. We converted 35 FTO's into 149 pts in 1994 but scored only 58 pts off of 34 FTO's in 1998.

Over the past 14 seasons, here is the pct of our points resulting from forced-turnovers:

Pct- Year

42%- 1994

37%- 1992

35%- 1998

33%- 1993

32%- 2003

30%- 1996

29%- 2002

29%- 2001

28%- 1997

27%- 2000

20%- 1999

19%- 2004

18%- 1995

17%- 2005

Over the past 23 years here is the number of plays allowed before forcing a turnover:

Avg- Year

19.3- 1987

20.1- 1988

20.9- 1996

20.9- 1986

21.0- 1998

21.9- 1994

25.9- 2002

26.7- 1999

26.8- 1992

28.0- 1993

28.7- 1991

29.1- 1983

29.5- 1997

29.9- 1989

30.3- 2001

31.2- 2004

32.1- 2000

33.0- 1985

34.8- 2003

35.4- 1990

35.8- 1984

38.5- 1995

50.4- 2005

Over the years we have seen how turnovers can change the outcome of a game even if our defense is being torched in terms of yards allowed. The 1993 UF game was a prime example. The Gators were dominating our defense going in for another TD to go up 17-0 but Calvin Jackson takes a pick back for a TD and suddenly it's a 10-7 ball game. The following year, we scored 19 pts off of 6 UF turnovers to pull the upset again. How about the 1994 LSU game? We dropped 3 easy picks against the Bulldogs this year, which could have ended the game much earlier. Yardage gained means nothing if it doesn't translate into points. In 2001, Arkansas defeated us 42-17 despite the fact that we outgained the Hogs 492 to 297 in yards. We gave up 14 pts on 3 turnovers, while eliminating 3 possible scoring drives of our own.

Giving up a lot of yards late in the 2005 season could have been saved with a few more forced-turnovers. IMO, you have to be able to either limit their yards gained or to force a high number of turnovers to have a successful defense. In 1988, we accomplished both and it might have been one of the greatest defenses in school history. Late in the 2005 season, we were unable to do both.