We are 4th in the nation in penalty yards

Yet I do t think that was a strength

 

It’s okay, you’re not to bad for a stinking dog

 

The vast majority of championship level teams commit a significant number of penalties. Why? Because great teams play a high intensity game. These teams are full of guys biting at the bit on both offense and defense.

 

Score more points than the opposing team.

 

Yes, but those penalties weren't the stupid kind. Like a dozen false starts in a game at the worst possible time. Or cheap 15 yd penalties on defense extending drives. Meyer's teams had penalties but they were aggressive like PIs or offsides. But usually they didn't hit at crucial times like we have seen over the past 10 years. I don't recall any shoe incidents with SoS or Meyer's teams.

 

This may not be the board to get totally geeked out but this analysis is only surface level.

For example the highest yardage offenses have a positive correlation to highest penalized offenses. Which is correlated to the number of plays an offense runs. But the total number of plays an offense runs is negatively correlated to the number of plays a defense runs. Yet the more yards a defense gives up the more penalties it commits.

Point being simply looking at penalty yardage is not sufficient to determining if it is a meaningful effect. You'd have to isolate the penalty effect by taking into account those other factors.

For example our offense has is near the bottom of plays run. So naturally our offense commits less penalties per game. But what about per play? But yet we are 5th in yards per play? All of these things need to be accounted for.

I'm not going to dive into the data but I'd be beyond shocked if penalties didn't have an influence on game outcomes once you controlled for the other variables.

 

Due, ENTIRELY, to the much needed discipline brought on by Coach Billy.

As the talent base here inevitably gets a lot better, it'll be much harder to keep everyone in check. It's human nature on both ends. But, it's doable. You don't see anyone actin' the fool on Saban's team.

 

I agree there's other factors at play here, but unfortunately I don't think they are ones you mentioned. If there was a correlation between defense giving up more yards and committing more penalties, then we should see a correlation between penalties and wins. Good defenses are aggressive which is more likely to create penalties but also more importantly turnovers and negative plays for the opposing offense. Really bad defenses can't cover receivers well enough to commit penalties, or are more likely to have their penalties declined because they give up plays more often. Those things are hidden in the data, but also helps illustrate why cutting down on penalties can often not translate to more wins.

If normalizing for pace of play would lead to a correlation, then I'd expect to see a strong correlation in the NFL where teams mostly all play at similar paces. But the correlation doesn't exist there either:

Numbers Game: Correlating NFL stats with wins - WIBW News Now
Penalties Don't Matter Much - Team Speed Kills
Are Penalties Overrated?

Those articles span from 2003 to 2019, so it holds up over time.

 

I would say that fsu would probably prove to be a great example of a team that loses games on a regular basis due to undisciplined play and penalties over the last decade. They've played like someone asked them to go to class or something... they're anywhere but where they're supposed to be and off doing the wrong things somewhere else instead.

 

There is a decently positive correlation with yards and penalties. Both offensive yards and offensive penalties as well as defensive yards and penalties. It’s actually simple and it comes down to plays. More plays = more penalties

 

I like that we do not have a lot of false starts and offside. Penalties from playing hard will happen, just eliminate the stupid ones.

 

It's been impressive and is a sign of better things to come. When all 11 guys are doing what they are supposed to do we look good.