Yesterday, it was North Offenses.  Today, North Defenses.

Defensive Lines

1. Nebraska (DT Ndamukong Suh, DE Pierre Allen)
2. Kansas (DE Jake Laptad, DT Richard Johnson, DT Caleb Blakesley)
3. Missouri (DT Jaron Baston, DE Brian Coulter, DE Jacquies Smith)
4. Kansas State (DE Brandon Harold, DT Daniel Calvin)
5. Iowa State (DE Rashawn Parker, DT Nate Frere)
6. Colorado (DE Jason Brace, ?)

That's right, Ndamukong Suh still has eligibility left--feels like he's been having an up-and-down season for Nebraska since about 2003--and he and Pierre Allen should make a pretty solid DL for the Huskers.  KU returns a decent amount, and while their unit will be far from spectacular, it will be steady and reliable.  Missouri has a lot of potential at DE with Coulter and Smith, but they still have to replace a lot of career starts.

Linebackers

1. Missouri (Sean Weatherspoon--for now, Luke Lambert)
2. Nebraska (Phil Dillard, Blake Lawrence)
   
3. Colorado (Jeff Smart, Shaun Mohler)
4. Iowa State (Jesse Smith, Fred Garrin, Cameron Bell)
5. Kansas State (Olu Hall, Ulla Pomele)
6. Kansas (?)

I think Sean Weatherspoon will return, but I could be wrong.  If he doesn't...well, MU probably doesn't fall very far because NOBODY will have tremendous LBs in 2009.  Jeff Smart is solid, but that's really all CU has.  Smith and Garrin have had their moments at ISU, but...yeah, they're still only average.  NU returns Phil Dillard and some youngsters with potential, and if 'Spoon is in the NFL in 2009, that should give NU the best unit.

Defensive Backs

1. Kansas State (CB Joshua Moore, CB Blair Irvin, S Courtney Herndon)
2. Iowa State (CB Leonard Johnson, S James Smith)
3. Nebraska (S Rickey Thenarse, S Larry Asante)
4. Kansas (CB/S Chris Harris, S Darrell Stuckey, CB Daymond Patterson)
5. Missouri (CB Carl Gettis, S Kenji Jackson)
6. Colorado (CB Cha'pelle Brown, ?)

Oy.  If there's one reason why North offenses should still be pretty successful in 2009, it's because nobody in the North returns a quality secondary.  I'm probably underrating the Missouri secondary here--Iowa State game aside, Castine Bridges hasn't been anything special in '08, and there won't be a huge dropoff to Kevin Rutland or one of the RSFrs.  Meanwhile, Missouri fans are loving them some Kenji Jackson.  But only Carl Gettis will be proven.

Also, I might be overrating Iowa State, but I love me some Leonard Johnson.

North Defenses, 2009

1. Nebraska (15)
2. Missouri (12)
3. Kansas State (11)
4. Iowa State (10)
5. Kansas (9)
6. Colorado (6)

As with the offenses, each North defense will have its strengths and weaknesses...but not a lot of strengths.  Nebraska scores the best, and they're returning only about six starters.  Missouri loses William Moore and most of its D-line, and they still might have the best North defense.  Iowa State's D was brutal in '08, and they actually score pretty well here.  Big-time tossup.  A lot will come down to matchups and schedules...so after we look at special teams, we'll look at that.

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You don't have to go too far "beyond the box score" to realize that ISU was a gritty...and bad...team last year.  But even so, onward we travel!

EqPts Scores

Iowa State 17.0, Kent State 18.9 (14-23)
Iowa State 21.6, Northern Iowa (FCS Tier 1) 25.1 (13-24)
Iowa State 6.6, Iowa 8.5 (15-13)
Iowa State 28.6, Toledo 24.3 (35-36)
Iowa State 18.6, Nebraska 24.1 (17-35)
Iowa State 9.4, Texas Tech 34.1 (17-42)
Iowa State 6.8, Texas 46.5 (3-56)
Iowa State 6.4, Oklahoma 22.0 (3-17)
Iowa State 24.9, Missouri 29.5 (28-42)
Iowa State 17.5, Kansas State 21.5 (31-20)
Iowa State 21.9, Colorado 23.3 (31-28)
Iowa State 7.8, Kansas 41.8 (7-45)

If you judge a coach by how his team maximizes its performance, I think you'd have to say Gene Chizik did a strong job in squeezing three wins out of this team.  They won three games they should have lost (Iowa, K-State, Colorado), while losing only one they should have won (Toledo).  From an EqPts perspective, they only outscored one team all season.  That's bad.  So while Chizik did a nice job in steering ISU to 3-9...the lack of talent on display had to be pretty alarming for ISU fans.  A lot of coaches struggle in their first year with somebody else's personnel, though, so surely there are some bright spots somewhere, right?

Stat Onslaught

Iowa State Offense (success rate / points per play / S&P)

Rushing: 34.5% / 0.21 / 0.560 (National Avg: 0.762)
Passing: 38.2% / 0.20 / 0.585 (Nat'l Avg: 0.697)
TOTAL: 36.3% / 0.21 / 0.572 (Nat'l Avg: 0.730)

Rushing (close): 32.0% / 0.17 / 0.487 (Nat'l Avg: 0.751)
Passing (close): 39.8% / 0.22 / 0.615 (Nat'l Avg: 0.701)
TOTAL (close): 35.8% / 0.19 / 0.549 (Nat'l Avg: 0.726)

Non-Passing Downs: 42.5% / 0.28 / 0.704 (Nat'l Avg: 0.845)
Passing Downs: 25.5% / 0.09 / 0.342 (Nat'l Avg: 0.483)

Redzone: 41.2% / 0.26 / 0.672 (Nat'l Avg: 0.866)

Q1: 42.3% / 0.18 / 0.601 (Nat'l Avg: 0.709)
Q2: 34.6% / 0.21 / 0.558 (Nat'l Avg: 0.759)
Q3: 32.1% / 0.21 / 0.534 (Nat'l Avg: 0.717)
Q4: 36.3% / 0.23 / 0.593 (Nat'l Avg: 0.734)

1st Down: 36.4% / 0.22 / 0.584 (Nat'l Avg: 0.766)
2nd Down: 30.6% / 0.14 / 0.450 (Nat'l Avg: 0.730)
3rd Down: 41.9% / 0.15 / 0.570 (Nat'l Avg: 0.730)

Pressure (Q4, within two possessions): 25.9% / 0.14 / 0.401

Line Yards: 2.42 per carry (Nat'l Avg: 2.89)
Line Yards (close): 2.48 per carry
Line Yards by Quarter: 2.78 (Q1), 2.57 (Q2), 2.53 (Q3), 1.77 (Q4)

Usually you see that even bad offenses were good at something...well...that doesn't appear to be the case.  As I've said before, Alexander Robinson looked good against Mizzou, and his progress over the course of November had to be a bit encouraging, but as far as team stats go, there was just not much encouraging here at all.

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