The Sports Arsenal

Advanced stats from an enjoyable afternoon at Johnson Hagood Stadium:

Housekeeping regarding the above:

• The Citadel’s final possession of the second half and Samford’s final possession of the first half (both one-play kneel-downs) are not included in any of the categories, except for time of possession and TOP/offensive play.
• It should be noted that absent Samford’s final drive of the game, when The Citadel appeared to be playing a very loose variation of “prevent defense”, SU would have averaged an offensive success rate of 42.6%, a yards/play rate of 4.10, and a first down yards/play rate of 5.0 (just to list three category examples).

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Random observations:

– The quickest way to explain The Citadel’s overall dominance on Saturday is probably field position. Samford started just one drive beyond its own 30-yard line, and had five drives start at its own 20 or further back (two inside the 10-yard line). Conversely, The Citadel had five drives start in SU territory.

The Citadel’s four touchdown drives all started on Samford’s side of the field. The average starting field position for the Cadets on those TD marches was the SU 33 (technically the 32.5 yard line).

Samford punted four times during the game. Two of those punts came with the line of scrimmage at SU’s 3-yard line and 1-yard line. The Citadel’s defense did a great job of maintaining a field position edge in those situations (both of those possessions were three-and-outs).

The Citadel also intercepted two passes (on the first Samford offensive play of each half), both of which resulted in great field position for the home team.

– The other factor in the tilting of the field, of course, was The Citadel’s punt unit. James Platte had an incredible day booting the ball, with a net punting average of 50.0 on five punts. Samford’s average field position following those punts was its own 14.8 yard line.

For the afternoon, The Citadel’s advantage in net punting was 18.75 yards, an enormous edge.

I cannot remember a more memorable punting exhibition by a Bulldog at Johnson Hagood Stadium. Platte’s booming kicks drew audible ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the admiring crowd, as the punts were aesthetically pleasing as well as effective — tight spirals launched into the Charleston sky.

– It was not an easy day for two of the three placekickers who saw action. Samford was 1 for 2 on field goal tries, missing a 21-yarder early in the 4th quarter that would have brought SU within one score.

Meanwhile, The Citadel missed all three of its field goal attempts. I suspect that Maurice Drayton would take responsibility for the misfire on the first try, though, a 52-yarder that came after the coach intentionally took a delay-of-game penalty in an effort to draw Samford offside. It wasn’t a great idea, and looked worse when the kick fell short by about two yards.

– I mentioned three placekickers, though. Who was the third placekicker, you ask?

Well, he was a bagpiper named Richard…

The regimental band performed at halftime, putting on a nice show. One of the bagpipers was then chosen to be the contestant for the fan placekicking contest that usually takes place at the end of the third quarter.

Richard stepped up to the challenge. Was he wearing a kilt and a pouch as he kicked? Of course. He also wore the white boot that is part of The Citadel’s traditional bagpiper uniform on his left foot, and what appeared to be a cleat on his right (which he used to kick).

A breeze was beginning to swirl inside the stadium, which might explain why his first kick ricocheted off the left post. However, he had two tries from the initial distance to convert the field goal, and his second effort sailed through the uprights.

That led to the big moment, a 30-yard one-time attempt to win free pizza for a year. The pressure was on, but Richard’s kick was a no-doubter, hammered straight and true, flying above the crossbar with room to spare.

– While Drayton might have erred on the sequence leading to The Citadel’s first field goal attempt, the coach correctly challenged a spot late in the first half, a critical move that resulted in the Bulldogs picking up a key first down and maintaining possession. It was important at that time to deny Samford a chance to score again before the half ended.

The missed spot was by almost two full yards. Everyone in the stands saw that The Citadel had picked up the first down (a 10-yard pass from Johnathan Bennett to Dervon Pesnell, a nice play on both ends). The officials on the field had other ideas, however.

I was a little worried the replay review booth would not overrule the spot, as The Citadel has not had much luck with reviews this season, but justice prevailed.

It wasn’t the only spotting error of the game, just the most obvious. This has been an ongoing problem for SoCon officials over the years.

– Going for the jugular alert: with 3:58 to play, The Citadel took possession at Samford’s 44-yard line after the defense held on a fourth down attempt (Cale Williams with a rather emphatic stop). With a 21-3 lead, I expected to see a lot of runs up the middle to drain clock (or force Samford to use its remaining timeouts).

Naturally, the first play from scrimmage was a 27-yard pass play from Bennett to Pesnell (a great catch by Pesnell along the sideline).

That play call seemed to come out of left field, and I’m not sure it was the right thing to do in terms of the game state, but you know what? Sometimes you have to break tendencies, even when you’re in a position of strength. More power to the offensive staff. (And the bottom line is that it worked.)

From there, the Bulldogs ran the ball on six consecutive plays, with Bennett eventually scoring.

– I occasionally got concerned with the constant defensive rotations. Sometimes, multiple Bulldogs would race onto and off the field on plays for which Samford did not substitute. On those plays, I was worried The Citadel would not be ready at the snap — but that never happened.

“Samford has a high-powered offense, and we talked a lot about that,” said Citadel defensive lineman Chris Iverson, who finished with five tackles, including one for loss and a sack. “Samford’s tempo has been a problem for a lot of people, so we put a lot of emphasis on lining up quickly and communicating.”

The constant changing of personnel was obviously effective. On the afternoon, 23 different players for The Citadel registered at least one tackle (including placekicker Ben Barnes). Cale Williams led with 8 stops, while Je’Mazin Roberts had 7 and a forced fumble. DaVonyae Pettis had two of the Bulldogs’ eight tackles for loss (including a sack).

– Against Mercer last week, Samford’s offense had plays of 38, 77, 41, 35, 24, and 23 yards.

On Saturday, Samford’s longest offensive play from scrimmage was 19 yards.

– For a guy with a decent record against The Citadel, Chris Hatcher has certainly had a few games to forget in Charleston. This was one of them.

– Announced attendance: 8,977. I was a little concerned when I arrived on Saturday, as the parking lots were not exactly full. However, a decent-sized crowd eventually made its way inside the stadium.

There were very few Samford fans at the game. That is a long trip from Birmingham, though.

– It is one thing for a crowd to rush the field after a win. It is perhaps a bit unusual, however, for a team to rush the crowd (in this case, the student section) after a win, which the Bulldogs did following the Alma Mater.

I liked that a lot. Let’s see more of it, please.

– After the game, seniors and freshmen were awarded overnights. Juniors and sophomores had to be back on campus by 0100 hours.

It was a decidedly unusual combination of overnights/no overnights. The PA announcer informed the crowd that the freshmen had been granted overnights with “the authorization of the chairman of the Board of Visitors, Greg Delancey.”

(He meant Greg Delleney.)

– The Citadel is now 9-6-1 all-time for games played on October 26, including a 7-2-1 record at home on that date.

Saturday’s win was the biggest for The Citadel on October 26 since a 25-0 shutout of Oglethorpe in 1940, a game played at the “original” Johnson Hagood Stadium.

That was also a contest featuring strong defense and special teams play, as the Bulldogs held the Stormy Petrels to just 38 yards of total offense (and 0-for-6 passing). The Citadel’s Hank Foster returned a punt for a touchdown that day, while Ben Suitt blocked an Oglethorpe punt, setting up his own TD four plays later (the second of two TDs for Suitt).

The other touchdown for the Bulldogs was scored by Joe Bolduc. The Citadel missed on three of its four PAT attempts; perhaps placekicking is not meant to be on October 26, unless you are wearing a kilt.

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The Bulldogs now get a much-needed bye week before finishing the season with three games. The first of those will be The Citadel’s last game of the season at Johnson Hagood Stadium, a Homecoming affair against Chattanooga. The final two contests will be road trips to the Upstate to face Wofford and Clemson.

I’m looking forward to Homecoming, which is always a fun time on campus. Chattanooga will be a tough opponent, but The Citadel should enter that matchup with a good deal of newfound confidence, particularly on defense.

It is good to see on-field progress being made. It is even better when that progress is reflected in victories.

Filed under: Football, The Citadel | Tagged: Ben Barnes, Ben Suitt, Cale Williams, Chris Hatcher, Chris Iverson, DaVonyae Pettis, Greg Delleney, Hank Foster, James Platte, Je'Mazin Roberts, Joe Bolduc, Maurice Drayton, Oglethorpe, Samford, SoCon, The Citadel | 1 Comment »