2024 Season Stats

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Thought I would break down the season with more in depth analysis then "the scores of some games were close"

Total Offense - 8th in FCS with 444.2 yards per game, 57 offensive TDs, 6.18 yards per play, 5331 yards in 862 plays. UC Davis ranks higher at 5th and Montana State at 1st.

Rushing Offense - 5th in FCS with 229.3 yards per game, 32 rush TDs, 5.21 yards per attempt, 2752 rush yards and 528 rush attempts. Montana State ranks higher at 1st.

Passing Offense - 49th in FCS with 214.9 yards per game tied with Weber State, 25 pass TDs, 10.44 yards per completion, 7.72 yards per attempt, 2579 pass yards, 4 interceptions, 247 pass completions per 334 pass attempts. About middle in Big Sky.

Completion Percentage - 1st in FCS, 247 pass completions per 334 attempts for 0.74%, Kekoa Visperas 1st in FCS for completion percentage. Not hugely relevant but I thought it was interesting.

Total Defense - 119th in FCS giving up 476 yards per game, giving up 59 TDs, 7.06 yards per play, 5712 total yards across 809 plays. Portland State ranks last at 123rd and Northern Colorado and Idaho State barely beat Eastern ranking 118th and 117th respectively.

Rushing Defense - 104th in FCS, gave up 190.2 yards per game, gave up 24 rushing TDs, 5.62 yards per rush, 2283 rushing yards over 406 attempts, rank above Portland State, Idaho State and Northern Colorado who are at the bottom.

Passing Yards Allowed - 122nd in FCS, 285.8 yards given up per game, 13.5 yards per completion, gave up 34 passing TDs, 3429 passing yards over 237 completions, 366 opponent pass attempts. Only Portland State ranks lower at 123rd in FCS.

Other Interesting Stats

Turnovers - 7 gained, 7 lost, margin 0

Fewest Penalties Per Game - 4th in FCS 45 penalties, 3.75 per game

Combined Kick Returns - 1st in FCS, Michael Wortham, 1,093 yards across 38 returns.

Receptions Per Game - 1st in FCS, Efton Chism, 10 receptions per game, 1311 reception yards, 13 reception TDs, 120 receptions

Passes Defended - 13th in FCS, DeJean Wells, 12 pass break ups over 10 games

I compared the first half of the season to the second half to see if there was any improvement on defense. There really wasn't.

For the offense, Eastern had 121 more yards in the second half, 71 less passing yards, 192 more rush yards and scored 34 more points.

For the defense, Eastern gave up 39 more yards, 55 more passing yards, 16 less rushing yards and gave up 4 less points.

Win loss records were the same 2 wins 4 losses for both halves of the season.

The only think I think Best cleaned up from previous season was penalties, which showed significant improvements, even from the first half of the season.

 

[Obzerver]

Thx E-Wu, that's great info. The o-line were warriors. The last game as they got on plane to NAU three starters were sporting a boot and played their last game. Thinking so beat-up that it may have effected the offense against a pretty good NAU defense.
So much to digest...some impressive while others kinda depressing. Thanks to all the players who gave their all and never gave up!!!

 

[LDopaPDX]

Thought I would break down the season with more in depth analysis then "the scores of some games were close"

Total Offense - 8th in FCS with 444.2 yards per game, 57 offensive TDs, 6.18 yards per play, 5331 yards in 862 plays. UC Davis ranks higher at 5th and Montana State at 1st.

Rushing Offense - 5th in FCS with 229.3 yards per game, 32 rush TDs, 5.21 yards per attempt, 2752 rush yards and 528 rush attempts. Montana State ranks higher at 1st.

Passing Offense - 49th in FCS with 214.9 yards per game tied with Weber State, 25 pass TDs, 10.44 yards per completion, 7.72 yards per attempt, 2579 pass yards, 4 interceptions, 247 pass completions per 334 pass attempts. About middle in Big Sky.

Completion Percentage - 1st in FCS, 247 pass completions per 334 attempts for 0.74%, Kekoa Visperas 1st in FCS for completion percentage. Not hugely relevant but I thought it was interesting.

Total Defense - 119th in FCS giving up 476 yards per game, giving up 59 TDs, 7.06 yards per play, 5712 total yards across 809 plays. Portland State ranks last at 123rd and Northern Colorado and Idaho State barely beat Eastern ranking 118th and 117th respectively.

Rushing Defense - 104th in FCS, gave up 190.2 yards per game, gave up 24 rushing TDs, 5.62 yards per rush, 2283 rushing yards over 406 attempts, rank above Portland State, Idaho State and Northern Colorado who are at the bottom.

Passing Yards Allowed - 122nd in FCS, 285.8 yards given up per game, 13.5 yards per completion, gave up 34 passing TDs, 3429 passing yards over 237 completions, 366 opponent pass attempts. Only Portland State ranks lower at 123rd in FCS.

Other Interesting Stats

Turnovers - 7 gained, 7 lost, margin 0

Fewest Penalties Per Game - 4th in FCS 45 penalties, 3.75 per game

Combined Kick Returns - 1st in FCS, Michael Wortham, 1,093 yards across 38 returns.

Receptions Per Game - 1st in FCS, Efton Chism, 10 receptions per game, 1311 reception yards, 13 reception TDs, 120 receptions

Passes Defended - 13th in FCS, DeJean Wells, 12 pass break ups over 10 games

I compared the first half of the season to the second half to see if there was any improvement on defense. There really wasn't.

For the offense, Eastern had 121 more yards in the second half, 71 less passing yards, 192 more rush yards and scored 34 more points.

For the defense, Eastern gave up 39 more yards, 55 more passing yards, 16 less rushing yards and gave up 26 more points.

Win loss records were the same 2 wins 4 losses for both halves of the season.

The only think I think Best cleaned up from previous season was penalties, which showed significant improvements, even from the first half of the season.

I guess there’s nothing surprising here. Whatever a team does well on offense, they were able to do *really* well against our defense. Certainly, the offense can be better. But without dramatic improvement on defense, it feels like a losing battle. If you wanted an upside, it’s that we don’t have to improve a ton to significantly improve our record. Even if the D just showed average results, the additional wins would get us to a happy place.

The hard thing is that it feels like this is the same damn conversation every season. Offense is pretty good, and defense is utter garbage. I’d like Best to find a good, upwardly mobile DC from a lower level and bring him in. We can’t be wash, rinse, repeat on D. We need an entirely new identity, scheme, and results.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I looked at this again and was trying to figure out how we were +26 in total points but only 4-8. It looks like you made a typo on the score total for Nevada. You punched in 19 instead of 49.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

I looked at this again and was trying to figure out how we were +26 in total points but only 4-8. It looks like you made a typo on the score total for Nevada. You punched in 19 instead of 49.

Updated. I guess the defense allowed 4 less points then.

 

[Savages]

Thought I would break down the season with more in depth analysis then "the scores of some games were close"

Total Offense - 8th in FCS with 444.2 yards per game, 57 offensive TDs, 6.18 yards per play, 5331 yards in 862 plays. UC Davis ranks higher at 5th and Montana State at 1st.

Rushing Offense - 5th in FCS with 229.3 yards per game, 32 rush TDs, 5.21 yards per attempt, 2752 rush yards and 528 rush attempts. Montana State ranks higher at 1st.

Passing Offense - 49th in FCS with 214.9 yards per game tied with Weber State, 25 pass TDs, 10.44 yards per completion, 7.72 yards per attempt, 2579 pass yards, 4 interceptions, 247 pass completions per 334 pass attempts. About middle in Big Sky.

Completion Percentage - 1st in FCS, 247 pass completions per 334 attempts for 0.74%, Kekoa Visperas 1st in FCS for completion percentage. Not hugely relevant but I thought it was interesting.

Total Defense - 119th in FCS giving up 476 yards per game, giving up 59 TDs, 7.06 yards per play, 5712 total yards across 809 plays. Portland State ranks last at 123rd and Northern Colorado and Idaho State barely beat Eastern ranking 118th and 117th respectively.

Rushing Defense - 104th in FCS, gave up 190.2 yards per game, gave up 24 rushing TDs, 5.62 yards per rush, 2283 rushing yards over 406 attempts, rank above Portland State, Idaho State and Northern Colorado who are at the bottom.

Passing Yards Allowed - 122nd in FCS, 285.8 yards given up per game, 13.5 yards per completion, gave up 34 passing TDs, 3429 passing yards over 237 completions, 366 opponent pass attempts. Only Portland State ranks lower at 123rd in FCS.

Other Interesting Stats

Turnovers - 7 gained, 7 lost, margin 0

Fewest Penalties Per Game - 4th in FCS 45 penalties, 3.75 per game

Combined Kick Returns - 1st in FCS, Michael Wortham, 1,093 yards across 38 returns.

Receptions Per Game - 1st in FCS, Efton Chism, 10 receptions per game, 1311 reception yards, 13 reception TDs, 120 receptions

Passes Defended - 13th in FCS, DeJean Wells, 12 pass break ups over 10 games

I compared the first half of the season to the second half to see if there was any improvement on defense. There really wasn't.

For the offense, Eastern had 121 more yards in the second half, 71 less passing yards, 192 more rush yards and scored 34 more points.

For the defense, Eastern gave up 39 more yards, 55 more passing yards, 16 less rushing yards and gave up 4 less points.

Win loss records were the same 2 wins 4 losses for both halves of the season.

The only think I think Best cleaned up from previous season was penalties, which showed significant improvements, even from the first half of the season.

Doesn't show much in the stats you shared, but I also believe Special Teams play to have been far, far superior this year than last.

 

[Savages]

I guess there’s nothing surprising here. Whatever a team does well on offense, they were able to do *really* well against our defense. Certainly, the offense can be better. But without dramatic improvement on defense, it feels like a losing battle. If you wanted an upside, it’s that we don’t have to improve a ton to significantly improve our record. Even if the D just showed average results, the additional wins would get us to a happy place.

The hard thing is that it feels like this is the same damn conversation every season. Offense is pretty good, and defense is utter garbage. I’d like Best to find a good, upwardly mobile DC from a lower level and bring him in. We can’t be wash, rinse, repeat on D. We need an entirely new identity, scheme, and results.

Stylistically, Best seems to want to employ a run-first type offense, meaning ball-control and we seem to be ok doing that. The problem is that when you have a defense that cannot get off the field you're forced to play catch-up and that seems to be what we did in almost every loss. Montana and MSU come to mind.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Doesn't show much in the stats you shared, but I also believe Special Teams play to have been far, far superior this year than last.

I don't think ST was that bad last year. It was hot garbage 2/3 years ago though. Best has cleaned that up too. Wortham probably the best kick returner in the FCS.

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Stylistically, Best seems to want to employ a run-first type offense, meaning ball-control and we seem to be ok doing that. The problem is that when you have a defense that cannot get off the field you're forced to play catch-up and that seems to be what we did in almost every loss. Montana and MSU come to mind.

Yea, Best focused his efforts on making the offense run heavy while ignoring the defense knowing full well that you need a top 30 defense for that to be successful. Its honestly coaching malpractice to me and a good reason to be fired.

 

[luckyintheorder]

Eags made the championship with a 68th rated D last time... if they ever had a 30th rated or better D, Eastern would be NDSU ;-)

 

[E-Wu Tang Clan]

Eags made the championship with a 68th rated D last time... if they ever had a 30th rated or better D, Eastern would be NDSU ;-)

Not with this bullshit offense Best is running and a Peyton award winning QB.