hawknation2018":q024fr9q said:
I've now watched all of Penny's carries from last season. While the total body of work is impressive, I question the overall quality of his competition. Yes, he faced ASU and Stanford, but neither were good against the run in 2017.
hawknation2018":q024fr9q said:
Rushing defense stats for Rashaad Penny's opponents in 2017:
UC Davis - FCS team, ranked 109th in rushing yards allowed per game (out of 123 FCS teams)
Arizona State - 96th in rushing yards allowed per carry, 78th in rushing yards allowed per game
Stanford - 80th in per carry, 68th in per game
Air Force - 130th in per carry (dead last in FBS), 118th in per game
Northern Illinois - 5th in per carry, 16th in per game
UNLV - 120th in per carry, 123rd in per game
Boise State - 15th in per carry, 17th in per game
Fresno State - 17th in per carry, 11th in per game
Hawai'i - 113th in per carry, 111th in per game
San Jose State - 118th in per carry, 129th in per game (2nd worst in FBS)
Nevada - 74th in per carry, 110th in per game
New Mexico - 85th in per carry, 65th in per game
Army - 116th in per carry, 75th in per game
So I have to correct my initial statement to say that Penny faced THREE good teams against the run: Northern Illinois, Boise State, and Fresno State.
How did he perform in these games? It's a mixed bag.
Northern Illinois - 25 carries for 107 yards (4.3 YPC), 0 TDs
Boise State - 21 carries for 53 yards (2.5 YPC), 1 TD
Fresno State - 15 carries for 69 yards (4.6 YPC), 0 TDs
Combined - 61 carries for 229 yards (3.7 YPC), 1 TD
Thoughts as a USD insider?
This is super easy to explain. Boise State and Fresno State they fell behind and eventually lost both games. They did not run Penny much in those games. Their QB is garbage and cost them some games. He sucks. It was all Penny. The YPC average is bumped up by Penny because he may have 1 for 90 yards. Or another for 65 yards. He does that all the time. Huge, very explosive plays. But they stopped running him in those games. Because they were behind and trying to catch up. They were throwing. I went personally to both games. I was there so I know what happened.
Now you want to say some of the teams were not great run defenses? Well this works both ways. Do you really think Penny had an Alabama line to run behind? NO HE DID NOT! His line is very average. His QB is sub par garbage. The WR's outside were below average. There were no other threats out there. It was all Penny. This effects him in a lot of ways.
Coming in to the year teams would stack an 8 man box to try to stop Penny. When they realized how bad the QB was they would do ridiculous things like 9 guys on the line to try to stop him. They still couldn't! He ran all over them.
If it's just weak competition how come the Pac 12 can't stop him? Because they did not and can't. How come he was so explosive against the supposed best players in college football at the Senior Bowl? Because they can't stop his explosive plays and had absolutely no answer for Penny. He was one of the standouts.
Plus like I said it works BOTH ways. If you think his competition was lower he was also playing with a lessor O Line, awful QB, sub par WR's. All of which would have opened things up for him big time if he had it. Which he did not. It's the same argument with Josh Allen. It's like as if his sucky O Line and garbage WR's didn't effect him. Of course it did. Josh Allen wasn't playing with Alabama or Ohio State.
Against any competition level including Pac 12 and the Senior Bowl he was hugely explosive and a big time play maker. Nobody can stop him. He's going to be GREAT for your team and your fans will love him very quickly.
It's San Diego State Aztecs (SDSU). USD is University of San Diego Torreros. A different University here which also has some players. Just to clarify.