Last week, we introduced the concept of offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. Long story short, offensive efficiency calculates the likelihood of the offense converting a possession on its side of the field into points. Defensive efficiency calculates the likelihood of your defense preventing an opposing offense from scoring. Offensive and defensive efficiency (ODE) combined can give you an idea of how well your team is performing on both sides of the ball.
Texas A&M’s ODE vs App State
As we can see from the chart, A&M had a total of eight offensive possessions in the game last Saturday, all eight of which were valid possessions. When you only have eight possessions in a game, either your offense is dominating time of possession or your defense is playing poorly. As shown by the fact that App State had 10 possessions in the game, eight of which were valid, it looks like the latter. A quick look at the time of possessions stats shows App State dominated.
On A&M’s 8 possessions they converted only 1 into points, giving them a gaudy offensive efficiency of 12.5%. On App State’s 8 valid possessions, they were able to convert 2 into points, giving A&M a defensive efficiency of 25%. As a rule of thumb in ODE, when your offensive efficiency is less than your defensive efficiency, you typically lose the game.
For the season, A&M’s offense has converted 20 possessions into 6 scores, an offensive efficiency of 30%. 30% is in the region of poor efficiencies that is just above pathetic. A&M’s opponents have converted 19 possessions into 2 scores, giving them a defensive efficiency of 10.53%. On an efficiency level, A&M’s defense is still performing very well for the season.
Moving Forward
While the ODE metrics do not account for time of possession, they still give a stark picture of A&M’s offensive performance against App State. One score out of eight possessions is never acceptable regardless of opponent. The 2022 season ODE also gives a picture of the continuing struggles on offense. When you’re converting less than one of every three opportunities into points, you’re clearly struggling.
A&M moves into their game with Miami with a new QB in Max Johnson. We’ll see if someone else under center provides a spark on offense this season.
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