Regular Season Ends on 2017 Offense, Numbers Almost Identical to 2011

Forget the eye test, forget what you think you saw, forget the image you have of Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon in your head. I’m here to present what actually happened in 2017. #factsonly

I’ve gotten a lot of emails and texts this year along the lines of, “This offense just doesn’t feel as dominant as 2011 did.” What’s the phrase? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The farther we get from 2011, the more romantic that team becomes. We forget about the 2.3 points per drive at A&M, the 2.0 at Texas, the 1.6 at Iowa State and the 2.6 against OU (in, somehow, a blowout win).

Anyway, here are the final regular season numbers from both teams.

The 2011 team was more efficient rushing the ball. The 2017 team much more efficient throwing it. OSU averaged a first down per attempt in 2017. That is absolutely remarkable.

When it comes to overall efficiency, OSU was slightly better in 2011 at 3.24 points per drive. This year’s team fell off its historic pace with eggs at Texas and, to a lesser degree, West Virginia.

Still, it’s crazy to me that the 2017 team was just as efficient from a scoring standpoint and more so on yards per play. It sure didn’t feel like that a lot of the time. But it probably wasn’t always the offense’s fault.

To sort of underscore what I’m talking about, consider the following: Oklahoma State scored 2.6 points per drive against TCU this year in a thumping. In 2011, OSU scored 2.6 points per drive against OU in the final game. How differently do we remember those two games?! Todd Monken is a king, and silly Mike Yurcich just can’t adjust to good defenses, am I right?

The point is that your inadequacies in any single game can be covered up by other phases (kick returns, great defense etc.) But you can’t hide all season, and neither of these offenses did. They were probably the two best or two of the three or four best in school history, even though I think we’ll probably only remember one of them that way.