In our 7 games this year...
There are only 4 reasons I can think of to explain such a dropoff in the second half.
1. You are regularly protecting big leads
2. You are regularly getting blown out and quit giving 100%
3. You are out of shape, the other team is better-conditioned
4. You are getting out-coached via halftime adjustments
If it was just PSU and Purdue, maybe you could argue #1. But the pattern is much more pervasive.
#2 doesn't fit -- in 5 games (excluding OSU and Illinois), we were either ahead or within 3 points at halftime.
If #3 is the primary problem, assuming that the offense and defense are at a similar level of conditioning, we should see it in the opponents' scoring as well. But we don't.
Sadly, I really don't see any other conclusion we can draw from these numbers than #4. I'd be happy for someone to argue otherwise.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
Total Points | 41 | 67 | 24 | 15 |
Average | 5.9 | 9.6 | 3.4 | 2.1 |
There are only 4 reasons I can think of to explain such a dropoff in the second half.
1. You are regularly protecting big leads
2. You are regularly getting blown out and quit giving 100%
3. You are out of shape, the other team is better-conditioned
4. You are getting out-coached via halftime adjustments
If it was just PSU and Purdue, maybe you could argue #1. But the pattern is much more pervasive.
#2 doesn't fit -- in 5 games (excluding OSU and Illinois), we were either ahead or within 3 points at halftime.
If #3 is the primary problem, assuming that the offense and defense are at a similar level of conditioning, we should see it in the opponents' scoring as well. But we don't.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
Total Points | 58 | 50 | 55 | 51 |
Average | 8.3 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 7.3 |
Sadly, I really don't see any other conclusion we can draw from these numbers than #4. I'd be happy for someone to argue otherwise.