2006 SEC Pass Defense

After posting the analysis of the 2006 Alabama pass defense, I said a post on the 2006 overall SEC pass defense would be forthcoming. Thus...

LSU and Arkansas were two of the top pass defenses in the SEC in 2006. Interestingly enough, though, on the surface you might not expect that they were all that good. Combined, they gave up twice as many touchdowns as they created interceptions, and the Bayou Bengals and the Hogs finished tenth and eleventh in interception rate, respectively. But make no mistake about it, these two pass defenses were damn good. LSU and Arkansas finished first and second in completion percentage, and third and fourth in yards per completion, respectively.

LSU and Arkansas bring an opportunity to make a great point about effective pass defense. In reality, in terms of coverage of pass defense, all that really gets any real attention is touchdown passes and interceptions. That's what Stu Scott blows his load over on SportsCenter, and that is what is replayed a million times on YouTube. But that is far from what effective pass defense is about. As LSU and Arkansas made a great example of in 2006, effective pass defense is mostly about forcing a large number of incomplete passes, and limiting the yardage allowed when a pass is completed. Oh sure, limiting touchdowns and maximizing interceptions are things that you should certainly strive for, but in reality touchdowns and interceptions are a relative rarity, with a touchdown or an interception occurring on only about 8.5% of total pass attempts (8.47% of the time in 2006). Even the SEC leader in interception rate snagged interceptions on only a mere 5.53% of all passes thrown (South Carolina). At bottom, the truth of the matter is that the best pass defense is a pass falling harmlessly to the ground, or if a pass is caught by the offense, tackling the receiver immediately and limiting him to a relatively short gain. If you can consistently do that, almost regardless of what happens with touchdowns and interceptions, you are going to have a good pass defense. Again, LSU and Arkansas proved that point quite nicely with their 2006 performances. On the other hand, if you can't consistently force incomplete passes -- however you go about doing that -- and if you can't limit yardage in the event that there is a completion, you are in major trouble. Even if you snag more interceptions than any other team in the conference, interceptions are such a rarity in terms of overall passes that if you can't force incompletions and limit yardage on the other 95% of throws, you are not going to have a very good pass defense.

South Carolina exemplifies the last point. The Gamecocks in 2006 were great at intercepting the football, as they led the SEC in interception rate. They snagged eleven interceptions on 199 passing attempts, giving them a league-leading 5.53% interception rate. However, they finished seventh in the conference in completion percentage (58.29% of passes against them were completed), and finished tenth in the conference in yards allowed per completion, giving up roughly 13.5 yards per catch. And, of course, the South Carolina pass defense was pretty mediocre, all things considered. Again, it doesn't matter if you are great at intercepting the football, interceptions are such a rare occurrence that you will not be able to build a good pass defense off of just intercepting the football. You must be able to force incompletions and limit the amount of yardage gained when the ball is caught. South Carolina was not able to do that particularly well in 2006, despite their knack for interceptions, and as a result they did not field a particularly good pass defense.

Georgia, too, brings about an opportunity to showcase another point. The Dawgs had a very good pass defense in 2006, no two ways about it. Though they finished sixth in the conference in completion percentage, they were second in yards per completion, second in interception rate, and fourth in touchdown rate. At bottom, this was a good pass defense. But what is the point I'm getting at? The point is that the Dawgs had a very good pass defense, and that was due in large part to a great pass rush from the defensive ends. All told, Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson combined for 15.5 sacks in 2006, and are now playing in the NFL. The point is that good pass defense can come from either a good pass rush from the defensive line, and / or good pass coverage from the secondary. You often times see teams with relatively poor secondaries do quite well against the pass because the rush the passer so well with their front four, and likewise, you often times see relatively poor pass rushing teams do quite well because the secondary covers so well. Georgia proves that point quite nicely. Their secondary -- though stocked with solid players -- perhaps didn't have as good of secondary players as the numbers would suggest, but nevertheless they had a great pass defense because they got such a good, consistent pass rush from their defensive ends.

And that's going to be about it for the lessons, but moving on...

I said earlier that LSU and Arkansas were two of the best pass defenses in the conference, but I didn't say they were the best. Reason being: the Florida Gators. Though the Gators did allow opponents to complete a lot of passes (9th in the conference), they were exceptional in every other category. Granted, they did give up quite a few completions, they generally didn't give up very much yardage. They finished first in the conference in yards per completion, and did so by a very wide margin over second place Georgia. Moreover, despite the fact that teams threw more passes against the Gators than any other SEC team (290 attempts), they allowed the fewest touchdown passes in the SEC, thus leading the SEC in touchdown rate by an incredibly massive margin. Beyond that, the Gators had more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns, thus leading the conference in interception-to-touchdown ratio, again by a massive margin. What can you say? These guys really had it together in 2006.

The Auburn pass defense was generally regarded as good, but it wasn't anything overly special, and it was a bit intriguing. They didn't give up very many completions (fourth in the conference in completion percentage), but when they did give up completions, they generally went for big yardage (eighth in the conference in yards per reception). Moreover, they didn't intercept the ball particularly well (ninth in the conference in interception rate). However, they did finish third in the conference in touchdown rate, which makes me wonder a bit. It wasn't a particularly great pass defense, so why did they finish so high in that category? A few reasons are possible. One, they may have not given up very many long passes; two, they may have tightened up considerably in the redzone, where teams could have opted more towards the run; or three, they may have just played that much better in the red zone with a smaller space to defend. Either way, it'd be nice to break things down even further to see exactly what was going on there.

Tennessee, as a whole, was pretty middle of the road. They did quite well in a couple of categories, finishing third in completion percentage and fourth in interception rate. But they also didn't do too well in a couple of categories, finishing seventh in yards per completion and ninth in interception rate.

The Ole Miss pass defense was probably a bit better than most gave it credit for being, at least in the eight conference games. They finished fifth in completion percentage, and fifth in yards per completion. They were the definition of average in touchdown rate, finishing sixth in the conference. The problem with the Rebels was interceptions. For whatever reason, Johnny Reb couldn't get an interception if their life depended on it. They racked up a mere three interceptions, and finished dead last in terms of interception rate, with its interception rate a puny 1.72%. Again, though, this was a better pass defense than most gave it credit for. The Rebs only went 2-6 in conference play, but they scared the living hell out of Auburn, Alabama, LSU, and Georgia, and came very close to knocking each member of that group off. Obviously, it wasn't the atrociously anemic offense that kept them in those games, and run defense alone can't do it. The Rebs pass defense, while not particularly good, was pretty decent.

And then we get to the really ugly pass defenses...

Kentucky finished tenth in the league in completion percentage, and as often as they gave up completed passes, those completions nevertheless went for huge yardage. These weren't dink and dunk throws that failed to rack up very much yardage. All told, UK finished dead last in the SEC in yards per completion, giving up 15.66 yards per catch. They were the only SEC team to give up more than 14 yards per reception. Though they intercepted the ball quite well (5th in the SEC in interception rate), they struggled in terms of touchdown rate, finishing 8th. At bottom, this pass defense was just terrible. All year long, teams consistently threw the ball at will with little trouble. How in the world Mike Archer, the defensive coordinator, was hired by NC State, I'll never know.

Mississippi State, too, was equally terrible. They finished eleventh in completion percentage, and eleventh in yards per reception. They did intercept the ball relatively well, sixth in the conference in interception rate, but did give up a lot of touchdown passes, as they finished eleventh in the conference in touchdown rate. At bottom, it was a terrible pass defense. Teams completed a high percentage of passes, and those completions went for a lot of yards. All year long, teams easily moved the ball through the air on the Bulldogs. About the only good game their pass defense had was, unfortunately, against Alabama. What can you say? They went 3-9 for a reason.

And last, and certainly worst, we have the Vanderbilt Commodores. The enlightened 'Dores might win in the game of life, but they didn't win on the field in 2006, and their horrendous pass defense was a large reason why. The 'Dores finished dead last in completion percentage, as teams completed almost 65 per cent of their passes against them. Vanderbilt was the only team to have a completion percentage above 60 per cent. They finished ninth in yards per completion, seventh in interception rate, and dead last yet again in touchdown rate. What can you say? They were just, well, Vanderbilt.