Ok I am sufficiently recovered: Looking at Tibesar

The Louisville game (the game report is linked to the title above) is slowly leaving my memory, and it's time to start playing again. This weekend, it's the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette. But before we get there, let's take a quick look back at last Wednesday night.

The Louisville game was terrible--so bad, Head Coach Ron Prince had the team running 50 sprints when the team got back to Manhattan last Wednesday night. They ran 38 50 yard sprints--one sprint for each point given up by the K-State defense.

The defense has struggled mightily since last year, when the defense moved to a 3-4 base from the 4-3 cover 2 base--maybe Coach Prince made a mistake hiring Tim Tibesar as defensive coordinator.

I hate to say that, but... let's take a look at some stats.

2007

Auburn: 23 points and 316 yards. Auburn had the 97th ranked total offense last year and the 84th ranked scoring offense.

San Jose State: 14 points and 293 yards. San Jose State had the 88th ranked total offense last year and the 103rd ranked scoring offense.

Missouri State: 10 points and 191 yards. Missouri State had the 24th ranked total offense last year and the 10th ranked scoring offense. That said, they are FCS and not FBS.

Texas: 21 points and 330 yards. Texas had the 13th ranked total offense last year and the 14th ranked scoring offense. This was the only exceptional defensive effort under Tibesar.

Kansas: 30 points and 437 yards. Kansas had the 8th ranked total offense last year and the 2nd ranked scoring offense.

Colorado: 20 points and 411 yards. Colorado had the 72nd ranked total offense last year and the 62nd ranked scoring offense.

Oklahoma State: 41 points and 510 yards. Oklahoma State had the 7th ranked total offense last year and the 22nd ranked scoring offense.

Baylor: 13 points and 318 yards. Baylor had the 85th ranked total offense last year and the 111th ranked scoring offense.

Iowa State: 31 points and 348 yards. Iowa State had the 102nd ranked total offense last year and the 111th ranked scoring offense. No, those numbers are not typos.

Nebraska: 73 points and 702 yards. Nebraska had the 9th ranked total offense last year and the 28th ranked scoring offense. That was the most dismal defensive performance in Kansas State history.

Missouri: 49 points and 427 yards. Missouri had the 5th ranked total offense last year and the 8th ranked scoring offense.

Fresno State: 45 points and 549 yards. Fresno State had the 38th ranked total offense last year and the 32nd ranked scoring offense.

That is not the resume of a successful first season. One good performance (Texas), a couple average performances, and several performances well below average. During Big 12 media days, several members of the football team suggested that now-departed members of the team contributed to the dismal defense. Now that they are gone, let's look at how Tibesar's resume has changed.

2008

North Texas: 6 points and 205 yards. North Texas has the 115th ranked total offense this year and the 108th ranked scoring offense. While a good effort, it's not as if North Texas is tearing things up.

Montana State: 10 points and 191 yards. Montana State has the 79th ranked total offense this year and the 32nd ranked scoring offense. The rankings are from the FCS and not the FBS. Again, nothing special.

Louisville: 38 points and 577 yards. Louisville has the 42nd ranked total offense this year and the 47th ranked scoring offense.

After two reasonable performances against poor offenses, against a wholly mediocre offense, Tibesar's defense was again dismal. Let's hope that he gets it figured out and figured out soon. Louisiana-Lafayette is 23rd ranked total offense and the 62nd ranked scoring offense. Then it only gets worse.

Here is a look at the Big 12 in national offense ranks.

Texas Tech: 3 total offense/8
@ Texas A&M: 101/82
@ Colorado: 68/56
Oklahoma: 4/1
@ Kansas: 15/32
@ Missouri: 1/2
Nebraska: 20/16
Iowa State: 76/40

It could be a very long season for the defense.