So I’ve always been curious as to how negatively Heupel actually makes his teams’ defense. Decided to Google it, and wouldn’t you know, he makes them terrible. Common theme....his offense blows out the weak teams but they get worked against the good teams. Sound familiar?
Found the following link on Missouri defensive rankings below pretty telling, par for the course. He was there 2016 and 2017, but check out the defensive rankings the year before he got there. Now I know, you all hate bashing the Turd, but you also stuck up for his “great” offense and bashed Randy Shannon’s “bad” defense. I’ve been saying, the defensive performance is a direct correlation to the Heupel Effect more than the Randy Effect.
Advanced stats for the Missouri football team for the 2015 season.
www.footballstudyhall.com
His teams went 28-8. He won a conference title (using a backup QB). He played in a NY6 game (using a backup QB).
His losses:
1. 2018 - Lost 40-32 to 10-3 LSU at neutral site Fiesta Bowl.
***New true freshman QB playing, which is usually a disaster unless you are Bama, Clemson or Ohio State.
2. 2019 - Lost 35-34 @ 8-5 Pitt
3. 2019 - Lost 27-24 @ 11-3 Cincy
4. 2019 - Lost 34-31 @ 4-8 Tulsa (Bad loss but for some reason they own us playing on their field; Tulsa is 5-0 against us on their field).
5. 2020 - Lost 34-26 at home to 6-3 Tulsa
6. 2020 - Lost 50-49 @ 8-3 Memphis
7. 2020 - Lost 36-33 at home to 9-1 Cincy
8. 2020 - Lost 49-23 to 11-1 BYU at neutral site Boca Raton Bowl
I only see one blowout.
The total record of the teams we lost to is 67-27. I'd say his results have to do more with the situation, than simply blaming offense or defense. I can't fault him for losing to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl. I was shocked we won the AAC title game, and weren't blown off the field by LSU, using a backup QB. Good thing that AAC title game was at home. If it was on the road we probably do not make the miraculous comeback we did make.
2019 we were playing a true freshman (who played more like a QB in his second season) and went 3-3 on the road. I wasn't expecting our record to be (10-3), nevermind knowing that just a play or two in each of those games goes our way, we may win those games. It's harder to win on the road than at home (home teams have like a 20% advantage), especially with a true freshman QB. They get rattled. In 2019 only 40 teams managed a better road record than us. Only 9 teams in 2019 managed a better than .500 record against ranked opponents, and this only takes into account the record of teams at the time the game was played. That means 121 teams couldn't manage to do better than .500 against ranked opponents, nevermind playing ranked opponents on the road.
2020 we just weren't as good. COVID wreaked havoc on how teams practiced, prepared, traveled, etc.. Depth was a big factor due to opt-outs, and especially late in the season as players were kicked off the team or just decided not to play any longer.
I would 100% agree it is clear that when your offense is that efficient, your defense needs to be that much better (or have a very good turnover margin). Not making up excuses for him. Just saying my opinion is the situations seemed to outweigh X's and O's, and give credit where credit is due. We lost to some good teams.
I thank Josh for his contribution. He filled in nicely and did fine for a first time head coach. Almost any new hire is a gamble, even if they have previous, successful experience. I'm not sorry to see him go, either. I think we greatly upgraded our coaching staff, whether that pans out on the field is another story that will unfold. Looking forward to seeing what we look like in the fall.