Michigan State Football: What does data say about the offensive line?
Run-blocking
Like I stated earlier, the Spartan offensive line has been absolutely pathetic when it comes to pounding the rock. Let’s take a look at how the Michigan State offensive line ranks among the rest of college football.
- Line yards per carry: The line gets credit for rushing yardage between 0-3 yards and 50 percent credit for yards 4-8.
MSU OL rank: 121st
- Standard downs line yards per carry: The raw, unadjusted per-carry line yardage for a team on standard downs (first down, second-and-7 or fewer, third-and-4 or fewer, fourth-and-4 or fewer).
MSU OL rank: 121st
- Passing downs line yards per carry: The same unadjusted averages for rushing on passing downs.
MSU OL rank: 92nd
- Opportunity rate: The percentage of carries (when four yards are available) that gain at least four yards.
MSU OL rank: 122nd
As one can see, the Michigan State offensive line has been terrible when it comes to providing good blocking for the backfield. In three different categories, Michigan State almost ranks dead last. To be fair, almost all three of Michigan State’s opponents are ranked in the top 30 (Michigan is ranked 31st) for average rush yards against per game. So the task given to the offensive line hasn’t been easy, to say the least.
Nonetheless, Michigan State needs to provide some sort of run game if Mel Tucker’s squad wants to have some sort of success in 2020. Remember when I said there were some positives to this offensive line?
Well, here it is.