Synopsis for Turnovers:

Wow, when I started tracking turnovers each week, I never thought TOs would be this important in so many games. Except for the BGSU laugher, the other 4 games have been significantly impacted by TOs (including when and where they happened).

My exact word was F*#K when DRob fumbled on the 1. It looked like we were ready to put the game away (was about to be 21-7) and momentum was definitely with the Wolverines. Indiana took that fumble and turned it into a fracking 99 yard TD drive, followed by a stop and an M punt. Double-F*#K. Now momentum had abandoned the Wolverines and Indiana was driving for a go-ahead TD. But the goddess of Turnover Margin (it must be a she because TOs are so fickle!) decided to put everything back to even with the Cam Gordon interception at the goal line (it was 14-14 at the time). The Wolverines turned that into an 81 yard, 9 play, 3:56 drive (most plays and time of any drive) for a TD to go ahead 21-14.

For the remainder of the game, neither team led by more than 7 points and, although M never trailed, the game was tied 3 times. Another TO by either team probably would have decided the game.

Overall, M remains about average for TOs gained and is still very good with TOs lost for a current TOM of 4.0 (which is what is was after the first 2 games). M again failed to force any fumbles but picked up another interception. Certainly, the interceptions by the M secondary are ameliorating the massive yards being given up (pass defense YPG is now #120 out of 120!). Historically, TOs tend to come in bunches rather than a consistent number from game to game. (BTW, TOM was +2.0 after 5 games last year.)

Synopsis for Special Teams:

Woooo, an excellent game for special teams! Hagerup seemed to get settled down and ended up with a 46.2 average yards per punt and a net of 40.2 yards per punt (that would be #15 nationally if it was the average for the year). Tandon Doss only averaged 22 yards per KO return, which was well below his average of 47 yards per KO return (although that was for just 3 KO returns). Starting field position for the opposition after our kickoff remains at the 29 yard line (slightly better than average). Broekhuizen came up with perhaps his best KO of the year at the end of the game – a 70 yarder from M's 15 yard line (thanks Lewan) that was only returned by Doss to the 35.

National Rankings:

 

Details for Turnovers:

Here is the Summary by Game. According to the folks at Football Outsiders  a first down TO is worth 5 points, second down TO is worth 4.5 points, and a third down TO is worth 4.0 points (regardless of field position!).

The extrapolation is a straight line [Totals] X [13 Total Games / Games Played]. AQ Best and AQ average is over the past 10 years. AQ Best is kind of funky because the team with the "best" in each category is different so the numbers don't add. But, it does provide a point of reference.

Here is the detail of each fumble/interception and a comment providing insight if the turnover (or lack thereof) was significant. Note, blocked punts are not considered a turnover and an interception of an extra point is not considered a turnover (player does not get credit for a interception).

Here is the overall summary by player (data in yellow was affected by this week's game).

Details for Special Teams:

Here are the Punting and Kickoff statistics. (Touchbacks are included as –20 yards when determining net yards.)

Remember here are the correlations of TOM to WLM at season's end.