Nurse? Nurse!

We have missed an incredible 86 Starts due to injury over the past 2 years! That is the 2nd most in the nation. Only Stanford (120!) had more. Utah State (The aggies) are the only other team to accrue 70 starts missed due to injury in the L2Y. In comparison, Illinois missed only 5 starts due to injury over the past 2 years. In 2006 and 2007, 15 teams had a season in which their starters missed less than 6 total games due to injury. Put another way, FSU's injury luck over the past 2 years has been 1700% worse than that of Illinois.

According to Phil Steele of Philsteele.com, teams that suffered more than 36 starts in any given year due to injury improved their record 81% of the time! That stat increases if you take out teams who suffered similar or worse injury numbers in the subsequent year (what happened to FSU last year).

I think this startling number and the resulting poor play of our beloved Noles over the past several years reflects the true importance of substituting fresh players (NOT on the OLINE, they should play the whole game for continuity purposes.) FSU consistently beat opponents based on depth. In the Glory Days, especially the late '90's, we would substitute fresh defensive players at a rabid pace. FSU was a trendsetter with this approach and was successful with their substitution''s because their bench player at 90% was better than their starter at 80%. Having little or no drop-off between starter and backup is essential when trying to use frequent defensive substitutions. As a team loses players to injury, the talent level on their bench shrinks. Without talented backups at the ready to spell the starters, the defense suffers from increased fatigue and increased incidence of injury often occurs from extreme fatigue.

The poor play also highlights the importance of units working together. When we say that this team looked lost at times, it is because they were. When we said that they lacked trust in each other, they did, because they hadn't played with the guy next to them for very long (if ever). I'll assume that most of you degenerates work. If you are constantly having to train new employees and team members, the potential of your group is stunted.

I personally believe that both bad luck and bad conditioning are to blame for this trend. We addressed the issue of conditioning coaching with the new hires and I have to believe that "luck" will improve as well. Some of the guys on the team in this decade have been visibly morbidly obese.

The formula for improving is simple: Average injury luck (say, 18 missed starts or 3 every 2 games) + improved work ethic and attitude of the team (done) + a much easier schedule compared to 2007 + another year under Jimbo's system= 10+ win season (including the bowl game.)

08/12/08 Update: UGA lost stud LT Trendon Studivant to a knee injury (ACL, MCL, & PCL). This is the type of injury FSU has endured in the past. People don't pay attention to line injuries, but the left tackle is pretty much the second most important player on the team. Georgia is done this year. I think they might finish 3rd in the east.