The Downside To This Offense
The UNLV offense looks great on paper, stats-wise. However, when you dig a little more past the surface, there are some red flags. For instance, it's very boom or bust. 10 percent of UNLV's drives ended in zero or fewer yards in 2023. That number is 11.6 percent in 2024.
Advanced metrics (FEI) that are opponent-adjusted and remove garbage time only ranked UNLV's offense No. 71 nationally in 2023. It ranks No. 59 nationally through nine games in 2024.
The stats when UNLV plays a team from a Power Four/Five conference back up this narrative.
Games | Rush Yds | Pass Yds | Plays | Total Yds | YPP | Yds Per Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vs. P5(2023) | 3 | 283 | 735 | 193 | 1,018 | 5.27 | 339.3 |
Vs. Non-P5 (2023) | 10 | 1,878 | 2,488 | 685 | 4,366 | 6.37 | 436.6 |
Vs. P5 (2024) | 4 | 691 | 622 | 244 | 1,313 | 5.38 | 328.3 |
Vs. Non-P5 (2024) | 4 | 1,043 | 785 | 257 | 1,828 | 7.11 | 457.0 |
There is no way to spin it because these are massive dropoffs in production. However, one thing you can say is that UNLV is likely operating at a talent disadvantage against most of those Power 5 teams they go up against. FSU attracts a much higher-caliber player than compared to UNLV.