We lead the BIG EAST in...

[Matt]

we have had some stupid personal fouls.  but one thing i noticed more this year was a lot of "chop block" penalites.  we've had probably 5 or 6 of them. 

i actually thought our flags were down this year.  how many did we have thru 5 games last year?

[Bslow]

If we could stop the 1 or 2 chop block penalties per game I would be extremly happy.  Other than that I think it is not that bad.

[Brad]

we have had some stupid personal fouls.  but one thing i noticed more this year was a lot of "chop block" penalites.  we've had probably 5 or 6 of them. 

And why do you think those suddenly start appearing in numbers?

[mikemcp88]

Regardless if Miami won the national championship, we need to cut this down. I don't know if were good enough to make lots of penalties and goto a BCS bowl game. They need to be more disciplined

[Matt]

we have had some stupid personal fouls.  but one thing i noticed more this year was a lot of "chop block" penalites.  we've had probably 5 or 6 of them. 

And why do you think those suddenly start appearing in numbers?

i think the biggest factor is that the NCAA has made a point to really enforce it this year for players health.

however, we need to adjust our technique then. 

and one of the chop block calls was actually a bad call (Genus got called for one in the FSU game that was actually a legal block)

[Kizarvexis]

USF has 38 penalties for 374 yards for a 7.60 penalties for 74.80 yards per game. The USF opponents have 35 penalties for 351 yards for 7.00 penalties for 70.20 yards per game.

Through the first five games of 2008 (Tenn-Martin, @UCF, Kansas, @FIU, & @NC State) USF had 38 penalties for 286 yards. That is 7.60 penalties for 57.20 yards per game. USF's opponents had 51 penalties for 444 yards which is 10.20 penalties for 88.80 yards per game.

Here are the totals since USF went I-A.

USF			Opp	
Pen    Yards    Year    Pen   Yards
8.67	67.67	2008	7.75	63.83
8.67	72.75	2007	6.83	53.50
8.17	71.33	2006	7.50	62.42
9.27	73.73	2005	7.09	57.82
9.64	82.55	2004	6.55	51.73
9.36	83.00	2003	6.27	47.91
11.64	98.73	2002	7.27	60.36
10.00	88.00	2001	9.82	82.09

Based on the stats Bulliever posted, USF is right there for BCS teams on penalties.

Kizarvexis

[Bull Martin]

USF had 6 penalties for 50 something yards @ Cuse.

That's a lot of improvement.  If we can stay about there, that's a good thing.

[BleacherBull]

Nice work Kizarvexis.  I was thinking that 60-something yards per game was better than the almost 100 per game we used to average.  Thanks for the numbers, showing a clear downward trend over the years, despite more hits being illegal now (facemasks all 15 yards now, helmet to helmet added, etc.).  GB!

[Orlando Bull]

When you have a mobile QB, you're going to get more penalties. OL is trying to block longer while QB scrambles in the backfield, sometimes OL may get too far ahead and get an illegal man down field call.

I haven't felt too bad about our penalties this year. Maybe I have become immune to it, but it doesn't seem as bad as in the past.

BTW, generally, I have no problem with the personal fouls that are questionable on the sidelines. You go until you hear a whistle. There have been a couple of questionable ones this year. When in doubt, lay him out. Obviously, there are situations where it's not acceptable (close game, late, etc.). Overall, if you get a few good licks in, the offense will turn it out of bounds a little quicker on future plays and you may get those 15 back in "hidden" yardage.

[Guest hm101]

for so many freshman, this team is outstanding including in this category