The first half of the 2011 CFL season is in the books, so let's check in on how we're doing:
Code:
2011 Summary for Tucson Toros
Record: 7-1
Winning Pct.: .875
Tucson Toros Team Rank
Rushes 277 7
Rushing Yards 1142 7
Yards Per Carry 4.12 15
Pass Attempts 215 31
Completions 123 31
Passing Yards 1698 25
Yards Per Attempt 7.89 4
3rd Down Conversions 39.8 26 (T)
Points Per Game 25.8 3
Turnovers 8 9 (T)
Turnover Margin +4 10 (T)
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 215 6
Rushing Yards 750 2
Yards Per Carry 3.48 2
Pass Attempts 273 18 (T)
Completions 132 1 (T)
Passing Yards 1735 7
Yards Per Attempt 6.35 4
3rd Down Conversions 39.3 8
Points Per Game 16.8 4 (T)
Turnovers 12 9 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 27 ARI 10
2 20 at SAO 10
3 31 at SEA 21
4 28 at HON 18
5 20 DEN 14
7 24 at ELP 16
8 24 LVS 28
9 33 TUL 18
10 at FAR
11 at ARI
12 NOS
13 HBE
14 SHR
15 HON
16 at MEM
17 at LVS
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
19 Goodwin QB 206 120 1628 7.90 17 5
**Team --- 215 123 1698 7.89 17 5
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
42 Holliday RB 202 888 4.39 4
26 Jeffries FB 58 195 3.36 2
**Team --- 277 1142 4.12 7
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
89 Armitage WR 57 31 488 15.7 81 3
82 Torres TE 29 23 289 12.5 53 3
80 Higginbotham WR 42 21 354 16.8 59 2
85 Garcia WR 29 15 302 20.1 23 4
26 Jeffries FB 19 11 68 6.1 41 1
81 Hodges WR 18 11 132 12.0 19 2
**Team --- 215 123 1698 13.8 300 17
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
31 Enoch S 50 24 0.0 0 1 15
55 Trujillo OLB 50 9 0.5 3 0 1
52 Wash ILB 40 16 0.0 1 0 2
45 Stine S 29 9 1.0 0 3 17
25 Minahan CB 29 9 0.0 0 1 3
58 Watford OLB 26 8 3.0 0 0 3
40 Biggs CB 20 4 0.0 0 1 8
70 Neubauer DT 20 12 5.0 8 0 0
75 Grier DE 20 10 5.5 8 0 1
95 Stoltzfus DT 19 6 4.5 7 0 0
97 Horn DE 17 2 4.5 11 0 0
93 King OLB 15 1 0.0 0 0 0
35 Giles CB 11 7 0.0 0 3 2
**Team --- 399 139 28.0 49 9 55
We're 7-1, which ties for our 2nd-best 1st-half ever (we were 7-0-1 in 2005 and 7-1 in 2006), so that's good. Actually, that's great, as I went into the season thinking that the first half of our schedule looked much tougher than the second half. I was prepared to be 5-3 or 4-4 at the break, so being 7-1 makes me very happy. We have a 2-game lead on division foes Honolulu and Las Vegas (both 5-3) and Arizona sits at 3-5. So, we're in good position going into the second half of the year and that's important because our second-half foes appear a big stronger than I anticipated. They're a collective 34-32 on the season.
How did we get to 7-1? Three reasons:
1) Drew Holliday is having another monster season, and is on pace to shatter his career highs in carries and yards. His TDs are down, which is hard for me to explain given that our gameplan sets him up for lots of TD runs, but I figure that little statistical fluke will work itself out;
2) our defense has been outstanding, thanks to the fact that they've stayed generally healthy. Stoltzfus has missed a few games, but even with him out we played tough D. I'm shocked at how effective our pass rush has been so far (28 sacks and 49 hurries), and the new additions to our secondary in Giles and Stine have provided six of the nine INTS we've nabbed. We're surrendering just 3.48 ypc (2nd in league) and 6.35 ypa (4th in league), and if we keep that up we'll be in great shape; and
3) the emergence of Kent Goodwin. Those who've been following this dynasty probably remember that I snuck him in as a starter for the first two games of the year to get him some experience, and my plan was to hand the reigns back to Hogan for the Seattle game. Well, Seattle knocked Hogan out after just 9 pass attempts, and Goodwin came on to seal the win. He's been starting for us ever since and has been nothing short of phenomenal. Thanks to Holliday we've been able to shield Goodwin a bit, and he's only been asked to attempt 206 passes (our 215 pass attempts is the 2nd fewest in the league). I'm sure that helps, but when we've had to rely on him he's come through, as his 17 TDs attest. However, I now have a decision to make: Hogan just finished rehabing his injury and is available to play. Do I stick with the kid or hand things over to the veteran? Decisions, decisions.
Injuries remain the primary concern for this club, as we just had one of our top O-linemen go down for the season (T Pitman). We can rely on veteran T Chris Franck to fill in, but we don't have the kind of O-line depth that can sustain another long-term injury. Stoltzfus also needs to stay healthy. And god forbid anything happen to Holliday. In other words, if we can have the kind of injury luck this year that we
didn't get last year, we'll be in good shape.
Next week: at Fargo.