FCS - Home to College FB's Most Penalized Team

[TexasTerror]

117.5 yards per game! More than 20 yards separate #1 from #2 in Division I. Only team with over 100 penalty yards per game in Division I - period.

Where does the blame fall when a team has that many penalty yards?


The Jags have been hit with 940 yards in penalties this year, an average of 117.5 yards per game and the most among any American college football team in any division.

The next-highest Division I total is 783 penalty yards (97.9 per game) called on Bethune-Cookman this season. In other words, out of 237 Division I teams, in both the FBS and FCS, Southern is the national leader in penalties by an amazing 157 yards – almost 20 yards per game – over everyone else.

It gets worse. Southern’s 117.5 average in walkoff yardage per game is more than the top flag drawers in Division II (Delta State, 110.6 yards per game), Division III (Wesley College, 109.9) and the NAIA (Missouri Valley College, 109.0). In all, that’s 716 four-year colleges, and Southern leads them all.

http://www.neworleans.com/sports/sports-blogs/dan-mcdonald/530031-louisiana-college-sports-notebook-wac-y-times-for-southland.html

[jmufan999]

Where does the blame fall when a team has that many penalty yards?

Tough to say without knowing their team well. The easy answer is coaching but that's a huge cop-out a lot of times. Players still have to play. JMU fans don't seem to understand this (we have lots of penalties also). Another thing is that it can get in players' heads. As soon as you feel like you're famous for penalties, you're more likely to commit more. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Along those lines, I think refs can be biased in the same way. If they're expecting to throw lots of flags that day, they probably will.

[WestCoastAggie]

The blame falls upon the coaching staff.

Who are the least penalized FCS teams?

BTW: I am not surprised that a MEAC and SWAC school have the most penalty yards in the FCS. It boggles my mind why fundamentals and discipline aren't being taught more in these programs. But when you don't usually have enough coaches on staff, which is the case of many HBCU teams, things such as fundamentals are left by the wayside.

[TexasTerror]

Fewest Penalties... funny how an 0-9 team has the fewest penalties...

Rank Name Games Penalties Yards Penalized Penalties Per Game Yards Per Game Wins Losses Ties
1 Valparaiso 9 31 249 3.44 27.67 0 9 0
2 Davidson 8 33 228 4.13 28.50 2 6 0
2 Texas St. 8 33 372 4.13 46.50 4 4 0
4 UC Davis 8 34 314 4.25 39.25 3 5 0
4 Campbell 8 34 332 4.25 41.50 2 6 0
6 Southeast Mo. St. 9 39 276 4.33 30.67 8 1 0
7 Furman 8 35 297 4.38 37.13 4 4 0
8 William & Mary 8 36 270 4.50 33.75 6 2 0
8 Southern Ill. 8 36 299 4.50 37.38 3 5 0
10 Princeton 7 32 285 4.57 40.71 1 6 0

[BlueHenSinfonian]

Not only does Southern rule the roost for most penalties, take a look at the top ten by penalty yardage and you'll see a trend (all figures through 10/30 from NCAA.org)

1. Southern, 940 penalty yards - SWAC
2. Bethune-Cookman, 783 penalty yards - MEAC
3. Texas Southern, 775 penalty yards - SWAC
4. Jackson State, 770 penalty yards - SWAC
5. Alabama State, 711 penalty yards - SWAC
6. NC A&T, 710 penalty yards - MEAC
7. Grambling, 695 penalty yards - SWAC
8. Wagner, 686 penalty yards - NEC
9. Northwestern State, 665 penalty yards - Southland
10. South Carolina State, 636 penalty yards, MEAC

Needless to say both the SWAC and the MEAC are very well represented here. It it due to a fundamental lack of discipline on these teams, or is there something else going on here?

[JSU02]

xpopcornx

[FormerPokeCenter]

Not only does Southern rule the roost for most penalties, take a look at the top ten by penalty yardage and you'll see a trend (all figures through 10/30 from NCAA.org)

1. Southern, 940 penalty yards - SWAC
2. Bethune-Cookman, 783 penalty yards - MEAC
3. Texas Southern, 775 penalty yards - SWAC
4. Jackson State, 770 penalty yards - SWAC
5. Alabama State, 711 penalty yards - SWAC
6. NC A&T, 710 penalty yards - MEAC
7. Grambling, 695 penalty yards - SWAC
8. Wagner, 686 penalty yards - NEC
9. Northwestern State, 665 penalty yards - Southland
10. South Carolina State, 636 penalty yards, MEAC

Needless to say both the SWAC and the MEAC are very well represented here. It it due to a fundamental lack of discipline on these teams, or is there something else going on here?


It could be horrid officiating in certain leagues. Northwestern State is on that list, for instance. You haven't seen incompetent officiating until you've seen Southland Refs. Let me rephrase that. Southland officiating isn't merely horrid, it's tortious...

[mikebigg]

Not only does Southern rule the roost for most penalties, take a look at the top ten by penalty yardage and you'll see a trend (all figures through 10/30 from NCAA.org)

1. Southern, 940 penalty yards - SWAC
2. Bethune-Cookman, 783 penalty yards - MEAC
3. Texas Southern, 775 penalty yards - SWAC
4. Jackson State, 770 penalty yards - SWAC
5. Alabama State, 711 penalty yards - SWAC
6. NC A&T, 710 penalty yards - MEAC
7. Grambling, 695 penalty yards - SWAC
8. Wagner, 686 penalty yards - NEC
9. Northwestern State, 665 penalty yards - Southland
10. South Carolina State, 636 penalty yards, MEAC

Needless to say both the SWAC and the MEAC are very well represented here. It it due to a fundamental lack of discipline on these teams, or is there something else going on here?

Need better officiating...some of the "judgment" calls are HORRIBLE! I was told that last week during our game against UAPB, a Grambling player made an interception and an official dropped a flag. Our coach held the players on the sideline and instructed the players on the field not to leave. He asked the official to count the players... the official had to wave off the flag. Good heads up move by the coach, but still an indictment on the ineptness of officiating.

[TokyoGriz]

Boy you SWAC boys play rough dont ya!

lol

[TexasTerror]

It could be horrid officiating in certain leagues. Northwestern State is on that list, for instance. You haven't seen incompetent officiating until you've seen Southland Refs. Let me rephrase that. Southland officiating isn't merely horrid, it's tortious...

Hasn't Southland officiating gotten better since we started sharing officiating crews with the Big 12? I know our officials aren't 'grand' by any stretch, but there's been a few Big 12 officials floating around our games due to our agreement(s) with them.

[mikebigg]

Boy you SWAC boys play rough dont ya!

lol

sometimes the officials act like they are being paid per # of flags thrown...

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

Easiest Answe Ever:

Horrendous HBCU refs....And that's being kind....They cant even count to 11 at times for crying out loud....

Thankfully.....that Ref wasn't at the LSU/Tennessee game or that "W" that should have been an "L" would have really been an "L"

Not and LSU fan....just sayin'

[SpeedkingATL]

App is currently making a run for the Top 10 in penalties. One more game like last week and we're in.

[boonedocks]

Maybe i've missed something, and this has been answered. But, is it me, or does Texas Terror have something against Southern?

Seems like he is always starting threads about them, and jumping in with some commentary on other threads. I would say he's on a strict liquid diet of Haterade. But, I probably missed something.

Did you Jaguars steal his lunch money, or girlfriend, or something?

[TexasTerror]

Maybe i've missed something, and this has been answered. But, is it me, or does Texas Terror have something against Southern?

Just found a stat nugget... this was by a writer I read regularly, so was not anything new to read something intriguing from this one.

You are not a newbie, so you should be familiar with the fact that I always run across intriguing stories and stat nuggets... check out my post on the NCAA's first transgendered athlete, the CFL's non-sensiscal play to end last week's Toronto Argos-Montreal Alouttes game, etc. :)

[jmufan999]

Maybe i've missed something, and this has been answered. But, is it me, or does Texas Terror have something against Southern?

Seems like he is always starting threads about them, and jumping in with some commentary on other threads. I would say he's on a strict liquid diet of Haterade. But, I probably missed something.

Did you Jaguars steal his lunch money, or girlfriend, or something?

This was pretty funny... guess I haven't noticed it. I feel like he's one of the only TRUE FCS fans on here (most of us [that are honest with ourselves] love our team first, our team second, our team third, our team fourth.... maybe in 50th place is FCS football in general).

I really do feel like he cares a lot about FCS football as a whole so I give him a lot of credit for that.

[McNeese75]

Hasn't Southland officiating gotten better since we started sharing officiating crews with the Big 12? I know our officials aren't 'grand' by any stretch, but there's been a few Big 12 officials floating around our games due to our agreement(s) with them.

Not no but Hell NO!!! The Big 12 officials do not want to call SLC games and it shows in their crappy performance. The best officiated game for McNeese this year (by far) was the SEC crew that called the LSU game.