[NU Sports] Happy Thought for the Day

[Joe Thiegs]

Just a mid-week happy thought:
 
Statistically, the top four scoring defenses in FBS college football today
are LSU, Penn State, TCU, and . . . NU.
 
Now, let's see if we can keep that up for another few months!  :)  Didn't
'95 team boast the best scoring defense in the nation at the end of the
regular season that year?
 
BTW, I deplore the term "scoring defense" used as a measure of fewest points
allowed by a team.  I think that term should be used to rank instead the
most points caused or scored by defensive units (i.e., interceptions
returned for touchdowns, fumble recoveries and returns for touchdowns,
safeties, etc.).  Why can't the statisticians simply use "points yielded" or
"points allowed," which would be both more accurate and shorter (15
characters for "scoring defense" vs. 14 characters for "points yielded" or
"points allowed")?  No need for the word "fewest" or "least" before the term
because it is logical that a lower number is better for that statistic and,
accordingly, teams should be ranked on their averages from lowest to
highest.  Similarly, there probably is no need for "average" or "per game"
clarification because it should be obvious from the numbers (or at least as
obvious as with the term "scoring defense").  Thank you for allowing a forum
to voice this pet peeve.  Back to the happy thoughts.
 
-Joe