{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/43741"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/43741","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Coach's dilemma: run versus pass","abstract":"The decision of run versus pass is of major importance to a football coach. This study focused on four situations: second down and short medium yardage for a first down; second down and long medium yardage for a first down; third down and short medium yardage for a first down; and third down and long medium yardage for a first down. Plays were taken off of a computer printout from the 1985 Virginia Tech Football team's statistics. Percentages of success and failure were taken to determine if a pattern could be established as to whether run or pass was more successful. These percentages were tested against a null hypothesis which stated that there would not be any difference in the success rate of run versus pass. Strength of schedule was taken into consideration. A Spearman rho (rank) correlation coefficient was computed for opponents' pre-season and post-season ranking. The study established that there was a significant difference in the success rate by using the run in the second down and short medium situation. This was also found to be true in the third down and short medium situation.","abstract_html":"The decision of run versus pass is of major importance to a football coach. This study focused on four situations: second down and short medium yardage for a first down; second down and long medium yardage for a first down; third down and short medium yardage for a first down; and third down and long medium yardage for a first down. Plays were taken off of a computer printout from the 1985 Virginia Tech Football team's statistics. Percentages of success and failure were taken to determine if a pattern could be established as to whether run or pass was more successful. These percentages were tested against a null hypothesis which stated that there would not be any difference in the success rate of run versus pass. Strength of schedule was taken into consideration. A Spearman rho (rank) correlation coefficient was computed for opponents' pre-season and post-season ranking. The study established that there was a significant difference in the success rate by using the run in the second down and short medium situation. This was also found to be true in the third down and short medium situation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vaught, Dennis A."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Health and Physical Education","degree_department":"Health and Physical Education","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1987,"date_issued":"1987","date_published":"1987","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:31Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07152010-020215"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-07152010-020215","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/43741","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Health and Physical Education"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vaught, Dennis A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T21:40:31Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T21:40:31Z","2010-07-15"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1987"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Health and Physical Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-07152010-020215"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/43741"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The decision of run versus pass is of major importance to a football coach. 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This study focused on four situations: second down and short medium yardage for a first down; second down and long medium yardage for a first down; third down and short medium yardage for a first down; and third down and long medium yardage for a first down. Plays were taken off of a computer printout from the 1985 Virginia Tech Football team's statistics. Percentages of success and failure were taken to determine if a pattern could be established as to whether run or pass was more successful. These percentages were tested against a null hypothesis which stated that there would not be any difference in the success rate of run versus pass. Strength of schedule was taken into consideration. A Spearman rho (rank) correlation coefficient was computed for opponents' pre-season and post-season ranking. The study established that there was a significant difference in the success rate by using the run in the second down and short medium situation. 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