#BoxscoreReview
Boxscore Review is back! I got a little long winded this weekend…it won’t happen again. Moving forward we’ll just aim to highlight games where the final scores didn’t tell the whole story whereas this week I elected to utilize more of a game capsule route. During the course of the season if you see a score line that’s not indicative of the boxscore use the hashtag #BoxscoreReview and we’ll incorporate in our weekly column.
Texas A&M did whatever they wanted when they wanted to against South Carolina’s defense. The Aggies racked up 680 total yards of offense, 511 via the passing game on a 44-60 night from Kenny Hill. South Carolina only ran the ball for 67 yards without Mike Davis in the 2nd half but they were forced to abandon the ground game while playing catch-up most of the night. The most troubling part for the Gamecocks is they were only 2 of 9 extending drives on 3rd down.
Boise played Ole Miss much closer than the final score indicated. The game was actually 7-6 headed into the 4th quarter before the Rebels exploded for 3 TD’s inside of 5 minutes to put the game on ice. Ball security wasn’t a point of emphasis for either starting QB, throwing 7 combined interceptions. Ole Miss never established a ground game either running the ball 34 times for an average of 2.1 ypc. No Rebel player carried the ball more than 9x…and that was QB Bo Wallace.
Wake Forest had the most pathetic offensive performance of the entire weekend (SMU was close). The Demon Deacons amassed 5 first downs, 94 yards of offense, and -3 yards rushing on 27 carries. Wake did lead 10-0 at one point in the game with their lone touchdown coming via a blocked punt. Since their field goal with 4:07 left in the 2nd quarter, Wake Forest didn’t put together a drive of more than 16 yards.
Mike Leach offenses abandoning the run is nothing new and the Cougars didn’t disappoint in their season opener against Rutgers. Wazzou picked up 6 yards on the ground on only 14 attempts. Rutgers found much more balance with 215 via the ground and 281 in the aerial department.
Temple was good vs Vanderbilt but they weren’t as good as a final score of 37-7 indicated. The Owls were only +74 yards on offense but won the turnover battle by 5. Vanderbilt’s only points on the evening came via a botched punt. The Commodores offense was so anemic new head coach Derek Mason elected to give 3 different quarterbacks reps…none had success.
BYU led 28-7 at halftime against Uconn before putting the game into cruise control. Taysom Hill was brutally efficient in both passing/running the ball accounting for 405 total yards of offense. Uconn used 2 quarterbacks in the loss but neither had a QBR greater than 40 on the evening.
Western Kentucky made easy work of Bowling Green as nearly a TD underdog. The Hilltoppers scored at least 14 points in every quarter . All 5 scoring drives in the first half were 63 yards or longer. BGSU never found a way to slow down WKU’s passing game, surrendering 569 yards in the loss.
Colorado St trailed in-state rival Colorado 17-14 before exploding for 17 unanswered points in the 4th quarter. CSU used a 2 headed rushing attack of Dee Hart and Treyous Jarrells to rack up 260 yards rushing.
Houston was anything but explosive in their season opener against UTSA. The high octane Cougars gained 208 yards, 234 through the air (yes you do the math). John O’Korn struggled mightily producing a 21-43 night with 4 interceptions. UTSA was far from explosive themselves only gaining 267 yards of offense. They did win the turnover battle 6-1 however had only 2 total drives that gained more than 40 yards.
If UNLV was hell bent on getting revenge for last year’s loss to Arizona they had a funny way of showing it. The Rebels defense was gashed for 787 yards that included 353 rushing yards for the Wildcats. Arizona actually was -1 in the turnover department but that didn’t stop them form turning a 31-13 lead into a 58-13 final by scoring the final 27 points of the night.
Under bettors had a legitimate gripe about losing the UCF/PSU total on the final play of regulation. There were only 13 points scored by the first half of the game. UCF gained 246 yards in the losing effort, only compiling 11 first downs. The offense was sparked when starting QB Pete Dinovo was benched in favor of Justin Holman. Holman went 9 of 14 for 204 compared to Dinovo’s 3-8 for a grand total of 18 yards. Christian Hackenberg’s 454 yards passing was a Penn St record, a sure sign of things to come for the talented pivot.
28 point outbursts (if you can call it that) are not created equally. UCLA’s offense only mustered 7 pts, the other 21 were courtesy of defensive scores. Despite the high expectations for UCLA they could best be described as average during their breakfast date in Charlottesville. The box score was as even as the 28-20 final would indicate…the real bad beat came for 1st half under bettors who saw 31 points scored in that stanza to eclipse the halftime total of 28.
Michigan got out to a 35 point lead and never looked back against Appalachian St. The Wolverines averaged just under 10 YPC (350 total yards rushing) with Devin Gardner starting the year in style going 13-14 for 173 yards. Michigan only faced 8 3rd downs, converting 5 of them.
Notre Dame used a perfectly balanced offense to dispose of Rice. The Fighting Irish had 295 yards passing on the afternoon compared to 281 yards rushing in the return of starting QB Everett Golson.
Ohio St used a strong 2nd half to leave Baltimore with a 34-17 victory against Navy. The Middies were outscored 28-10 in the 2nd half despite a final game boxscore that was a lot more even than the score indicated. In typical Navy fashion they attempted just 4 passes while running 63 times to the tune of 370 yards. Keenan Reynolds carried the ball 23 times for 42 yards.
After watching Western Michigan take on Purdue I wanted 4 hours of my life back. Both teams ran the ball effectively with each side going for 200+ yards. Purdue snuck in the front door scoring an insurance touchdown with less than 4 minutes left meaning the game fell 9. Why is that important? Sharp money crushed this price from 13 down to 7 meaning a huge middle meant a nice pay day for some.
Boston College was the popular play for the professionals although you wouldn’t have known it by watching the first 30 minutes when they built a slim 6-0 lead. However the next 2 quarters were a lot different as the Golden Eagles outscored UMASS 24-7. The boxscore was very 1 sided with BC +309 in offensive output. For a team not expected to be an offensive juggernaut BC only had 1 series culminating in a 3 and out while they had 6 drives that lasted 10 or more plays, gradually wearing down the smaller Umass defensive front.
Having a ticket on FAU was like betting on a donkey to win the Kentucky derby; from the moment it left the gates there was no chance. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you feel) I was that donkey. The 48 pt margin of victory was indicative of Nebraska’s +584 yardage edge that came via their nearly 500 (yes 500) yards on the ground. Nebraska ran 92 plays to their opponents 60 but most impressively they forced 9 series for the Owls to last only 3 plays.
Despite building a 28-3 halftime advantage Marshall came up short against Miami OH as 23.5 pt favorites. Miami actually picked up more 1st downs than the Herd and were only -18 in net offensive yardage. Rakeem Cato will need to be better than he was (21-33, 264 yards) if he’s going to get an invite to New York City. Marshall failed to extend drives consistently going 4-12 on 3rd downs with just 6 drives lasting more than 3 plays.
A game that was close at half turned into a rout over the last 30 minutes with Auburn outscoring Arkansas 24-0 after a prolonged weather delay. Arkansas was outgained 595-328 and outrushed at nearly a 2-1 clip. Jeremy Johnson (started the game while Marshall served suspension) was the star of the show going 12-16 for 243 yards although Cameron Artis-Payne wasn’t a slouch running the ball himself. Arkansas will be better offensively this year but until they solve some of their defensive issues SEC wins will be tough to come by for the Hogs.
A game that was close at half turned into a rout over the last 30 minutes…sound familiar? UGA and Clemson had the same scoreline as Arkansas vs Auburn at the break and also as both crossed the finish line. UGA ran wild against the Tigers defensive front, gashing Clemson for 328 yards on the ground on the strength of Todd Gurley’s 198 yards. Clemson never could establish their ground game and Cole Stoudt proved to be pretty pedestrian in his first start. UGA had 2 scoring drives that lasted exactly 1 play each and a kickoff return for a TD, something to keep an eye on when it comes to big rushing plays late in the game.
Ohio ended up winning outright as 3 point underdogs against Kent St yet the final score could (and should) have been much more decisive than it was. Ohio out gained Kent 437 to 295 but lost the turnover battle 4-0. Over the course of 4 successive drives Ohio fumbled keeping Kent in the game. Look for line value betting on Ohio and against Kent St this week as a result of a misleading final score.
Someone break up the Trojans!!! In a game that played out very similarly to their bowl game in Vegas last season, USC’s offense proved to be too much for Fresno’s defense. 701-317 in yardage, 37-17 in first downs, and 4-2 in turnovers later USC asserted every bit of dominance the 52-13 final indicates.
Rushing was the order of the day in Albuquerque where UNM & UTEP combined for 740 yards on the ground. Passing however proved to be a bit of a problem considering there were less than 200 yards of the aerial variety in the game. Aaron Jones, UTEP’s starting RB, was the star of the show going for 237 yards on 22 carries.
Eight first downs…yes 8 was all North Texas gained against Texas. The Longhorns offense wasn’t exactly dominant itself with a sub 400 yard performance. Texas’ last score was of the defensive variety meaning without it they’d have failed to cover the opening number of -25.
LSU spotted Wisconsin a 24-7 lead before the Tigers offense awoke from its slumper. For some reason I’ll never understand why Wisconsin failed to feed their horse Melvin Gordon with the game on the line, a decision Gary Andersen may regret if the Badgers run the table from here on out.
The stat line read 574-67 and the scoreboard showed a decisive 45-0 win for Baylor. The Bears ability to find balance on offense will come in handy while Bryce Petty has a chance to heal (even while playing).
