#BoxscoreReview Week 2
Another crazy weekend in college football with movement all throughout the land. Final scores that left us going “how the hell did that happen” and results that didn’t mesh with the stat sheet. That’s what we’re here for to highlight inconsistencies in order to take advantage of next week’s numbers. Remember, feel free to use #BoxscoreReview while watching games and we’ll be sure to include your observations in our weekly column. Every game won’t hit our scoresheet especially when the stats paint an accurate picture of what unfolded on the field.
Credit Arizona fir going into hostile territory to take on upstart program UTSA as part of last year’s return trip. The Wildcats were generous, keeping the Roadrunners in the game despite outgaining them by 105 yards. Arizona settled for 4 field goals, preventing them from covering -7.5 as road despite being the dominant side for most of the evening.
Washington St lost the battle on the scoreboard 24-13 but won the total yards stat sheet 427-324. There was nothing new with Mike Leach’s offense, 389 yards of passing offense compared to just 38 yards rushing. Nevada benefited from a +2 turnover margin in winning outright as a 3 point home dog.
All 31-0 scores are not created equally…just ask Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish didn’t even eclipse 300 yards of offense, getting outgained by Michigan 289-280. Notre Dame finished the game +4 in turnovers which helped them put the Wolverines away early. The running game was problematic for Brian Kelly’s bunch, mustering just 54 yards on 31 carries. Notre Dame struggled throughout the 2nd half to move the football as well, putting together just 1 drive that gained more than 10 yards.
Buffalo trailed Army 47-17 with 11:10 left to play in the 4th quarter before mounting a late comeback. The two teams combined for 65 points in the 2nd half helping the game fly over the total. Buffalo was +16 in first downs and +83 in yardage but still weren’t able to cover as 3.5 point dogs.
Turnovers doomed SMU against North Texas (and their anemic offense). The Mean Green were +5 in that department helping them build a 43-0 lead at one point. North Texas only had 1 scoring drive cover more than 52 yards while 5 of them were 27 yards or shorter. North Texas ended up taking 15 penalties for 139 yards in the game.
Kansas St made things very interesting against Iowa St. The Wildcats got out to an early 13-0 lead then surrendered 28 straight points before scoring 21 straight of their own to close out the win. KSU dominated the stat sheet with a 471-319 yardage edge showing complete balance through the air and on the ground in narrowly avoiding the upset.
Penn St needed a touchdown mid-way through the 4th quarter to get outside the number for the first time against the Zips. The Nitany Lions showed a bit of an Irish hangover taking a 7-0 lead into the half before being able to extend late. PSU outgained Akron 425-277 however the game remained tight because the Zips were +3 in the turnover department.
Central Michigan remained committed to their ground game all afternoon against Purdue, running the ball 43 times compared to only 16 passing attempts. The Chippewas were up 14-0 8 minutes into the game and never let Purdue trim their deficit to single digits all afternoon.
Navy shook any potential Ohio St hangover early by holding on late to nip Temple. In typical Midshipmen fashion they outgained the Owls 487-156 in the rushing department. Keenan Reynolds only attempted 8 passes, raising his grand total to 12 attempts through the first 2 games.
Fresno St never got out of neutral and were pasted by Utah. The Bulldogs first 5 offensive drives went 15 plays for 2 yards. By that point in the game they were already down 17-0 en route to Utah rolling up 526 yards (268 passing / 258 rushing) before putting the finishing touches on a 59-27 final.
USC may have beaten Stanford 13-10 on the scoreboard but they most definitely didn’t win the stat sheet. The Cardinal outgained USC 413-291 but were done in because of their redzone inefficiency. Stanford had 9 drives for the game but were only forced to punt twice. Unfortunately there were 5 drives that ended in missed field goals, turnovers, or short on downs.
Kentucky built a 17-0 lead before coasting to a 20-3 victory. The Wildcats only scored 3 points in the second half but stifled Ohio’s offense all night, holding the Bobcats to 223 yards. Time of possession was the most telling stat of all where Kentucky owned nearly a 17 minute advantage.
All 38 points in the Northwestern vs NIU game were scored in the 2nd half. Northwestern did all their damage through the air while NIU’s balanced attack chewed up balanced yardage. This was the 2nd straight game where the Wildcats first half performance could only be described as sleep walking.
Iowa needed a late touchdown to get out of Kinnick Stadium with a win but it shouldn’t have been that difficult. The Hawkeyes were +14 in the first down department, +236 in yardage, and much more efficient on 3rd down than their opponents. Ball St’s lone TD came via a defensive score on a 35 yard fumble return.
Middle Tennessee State pulled off an improbable backdoor cover as 14 pt dogs despite trailing 28-0 at the half. MTSU was the better team through the air while Minnesota did most of their damage on the ground. MTSU actually scored the all important late touchdown with 45 seconds to go, their first time inside the number since early in the 2nd quarter.
South Florida won the turnover battle 6-1 against Maryland but still came up short getting outscored 10-0 in the final stanza. The Bulls had one sustained drive in the 2nd half resulting in a missed field goal, beyond that they weren’t able to mount much of an attack the entire 2nd half.
Florida won 65-0…we didn’t think that was possible under the current regime.
Auburn’s 46 point drubbing of SJSU is a little misleading. War Eagle had just a slight edge in first downs and their +174 yardage differential was far from consistent with margin of victory. Their defense was stout, holding SJSU to 65 yards rushing on 45 attempts.
Air Force showed more balance than we’ve come to expect from them in the past. They ended up airing it out 32 times while running the ball 52 times. Eventually 2 turnovers did in the Academy leaving them 4 points short after Wyoming scored the go ahead TD with under a minute remaining.
Boise St did what they wanted when they wanted against Colorado St. The 37-24 final was much closer than the Broncos domination given the Rams trailed 37-10 at one point. Boise’s balance (352 passing, 324 rushing) was the most impressive part of their Mountain West victory.
The most curious finish of the night took place in the islands. Hawaii trailed 38-7 only 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter. After scoring that TD, Oregon St went on to run 24 more plays for a grand total of 59 yards. At that point it was almost as if Oregon St completely checked out allowing Hawaii to score the game’s final 23 points to complete an improbable backdoor cover with 2:37 remaining.
