#BoxScoreReview Week 7
The deeper you get into the season the more valuable statistical analysis becomes. Gone are the outliers against Directional State U and the 42 bye weeks creating schedule imbalance (unless of course you’re the BigXII). Final scores only share a Cliffs Notes version of what transpired on the field and can lead to poor choices moving forward. Here’s what you may have missed hidden in the box scores from Week 7’s college football slate.
Oklahoma vs Texas
Oklahoma may have beaten Texas in their annual rivalry game but it wasn’t because of anything their offense did. The Sooners picked up 11 first downs and were 1-11 on 3rd down. Trevor Knight struggled for the 2nd straight week, this time going 12-20 but only for 129 yards. Texas outrushed, outpassed, and outplayed OU but like so many games this season the Horns were unable to turn those results into a victory.
Michigan St @ Purdue
Michigan St had just shy of a 200 yard advantage against Purdue on Saturday. However they needed a late TD for insurance against a pesky Boilermaker side.
Northwestern @ Minnesota
Northwestern couldn’t pick up their 3rd upset in as many weeks despite doubling up the Gophers in first downs and accumulating a +119 yard offensive advantage. The Wildcats also ran 30 more plays on offense than their opponent. The 100 yard Minnesota kickoff return is what eventually made the difference in the final score.
Tulsa @ Temple
Tulsa and Temple combined to go 7-30 on 3rd down. The problem for under bettors is they were doomed by a 99 yard TD drive at the end of the first half that not only cooked 1st half under tickets but also full game with the final score just sneaking over by the slimmest of margins.
Umass @ Kent St
UMASS’ 23 point blowout of Kent St wasn’t nearly as dominating as the final score indicated. The Minutemen did have a 141 yard advantage but ran roughly the same amount of plays and possessed the ball for only half the game. Umass’ final score of the game also came courtesy of a defensive TD inflating the winning margin.
Duke @ Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech couldn’t overcome a -3 turnover differential in losing to Duke as 4 pt chalk. The Jackets outgained the Devils 483-373 and converted 7 of their 11 3rd down opportunities to prolong drives. They also held Duke pivot Anthony Boone in check for extended stretches, limiting the QB to 123 yards passing but it still wasn’t enough to get the W.
Illinois @ Wisconsin
Wisconsin picked up their customary 400+ yards rushing in a workmanlike performance against Illinois. Yet again the Badgers were unable to cover a large number because of a passing game that couldn’t eclipse 100 yards. Gordon and Clement (175 & 164 respectively) were the workhorses for Gary Anderson’s side in the win.
Boston College @ NC State
Boston College and NC State started like a house on fire with 28 points coming between the 2 teams in the first quarter. From that point forward it was all BC as the Eagles outscored the Wolfpack 16-0. Yards, plays from scrimmage, and time of possession were exactly as you’d expect from BC in a dominating road win.
Cincinnati @ Miami
I have to give the Bearcats credit…they won the time of possession battle for the 1st time in 3 weeks and ran 89 plays from scrimmage compared to Miami’s 60. However getting outgained 621 to 422 and losing the turnover battle won’t keep you in many games even if you out convert the opposition on 3rd downs.
Buffalo @ Eastern Michigan
A 35 point 4th quarter put an otherwise sleepy affair between Eastern Michigan & Buffalo over the total. EMU had 67 offensive plays from scrimmage, 49 of which were running plays.
Indiana @ Iowa
Iowa used a stingy 3rd down defense to beat the Hoosiers by 2 scores. Indiana was only able to convert 3 of 15 opportunities on 3rd down, largely attributed to the loss of starting QB Nate Sudfield who will miss the remainder of the season with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Iowa actually finished the game -6 in total offensive output despite the win. The individual standout performer was Tevin Coleman, finishing the game with 219 yards rushing and 3 TD’s on only 19 carries.
Bowling Green @ Ohio
Bowling Green beat Ohio 31-13…however the box score tells a very different tale. Ohio converted 12 of 24 3rd downs, ran 110 plays, and outgained the Falcons by 158 yards on offense. They also held the football for 39:21 while Bowling Green kept the rock for 21:39. Anyone who actually watched the game in it’s entirety please fill me in on how this all was made possible.
West Virginia @ Texas Tech
West Virginia stormed back in the 2nd half against Texas Tech to escape Lubbock with a 37-34 (non-cover) victory. WVU outscored the Raiders 27-13 in the game’s final 30 minutes. The teams combined for over 1,100 yards of offense and 178 total offensive snaps.
Oklahoma St @ Kansas
Oklahoma State was nothing short of awful in their trip to Lawrence against Kansas. OSU needed a late kickoff return to squeak by the woeful Jayhawks in a game that saw them actually lose the boxscore in total yards, first downs, and time of possession.
TCU @ Baylor
Baylor may have needed an improbable comeback to remain unbeaten however they dominated the stat sheet. The Bears racked up 782 yards of offense to TCU’s 485 while running 20 more offensive plays (109-89). TCU’s hidden yardage came from the return game where they compiled 277 to Baylor’s 162.
North Texas @ UAB
UAB beat North Texas 56-21…but again the stat sheet said the game should have been much more even than the final score. North Texas finished +3 in yardage but were done in by a -5 turnover differential that resulted in 3 defensive scores for the Blazers.
Western Michigan @ Ball St
Western Michigan turned a 31-14 halftime deficit into a 42-28 victory against Ball St. Aside from the unusual scoring pattern that took place in Muncie, the final score was very indicative of exactly how the box score looked from the outside.
Alabama @ Arkansas
Inclement weather and a missed Arkansas extra point allowed Alabama to escape Fayetteville with a narrow victory. The Hogs held Bama to a season low 227 yards of total offense and only 10 first downs. Neither team was able to run the ball with Alabama amassing 66 on 32 carries while Arkansas gained 89 on their 39 rushing attempts.
Oregon @ UCLA
Too little too late made the final score for UCLA’s 42-30 loss to Oregon look a lot closer than the game actually was. UCLA finished the afternoon 11-19 on 3rd downs with an 85 yard edge in offense. However the score was 35-10 headed into the 4th before UCLA outscored the visitors 20-7 in the final stanza.
USC @ Arizona
Special teams doomed the Arizona Wildcats in their upset bid against USC. Again the Wildcats dug themselves a hole before outscoring the Trojans 13-0 in the 4th. Arizona converted 11 of 22 3rd down attempts and outgained USC by 50 yards. However 2 missed field goals at key junctures was what eventually knocked U of A from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Washington @ California
California lost to Washington 31-7 in a game that was much more competitive than the final score indicated. Cal ran 20 more plays than the Huskies and finished the game -4 in net offensive yards. Turnovers proved to be the difference where Cal put the ball on the carpet 5 separate occasions, losing 3 of them including the game’s opening score that led to a 99 yard scoop and score for the Huskies Shaq Thompson
Georgia @ Missouri
No Gurley, no problem when UGA’s defense rose to the occasion stifling Mizzou’s offensive flow. UGA outgained Missouri 379-147 and more than doubled up the Tigers offensive snaps 87-43.
Louisville @ Clemson
I’m still trying to figure out how Louisville and Clemson combined for 40 points. The 2 teams were awful on 3rd down (Ville 1-17, Clemson 2-16) and gained a grand total of 493 yards between them on 139 offensive snaps. Clemson’s offense will look like a shell of its former self the next 3 weeks with Stoudt taking snaps while Watson recovers from hand surgery.
Central Michigan @ Northern Illinois
The only reason I even make mention of CMU’s resounding win over NIU in Boxscore Review is because they dominated the game despite being an 8 point underdog. Thomas Rawls was the difference for the Chips, carrying the ball 40x for 270 yards.
Ole Miss @ Texas A&M
Texas A&M vs Ole Miss was one of the day’s more curious games when you dig into the final box score. The Rebels showed no signs of a letdown on defense, taking a 21-0 lead into the half at Kyle Field. Stats at the end of the game get a bit messy indicating a decided edge in FD’s (27-17), yards (455-338), and offensive snaps (88-54) for the Aggies but most of those numbers were accrued when the game was out of reach.
Penn St @ Michigans
Michigan and Penn St played one of the weekend’s uglier football games. The 2 teams went toe to toe in a slugfest that saw 27 first downs, 470 yards of offense, and only 125 offensive plays run between them.
