The box score of the week has to go to Michigan State-Ohio State… not because of the result itself, but because a team which passed for just 91 yards so thoroughly dominated the game and overcame two seven-point turnovers… on the road… against the defending national champions.
Here’s the rest of what we found in week 12:
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The 20 games surveyed:
California-Stanford
TCU-Oklahoma
Cincinnati-South Florida
Air Force-Boise State
Florida Atlantic-Florida
Purdue-Iowa
UCLA-Utah
Memphis-Temple
Michigan-Penn State
Baylor-Oklahoma State
North Carolina-Virginia Tech
Mississippi State-Arkansas
Michigan State-Ohio State
LSU-Ole Miss
Boston College-Notre Dame
Northwestern-Wisconsin
Houston-Connecticut
Iowa State-Kansas State
USC-Oregon
Louisville-Pittsburgh
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Here are 20 statistics we gleaned from week 12:
20) Teams with more first downs went 11-5 in these 20 games. There were four statistical ties.
19) Cincinnati and South Florida finished tied in first downs… in a game South Florida led by 48 points at the half. One week earlier, South Florida and Temple both gained the same amount of first downs in a contest the Bulls won by 21. What is it with South Florida and first downs?
18) Cal gained seven more first downs than Stanford… and lost. One week earlier, Stanford gained 14 more first downs than Oregon and lost. Three weeks earlier, Stanford allowed 11 more first downs than Washington State… but beat the Cougars. What is it with Stanford games and first downs?
17) LSU gained more first downs than Ole Miss in a decisive loss to the Rebels. LSU pulled off the “more of everything” box score (more of each of the categories we track on a weekly basis).
16) Ohio State and Florida, put together, managed a total of only 18 first downs last Saturday.
15) Teams with more yards went 14-6 in these 20 games.
14) California gained 139 more yards than Stanford… and lost.
13) Purdue gained more yards than Iowa… and lost by 20.
12) LSU gained more yards than Ole Miss… and lost by 21.
11) Florida and Northwestern won despite gaining no more than 252 yards (the Gators needing overtime for that total, Northwestern finishing with only 209).
10) Teams with more passing yards went 10-10 in these games.
9) Teams with more rushing yards went 14-6 in these games.
8) Teams with more penalties went 9-9 in these games, with two statistical ties.
7) Teams with more turnovers went 7-9 in these games, with four statistical ties. This was one of the better weeks of the season for teams that committed more turnovers — they nearly approached the .500 mark. More on this below in connection with the time of possession stat, which was the noticeable theme of week 12.
6) Teams with more time of possession went 13-7 in these games.
5) Cincinnati held the ball longer than South Florida despite committing six turnovers (minus-3 differential).
4) Notre Dame was minus-4 in turnover differential and committed five turnovers against Boston College. The Irish still held the ball longer than the Eagles… and won. Florida State achieved the same collection of feats the week before against North Carolina State. Air Force was also minus-4 in turnover differential (4 to 0, not 5 to 1), and still beat Boise State.
3) Michigan State managed a plus-16:20 time-of-possession differential despite a negative turnover differential worse than minus-1. The Spartans finished minus-2 against Ohio State, yet still held the ball for 38:10 to Ohio State’s 21:50 (and won).
In a similar vein, Baylor finished with a minus-3 turnover differential against Oklahoma State, and still won time of possession by 10:58… while, one should add, snapping the ball with 15 or more seconds on the play clock for most of the night. Temple finished with a minus-2 turnover differential against Memphis but still held the ball over nine minutes longer than the Tigers.
2) USC and Utah lost despite positive time-of-possession differentials of at least nine minutes against Oregon and UCLA, respectively. Oregon dominating a game with a negative possession differential of nearly 10 minutes (9:48) shows that the Ducks are back.
1) Michigan, like LSU, achieved the “more of everything” box score. Yet, unlike the Tigers, the Wolverines won their game by a double-digit margin instead of losing it in double figures.
