In the week eight statistical review of the 20 most notable games on the college football slate, we unearthed a special box score. Call it “the fully loaded hot dog” box score, the “super-size combo meal” box score, the “supreme pizza” box score, or whatever other name you prefer.
This is a box score in which one team owned more of everything — not onions, fries, or added sausage and extra cheese, but more first downs, total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, penalties, turnovers, and time of possession.
Nebraska achieved this feat against Northwestern, in the box score of the week.
What else did we find from week eight? Let’s take a look:
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The 20 games surveyed in week eight:
California-UCLA
Temple-East Carolina
Georgia Southern-Appalachian State
Utah State-San Diego State
Utah-USC
Clemson-Miami
Western Kentucky-LSU
Tennessee-Alabama
Florida State-Georgia Tech
Washington-Stanford
Indiana-Michigan State
Texas Tech-Oklahoma
Toledo-Massachusetts
Duke-Virginia Tech
Northwestern-Nebraska
Kansas State-Texas
Pittsburgh-Syracuse
Penn State-Maryland
Texas A&M-Ole Miss
Washington State-Arizona
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Here are 20 statistics we gleaned from week eight:
20) Teams with more first downs went 15-5 in these 20 games.
19) Texas Tech converted 12 of 18 third downs in a game it lost by 36. That says something about Texas Tech’s defense, which allowed Oklahoma to convert 10 of 13 third downs. Sounds like Kliff Kingsbury to me.
18) East Carolina converted 10 third downs, Temple only four. Temple won by a double-figure scoring margin on the road at night.
17) More insight into how first-down statistics can lie: USC gained just one more first down than Utah in a blowout win; Western Kentucky gained more first downs than LSU in a decisive loss.
16) Teams with more yards went 16-4 in these 20 games.
15) Maryland gained 103 more yards than Penn State… and lost.
14) Teams with more passing yards went 11-8 in these games, with one statistical tie.
13) Utah State gained more passing yards than San Diego State, in a game it lost by 34.
12) Texas and San Diego State both won by double-figure scoring margins despite passing for under 100 yards.
11) Teams with more rushing yards went 14-6 in these games.
10) Maryland outrushed Penn State by 193 yards, 241-48… and lost.
9) Teams with more penalties went 10-8 in these games, with two statistical ties.
8) A&M-Ole Miss and Toledo-UMass witnessed double-figure penalty totals for each team. More on these two games a little bit later.
7) Temple’s penalty yardage (114) easily exceeded its rushing yardage last week (72). The Owls still won by 10, on the road, at night, against East Carolina.
6) Teams with more turnovers went 5-12 in these games, with three statistical ties.
5) Teams with more time of possession went 16-4 in these games.
4) A&M-Ole Miss and Toledo-UMass witnessed these identical patterns as well: Not only did they both feature double-figure penalty totals on each side; they both produced winning teams in similar ways. Ole Miss and Toledo both held the ball for at least 35:48 despite committing three turnovers.
3) Stanford possessed the ball for over 40 minutes against Washington, despite a negative turnover differential.
2) Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Nebraska all lost depite time-of-possession advantages of at least 12:32. In Virginia Tech’s case: 13:42. In Nebraska’s case: 17:56.
1) In these 20 games from week eight, nine teams shut out their opponents in at least two separate quarters: Temple, Appalachian State, San Diego State, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Ole Miss, and Texas.
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Mikhail Palekar provided research which contributed to this report.
