|
Dave Revsine's Bio: Our lead studio host crunches the numbers during football and basketball season. Got a question for Dave? Maybe a stat that caught your eye? Submit a comment below or e-mail Dave on the right. |
| Sep 10 2009, 9:35 AM | Topic: College football |
| Week 1 in the books, and a tad on the disappointing side. Sure, the 10-1 overall record was about right but several teams underperformed, most notably Illinois, Ohio State and Iowa. This is the week we've all been waiting for, though. The week when, fairly or unfairly, the rest of the nation will form its opinion regarding the Big Ten. And that opinion will be formed off the result of the USC-Ohio State game. Again, I don't necessarily think that's fair (and I'd maintain that point even if OSU wins), but that's the reality. We'll get to that one in a bit, but we start with another Big Ten–Pac-10 match-up as Purdue heads to Eugene to battle Oregon. It's a chance for Danny Hope to make some history. 1916: With a win, Hope would start his Purdue coaching career at 2-0. He'd be the first Boilermaker coach to pull that off since Cleo O'Donnell in 1916. Since then, all 16 Purdue coaches have lost at least once in their first two outings. The early success wouldn't be the only thing that's changed under Hope. The Boilers looked remarkably different against Toledo than they did under Joe Tiller. 315: The formerly pass-heavy Boilers ran for 315 yards against the Rockets. That was their most in a game since 2003. They get an Oregon team that will be playing its first game without the suspended LeGarrette Blount. While Blount is now infamous for "the punch," his team was utterly punchless last week. 8: The Ducks managed just eight points in their loss to Boise State. This from a team that had averaged 54 in the last three games of 2008. On the topic of not scoring, Iowa's opponent, Iowa State, has turned that into an art form in recent years against the Hawks. 10: Iowa State has not scored a TD in its last 10 quarters of play against Iowa. As for the Hawks, they're coming off that crazy win over Northern Iowa, which saw them become the first team in NCAA history to block two field goals on successive plays. Still, the dramatic ending could not erase an underwhelming run game. 2.8: With Shonn Greene off to the NFL and Jewel Hampton injured, the Hawkeyes averaged 2.8 yards per carry against Northern Iowa. This from a team that averaged 4.8 ypc last season. Indiana's re-tooled offense also struggled to run the ball in its opener. 22: The Hoosiers picked up two yards or fewer on 22 of their 31 carries against Eastern Kentucky. And yet, a win is a win. And another win would lead to this nifty little factoid. 2-0: With a win over Western Michigan, IU would be 2-0 for the sixth straight season. The only other Big Ten school to start 2-0 in five straight seasons – Wisconsin. They have a chance to make it six straight this weekend as well, and recent history is with them. 21: The Badgers have won 21 straight regular season non-conference games, with their last loss coming in 2003. That is the second-longest streak in the nation, behind only USC. In order to run that streak to 22, they'll need to beat a classic BCS buster. 14: Fresno State has won 14 games against BCS conference schools since 2000 – the second most victories in the nation by a non-BCS school in that span, behind only Utah. While we're on the topic of streaks, Penn State tries to slow down an impressive individual streak this week when they face Syracuse. 10: Orange wide receiver Mike Williams has caught at least one TD pass in 10 straight games – the longest active streak in the nation. That streak dates back to 2007 as Williams sat out last year due to academics. There were a lot of questions about Penn State's receivers due to the graduation of Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood, who combined for 498 career catches. The Nittany Lions did a nice job answering those questions against Akron. 12: Twelve different Nittany Lions receivers caught a pass in the 31-7 win over the Zips. Speaking of impressive accomplishments by wide-outs… 41: Central Michigan wide receiver Bryan Anderson has caught a pass in 41 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the nation. The NCAA record is 51 in a row, meaning Anderson can break it by catching a pass in every regular season game this season. As for the Chippewa's opponent this week, Michigan State, the focus last week was on the new quarterbacks, and they didn't disappoint. 5, 0: Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol combined to throw five TD passes and 0 INTs in the opener. It was the first time the Spartans had thrown for at least five scores without a pick since a 61-14 win over Illinois in 2005. Illinois was supposed to have the conference's best pass game after finishing first in the conference in passing offense last year and returning both QB Juice Williams and a ridiculously talented wide receiver crew, but that aerial attack was a virtual non-factor in the Illini's dreadful 37-9 loss to Missouri. How dreadful was it? Glad you asked… 1988: The loss to Mizzou was Illinois' most lopsided season opening defeat since 1988, when Washington State beat them 44-7. The one positive? That Illini team recovered to go 6-4-1 and earn a bid to the All-American Bowl. While the Illini were routed in that opener, it's nothing compared to what happened to Nicholls State last week. The school's website said that the Colonels "never found their groove" in their season-opener. That would qualify as a bit of an understatement… 72-0: Air Force pummeled the Colonels 72-0, the largest margin of victory in Falcons' history. Now, it's up to Minnesota to try to slow down the Falcons' attack. They'll certainly have emotion on their side on one of the most anticipated days in recent Gopher history. 27: Minnesota will open the new TCF Bank Stadium – it'll be the first time since 1981 that the Gophers will have played on campus after 27 seasons at the Metrodome. Michigan's offensive success in its opener also paled in comparison to Air Force's, but it was still pretty impressive, particularly when put in the context of last season's futility. 31: The Wolverines' 31 first-half points against Western Michigan was more than Michigan scored in 11 of their 12 full games last season. Offense has also been the story for Notre Dame - Michigan's opponent this week. The QB play has been particularly impressive in the Irish's last two outings – the Hawaii Bowl win to close out last season and last week's season-opening win over Nevada. 84.1: Irish QB Jimmy Clausen has completed a staggering 84.1 percent of his passes in those two games. he's gone a combined 37 for 44 for 716 yards, 9 TDs and 0 INTs. USC freshman Matt Barkley's numbers weren't that far off in his first career outing. Barkley completed 15 of 19 for 233 yards, a TD and no picks in the Trojans' 56-3 pounding of San Jose State. He made some history in the process too… 1975: Barkley became the first true freshman to start a season opener for a Top 5 team since Michigan's Rick Leach did it in 1975. There are so many remarkable numbers surrounding the Trojans'' performance in recent years that it's hard to narrow it down to just one, but this basically says it all. 19.7: The Trojans have done an amazing job against the best of the best in recent years. Not only have they won a staggering 29 of their last 31 games against Top 25 teams, it really hasn't been close. Their average margin of victory in those games – an incredible 19.7 points. On the flip side, the Buckeyes' struggles against the Top 5 are well documented. 16.6: Ohio State has lost its last five games against AP Top 5 teams. Those five losses have come by an average of 16.6 points. I certainly hope those numbers change, but I have to admit that I'm not overly optimistic. Perhaps that's a good thing, though, as I was convinced the Buckeyes were going to beat USC last year, and we all saw what happened. Plenty of focus on that game and the rest of the weekend on "Behind the Schemes" Thursday night, "Big Ten Football and Beyond" on Friday, and our assortment of pre-game and post-game shows on Saturday. Turn on your TV over the next few days, and chances are we'll be there. Enjoy the games. |
|
| Permalink | Submit a comment | |
| Dave Revsine's blog |
|
Filter By Blogger:
Filter By Topic: Filter By Month: |