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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. |
| Oct 28 2009, 11:49 AM | Topic: College football | ||||
A quick glance at the slate leads one to conclude that anything that momentous this week would be shocking – but sometimes it's the most innocuous-looking Saturdays in college football that create the most excitement. Anyway, as any discussion of the Big Ten should these days, we'll start with Iowa. The Hawks' 15-13 win over MSU continued an interesting trend: 5, 9, 5: Iowa has now won its last five games decided by three points or fewer. This win streak comes on the heels of a three-plus year span where they lost nine in a row decided by three points or fewer. And that came on the heels of a three-year span where they won five in a row decided by three points or fewer. How to explain it all? I haven't the faintest idea. I spoke with Kirk Ferentz about it this week, and he mentioned attention to detail and faith in one another as being the keys. Whatever the explanation, it's an interesting trend and one that shows just how slim the margin for error is with this Iowa team. 1st: Along the same lines, the Hawkeyes have now won four games by three points or fewer in the same season for the first time ever. While this might seem like a classic "letdown" game, Indiana's recent history doesn't necessarily reflect a team in position to take advantage. 2-29: The Hoosiers are just 2-29 in their last 31 conference road games. They have lost 11 straight away from home against teams from the six automatic BCS qualifying conferences. The Hoosiers, of course, are coming off that devastating loss to Northwestern. While the 'Cats were able to recover last week after digging a significant hole, it will be far tougher to pull off this week against Penn State. 183/108: NU has the most first downs in the Big Ten with 183. But Penn State has allowed the fewest first downs in the conference with 108. 3: The Nittany Lions have given up just three passing touchdowns all season. Florida is the only team in the nation that has allowed fewer. While Penn State has been tough to throw it on, the same cannot be said of Illinois. 3: The Illini have intercepted just three passes this season. Only three teams in the nation have picked off fewer. That will be a welcome sight for a Michigan offense that has struggled recently against everyone not named Delaware State. 273: The Wolverines are averaging just 273 yards of total offense in their last three games against Big Ten teams. Purdue faced that Illini defense last week, and fared quite well against it. 6 of 7: The Boilers rushed for 171 yards in the first half against Illinois. That exceeded their total for the entire game in six of their previous seven outings. 77.2: That success may end this week against Wisconsin. The Badgers have allowed just 77.2 rushing yards per game in conference play – best in the Big Ten. No conference team has gone over 100 yards on them. While the Badgers' defense has been excelling, Minnesota's has been struggling. 440.4: The Gophers have allowed 440.4 yards per game in conference play. That is far and away the worst in the Big Ten. But defense is far from Minnesota's only concern heading into this week's game against Michigan State. The Gophers' Eric Decker is likely out for the rest of the regular season with a foot injury. With Decker out, it's worth revisiting a number we originally looked at back in September: 50.7 %: Decker has accounted for 50.7 percent of Minnesota's receiving yards this year. Not only is that the highest percentage in the Big Ten but it's the highest in the nation for any player who doesn't play in an option-based scheme. Only Georgia Tech's Demarius Thomas (72.2 percent) and Army's Ali Villanueva (52.8 percent) account for a higher percentage of their team's receiving yards than Decker. The Decker-less Gophers face an MSU team that continues to get stung by close losses. 15: Michigan State's four losses have come by a total of 15 points. That is the smallest combined margin of defeat for any four-loss team in the nation (Tennessee and Air Force are the closest, having lost their four games by a combined 20 points). In an interesting side note, Ohio State is tied with Notre Dame for the smallest combined margin of defeat for any two-loss team in the nation (11 points). But this week's game against New Mexico State doesn't figure to be a nail-biter, particularly given that the Aggies are dead last nationally in total offense. Instead, look for OSU to extend this number: 52-0: The Buckeyes are 52-0 when scoring at least 30 points since 2001 That's our early game on the Big Ten Network Saturday at noon ET. We get things started at 10:30 a.m. ET with the Auto Owners Insurance Pre-Game. Don't forget: we also have Michigan State in Minnesota in primetime. Should be a great day. We'll see you then. |
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