Third-Down Issues
We talked last week about USC's third-down conversions and the Trojans were 5-11 against Notre Dame. Now consider that Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford completed 10-of-13 third-down passes at Oklahoma State last Saturday. Those completions resulted in eight first downs and two touchdowns (two were both first downs and touchdowns). The average completion covered 17.3 yards. Bradford also was 1-of-1 on fourth down for a touchdown.
Scott quick question: If USC (god forbid) somehow loses to UCLA this weekend, will it still go to the Rose Bowl, as there will be a 3 way tie for first in the PAC-10. What is the tiebreaker?
Total non-sequitur, Scott!
You can't compare two offenses that did not have common opponents and draw any conclusions. And everyone knows that the Big 12 conferences have the worst defenses in college football, so that alone will inflate 3rd down conversion statistics.
More biased reporting!
ftfo2009-
Oregon State wins the 3-way tie-breaker with Oregon and USC. They all went 1-1 against each other. The next tie-breaker is how did they do against the next team in the standings, which is Cal. Since Oregon lost to Cal, it would be dropped from the three-team tie. Thus, Oregon State would go to the Rose Bowl because it beat USC head-to-head.
Now I might be off a little bit on this, but as of Nov 29, the highest ranked total defense by a Big 12 team, are the criminals from Austin. They stand at #50 overall among FBS teams, giving up 339.92 yards per game
Meanwhile, that vaunted Okie State defense Wolfeee likes to brag how Sam Bradford tore it up, ranks #85 in total "D", giving up a just a slim 392.25 yards per game (yeah as slim as Wolfeee waste line).
By the way Wolfeee, the sisters of overrated have a better "D" than any of your "offensive juggernauts in the Big 12". They rank #39 overall in team "D", giving up 327.50 yards per game.
And if that doesn't satisfy you enough Wolfeee, 6 of the top 50 teams in total "D", come from the Pac 10(Trojans #1, Arizona #23, Oregon St #33, Fucla #35, Cal #36 and ASU #43). Take a look for yourself: http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2008&rpt=IA_teamtotdef&site=org
So do you really want to brag about Sam Bradford putting up numbers like that against that "D"? Please, again you show your lack of football knowledge and your bitterness toward USC.
Fight On!
The Big 12 is blessed with an outstanding crop of QBs (McCoy, Bradford, Harrell, Daniels, Reesing, and Robertson). Conversely, several Pac-10 QBs have been hurt (Locker, Carpenter, and multiple QBs from WSU, Ore, and UCLA). Obviously, defensive stats are affected by the opposing offense, and vice-versa (ying and yang, if you will). Are Big 12 defenses that bad, or are the offenses that good?
USC would hold Okl, Texas, or Tech to under 20 points with a solid effort. Pound the QB, and you cut the head off the snake. How long would WRs want to get pounded by Mays or Ellison? It would be interesting to see if USC could score in the 20's, with its play-calling. (Indeed, Penn St should be a tough defensive battle.)
The big story that no one seems to acknowledge is the proliferation of the spread offense. It used to be the scheme of wannabe schools like Oregon, Hawaii, and BYU, but major programs like OU, U Texas and Florida now run it fluently. OU, the school of the I formation, now runs the spread. So, part of the lower defensive ratings for the Big-12 is that they probably have 4 of the countries top 10 offenses. SARK NEEDS TO STUDY THE SPREAD!!!
Scott, you can't have a first down and touchdown on the same play.
I agree that the defenses in the Big XII are horrible. That definitely elevates the offensive numbers. I also agree that the quarterbacks that are in the conference exceed the 3rd, 4th, and even 5th string quarterbacks that are starting games in the Pac 10 this season. I would like to see how good the Big XII teams would be on offense if they had to go as far down the depth chart like Washington, Washington State (held open tryouts for QB's this fall), Oregon and now Stanford have had to go. Oregon State has had some injury issues at QB, but they haven't really had to go beyond #2 all year. Can you even name the back up QB's at Oklahoma, Texas, Tech, Mizzou or Kansas? Of course not, because they don't play. They all just throw the ball all over the yard for four quarters no matter the score. At least Oklahoma can say that they can run the football. The pollsters love offense and always award it. It's sexy. Defense isn't fun to talk about, so teams like USC get out of the conversation very quickly.
Keith,
All TD's are counted as a First Down for Statistical purposes.
Go Figure.