[CTcard]

I'm also surprised at how low WSU is here. Has anyone been watching their games and have any idea what the deal is? They've been pretty dominant on the scoreboard, is it just slipping into prevent-ish defense early and giving up lots of big plays in garbage time or something?

Well, I had a theory, but not sure how well it stands up to scrutiny.

For a pass-all-the-time team, WSU has surprisingly few big plays and surprisingly high amount of ball control. That happens with a mostly dink and dunk approach.

So, WSU has the second highest number of first downs per game in the Pac 12.
WSU has the second highest time of possession in the Pac 12.
WSU does have a lot of 10+ plays, but they drop to ninth in number of 30+ yards plays.
[Stanford is 8th in 10+ yard plays, but #1 in 20+, 30+, 40+, 50+, and 60+ yard plays - the Love effect.]

However, one might think this should mean WSU would look much better in FEI (which is drive based) than S&P+ (which is play based). However, WSU is #32 in FEI, #17 in S&P+.
Fremeau hasn't yet released his more detailed per drive stats, so it is hard to break that down much.

Also of note on WSU, they appear to be stronger on defense than offense.
Note that they are #2 on your list in defensive yds/play, but only #8 on offense.

Stanford in contrast, is #1 on the list in offense yds/play, but #11 on defense.
[at least on the offense side, more of the Love big-play efffect}

[CTcard]

I'm also surprised at how low WSU is here. Has anyone been watching their games and have any idea what the deal is? They've been pretty dominant on the scoreboard, is it just slipping into prevent-ish defense early and giving up lots of big plays in garbage time or something?

Well, I had a theory, but not sure how well it stands up to scrutiny.

For a pass-all-the-time team, WSU has surprisingly few big plays and surprisingly high amount of ball control. That happens with a mostly dink and dunk approach.

So, WSU has the second highest number of first downs per game in the Pac 12.
WSU has the second highest time of possession in the Pac 12.
WSU does have a lot of 10+ plays, but they drop to ninth in number of 30+ yards plays.
[Stanford is 8th in 10+ yard plays, but #1 in 20+, 30+, 40+, 50+, and 60+ yard plays - the Love effect.]

However, one might think this should mean WSU would look much better in FEI (which is drive based) than S&P+ (which is play based). However, WSU is #32 in FEI, #17 in S&P+.
Fremeau hasn't yet released his more detailed per drive stats, so it is hard to break that down much.

Also of note on WSU, they appear to be stronger on defense than offense.
Note that they are #2 on your list in defensive yds/play, but only #8 on offense.

Stanford in contrast, is #1 on the list in offense yds/play, but #11 on defense.
[at least on the offense side, more of the Love big-play efffect}