12-21-2011, 05:10 PM
A statistical comparison of the Stanford and Oklahoma State defenses and turnovers:
.                         Stanford  Okla. St.
Scoring
Points allowed/game           20.3    25.8
Total Defense
Opp. plays/game              63.2    84.0
Yards allowed/game            331     446
Yards allowed/play             5.2      5.3
Opp. runs-passes / game       29-34   42-43
Opp. run/pass ratio         46%-54% 49%-51%Â
First downs allowed/game       20.3     25.2
Opp. 3rd down conversion pct.    31%    41%
Opp. drives with 1st down or TDÂ Â Â 64%Â Â Â Â 68%
Opp. red zone scoring           74%    72%
Opp. red zone TDs              60%    49%
Opp. time of possession         26:53   33:02
Tackles for loss per game         7.3      7.0
Rushing Defense
Opp. rushing attempts/game      29      42
Rushing yards allowed/game      90      180
Rushing yards allowed/attempt    3.1      4.3
Rush yds allowed/gm excl. sacks   115     195Â
Rush yds allowed/att excl. sacks   4.4      5.0
Opp. rush att gaining 10+ yds     12%     14%
Pass Defense
Opp. pass comp-att per game    21-34    25-43
Passing yards allowed/game      241     266
Yards allowed per pass attempt    7.1      6.2
Yards allowed per completion     11.6     10.8
Opp. compl. gaining 20+ yds      14%     13%
Opp. pass efficiency rating       129.5    109.7
Opp. completion pct.            61%     58%
Opp. TD passes                15      13
Opp. TD percentage            3.7%    2.5%
Passes intercepted              6      23
Interception pct.               1.5%    4.5%
Sacks                        38      28
Opp. pass att. per sack         10.8     18.2
Turnovers
Fumbles - lost                11-6    15-10
Interceptions thrown             9      12
Total turnovers                 15      22
Opp. fumbles - lost             29-15    25-19
Passes intercepted              6      23
Takeaways                    21      42
Turnover margin                +6     +20
It's tempting to look at the Oklahoma State defense and conclude that it's no good, given that OK State allows 446 yards per game (107th in the nation). That's an awful lot of yards. Stanford, which leads the Pac 12 in total defense at 331 yards per game (25th in the nation), would seem to have a decisive edge on the defensive side of the ball. But I don't think it's that simple.
Oklahoma State's defense has been on the field for 84 plays per game, easily the most in the nation. Stanford's defense has been on the field for only 63 plays per game. So Oklahoma State has defended about 33% more plays than Stanford has. The exceptionally high number of plays defended explains why Oklahoma State has given up so many yards.
The question, then, is why does the Oklahoma State defense face so many plays? Is it because they can't stop their opponents from putting together long drives, or is there some other reason? To a significant extent, I think there's another reason. Oklahoma State's games involve more pass plays than any other team's games. Oklahoma State's offense has the 5th most pass attempts in the nation (46 per game), and Oklahoma State's defense faces more pass attempts than any other defense (43 per game). Pass plays tend to stop the clock more often than runs because the clock stops on incompletions, and because a completed pass is more likely to get a first down than the average run. Clock stoppages allow both teams to run more plays. Oklahoma State ranks 10th in the nation in offensive plays per game, and 1st in defensive plays per game. The typical Oklahoma State game involves 162 plays, compared to 134 plays in the typical Stanford game.
If we look at Oklahoma State's defensive performance based on metrics that aren't affected by the number of plays per game, OK State's defense looks better. Oklahoma State gives up 5.3 yards per play, which is 52nd in the nation -- a lot better than OK State's 107th rank in yards allowed per game. Stanford gives up 5.2 yards per play, which is 48th. The two defenses are similar according to this measure. I think that's probably a more meaningful way of looking at it.
There are other reasons that Oklahoma State's defense stays on the field a lot. As is discussed further below, OK State's run defense isn't great, OK State allows relatively low yards per pass completion, and OK State's 3rd down conversion defense isn't great. All of this adds up to OK State's opponents sustaining drives by running several plays to pick up each first down, which means OK State's opponents tend to take more plays on each drive. OK State is 11th in the nation in the percentage of opponents' drives that take 10 or more plays (19.4%). An offense that is good as sustaining long, methodical drives without making mistakes may be able to take advantage of OK State's defense.
In some ways, the two defenses are mirror images of each other. Oklahoma State has quite a good pass defense, while Stanford has a significantly better run defense.
OK State's pass defense allows only 6.2 yards per attempt (15th in the nation) and has a pass defense efficiency rating of only 109.7 (8th in the nation). OK State ranks 2nd nationally with 23 interceptions. OK State's pass defense tends to keep everything in front of them -- they allow just 10.8 yards per completion, compared to the national average of 11.8 yards per completion. That is quite a good pass defense. Stanford's pass defense is in the middle of the pack. Stanford allows 7.1 yards per attempt (61st out of 120 nationally), has a pass defense efficiency rating of 129.5 (62nd), and allows 11.6 yards per completion (55th). Stanford does have a better pass rush with 38 sacks (5th in the nation in sacks per game), compared to 28 sacks for OK State (27th nationally). Overall, Stanford has a decent pass defense, but it's not as good as OK State's.
On the other side of the coin, Stanford has a better run defense. Stanford ranks 5th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 90 yards per game. Stanford's defense allows 3.1 yards per rushing attempt (11th in the nation). OK State allows almost exactly twice as much rushing yardage per game as Stanford, allowing 180 yards per game (83rd in the nation). OK State allows 4.3 yards per rushing attempt (71st in the nation). OK State's rushing defense statistically is somewhat below average.
Stanford has a significant edge in 3rd down conversion defense, allowing only a 31% conversion rate (6th in the nation), compared to OK State's 41% (68th nationally). However, OK State does tighten up in the red zone, ranking 9th nationally in red zone scoring defense (72%). Stanford is 18th in red zone defense at 74%.
In turnovers, as has been much discussed, Oklahoma State ranks 1st nationally in take-aways (42) and 2nd in turnover margin (+20). Oklahoma State an average job of taking care of the ball, committing 22 turnovers (65th nationally), but they get so many take-aways that they still have a big positive margin. Stanford has a pretty good turnover margin of +6, which is 25th nationally. Stanford does very well at taking care of the ball with only 15 turnovers (9th nationally). Stanford is average in take-aways with 21 (55th nationally).
.                         Stanford  Okla. St.
Scoring
Points allowed/game           20.3    25.8
Total Defense
Opp. plays/game              63.2    84.0
Yards allowed/game            331     446
Yards allowed/play             5.2      5.3
Opp. runs-passes / game       29-34   42-43
Opp. run/pass ratio         46%-54% 49%-51%Â
First downs allowed/game       20.3     25.2
Opp. 3rd down conversion pct.    31%    41%
Opp. drives with 1st down or TDÂ Â Â 64%Â Â Â Â 68%
Opp. red zone scoring           74%    72%
Opp. red zone TDs              60%    49%
Opp. time of possession         26:53   33:02
Tackles for loss per game         7.3      7.0
Rushing Defense
Opp. rushing attempts/game      29      42
Rushing yards allowed/game      90      180
Rushing yards allowed/attempt    3.1      4.3
Rush yds allowed/gm excl. sacks   115     195Â
Rush yds allowed/att excl. sacks   4.4      5.0
Opp. rush att gaining 10+ yds     12%     14%
Pass Defense
Opp. pass comp-att per game    21-34    25-43
Passing yards allowed/game      241     266
Yards allowed per pass attempt    7.1      6.2
Yards allowed per completion     11.6     10.8
Opp. compl. gaining 20+ yds      14%     13%
Opp. pass efficiency rating       129.5    109.7
Opp. completion pct.            61%     58%
Opp. TD passes                15      13
Opp. TD percentage            3.7%    2.5%
Passes intercepted              6      23
Interception pct.               1.5%    4.5%
Sacks                        38      28
Opp. pass att. per sack         10.8     18.2
Turnovers
Fumbles - lost                11-6    15-10
Interceptions thrown             9      12
Total turnovers                 15      22
Opp. fumbles - lost             29-15    25-19
Passes intercepted              6      23
Takeaways                    21      42
Turnover margin                +6     +20
It's tempting to look at the Oklahoma State defense and conclude that it's no good, given that OK State allows 446 yards per game (107th in the nation). That's an awful lot of yards. Stanford, which leads the Pac 12 in total defense at 331 yards per game (25th in the nation), would seem to have a decisive edge on the defensive side of the ball. But I don't think it's that simple.
Oklahoma State's defense has been on the field for 84 plays per game, easily the most in the nation. Stanford's defense has been on the field for only 63 plays per game. So Oklahoma State has defended about 33% more plays than Stanford has. The exceptionally high number of plays defended explains why Oklahoma State has given up so many yards.
The question, then, is why does the Oklahoma State defense face so many plays? Is it because they can't stop their opponents from putting together long drives, or is there some other reason? To a significant extent, I think there's another reason. Oklahoma State's games involve more pass plays than any other team's games. Oklahoma State's offense has the 5th most pass attempts in the nation (46 per game), and Oklahoma State's defense faces more pass attempts than any other defense (43 per game). Pass plays tend to stop the clock more often than runs because the clock stops on incompletions, and because a completed pass is more likely to get a first down than the average run. Clock stoppages allow both teams to run more plays. Oklahoma State ranks 10th in the nation in offensive plays per game, and 1st in defensive plays per game. The typical Oklahoma State game involves 162 plays, compared to 134 plays in the typical Stanford game.
If we look at Oklahoma State's defensive performance based on metrics that aren't affected by the number of plays per game, OK State's defense looks better. Oklahoma State gives up 5.3 yards per play, which is 52nd in the nation -- a lot better than OK State's 107th rank in yards allowed per game. Stanford gives up 5.2 yards per play, which is 48th. The two defenses are similar according to this measure. I think that's probably a more meaningful way of looking at it.
There are other reasons that Oklahoma State's defense stays on the field a lot. As is discussed further below, OK State's run defense isn't great, OK State allows relatively low yards per pass completion, and OK State's 3rd down conversion defense isn't great. All of this adds up to OK State's opponents sustaining drives by running several plays to pick up each first down, which means OK State's opponents tend to take more plays on each drive. OK State is 11th in the nation in the percentage of opponents' drives that take 10 or more plays (19.4%). An offense that is good as sustaining long, methodical drives without making mistakes may be able to take advantage of OK State's defense.
In some ways, the two defenses are mirror images of each other. Oklahoma State has quite a good pass defense, while Stanford has a significantly better run defense.
OK State's pass defense allows only 6.2 yards per attempt (15th in the nation) and has a pass defense efficiency rating of only 109.7 (8th in the nation). OK State ranks 2nd nationally with 23 interceptions. OK State's pass defense tends to keep everything in front of them -- they allow just 10.8 yards per completion, compared to the national average of 11.8 yards per completion. That is quite a good pass defense. Stanford's pass defense is in the middle of the pack. Stanford allows 7.1 yards per attempt (61st out of 120 nationally), has a pass defense efficiency rating of 129.5 (62nd), and allows 11.6 yards per completion (55th). Stanford does have a better pass rush with 38 sacks (5th in the nation in sacks per game), compared to 28 sacks for OK State (27th nationally). Overall, Stanford has a decent pass defense, but it's not as good as OK State's.
On the other side of the coin, Stanford has a better run defense. Stanford ranks 5th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 90 yards per game. Stanford's defense allows 3.1 yards per rushing attempt (11th in the nation). OK State allows almost exactly twice as much rushing yardage per game as Stanford, allowing 180 yards per game (83rd in the nation). OK State allows 4.3 yards per rushing attempt (71st in the nation). OK State's rushing defense statistically is somewhat below average.
Stanford has a significant edge in 3rd down conversion defense, allowing only a 31% conversion rate (6th in the nation), compared to OK State's 41% (68th nationally). However, OK State does tighten up in the red zone, ranking 9th nationally in red zone scoring defense (72%). Stanford is 18th in red zone defense at 74%.
In turnovers, as has been much discussed, Oklahoma State ranks 1st nationally in take-aways (42) and 2nd in turnover margin (+20). Oklahoma State an average job of taking care of the ball, committing 22 turnovers (65th nationally), but they get so many take-aways that they still have a big positive margin. Stanford has a pretty good turnover margin of +6, which is 25th nationally. Stanford does very well at taking care of the ball with only 15 turnovers (9th nationally). Stanford is average in take-aways with 21 (55th nationally).