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Random statistics - terry - 10-11-2010

Some random stats --

1. Stanford punted only once against USC, on its opening possession. After that, USC really did not stop the Stanford offense. Stanford had 9 possessions from that point, which resulted in 5 TDs, 3 fumbles, and the winning field goal. Every one of those 9 possessions ended in USC territory. If Stanford had managed to hold on to the ball instead of fumbling it away 3 times, Stanford would have put more points on the board and would have won going away, in my opinion.

2. For Stanford to win despite a turnover margin of -2 is a big deal, especially against a good team like USC. Turnover margin usually is a good indicator of the outcome. From 1995 through 2009, there were 23 games in which Stanford had a turnover margin of -2, and Stanford won only 6 of those games, for a winning percentage of .261 (and 2 of those 6 wins were against a less talented team, San Jose State). It\'s hard to overcome that kind of turnover deficit against a good team. That\'s especially true when neither team is stopping the other on defense -- in a game like that, each team needs to "hold serve" by scoring on just about every possession, or it risks falling behind. Stanford gave away three possessions and still won.

3. USC outgained Stanford, 498 yards to 478 yards. I think that\'s a little deceptive. Stanford would have had more offensive yardage than USC if not for two factors -- first, Stanford gave the ball away 3 times, depriving the offense of the ability to roll up some yards, and second, Chris Owusu\'s 88-yard return put Stanford on a short field, allowing Stanford to score a TD with only 11 yards of offense.

4. There\'s a website that compiles the results of 80 different polls and computer rankings. The composite result of all 80 ranking systems is that Stanford is # 10.  http://masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm

5. Since losing to Stanford, Wake Forest has lost 3 straight games, and now has a record of 2-4. But the last two games were agonizingly close. Wake lost both of them when the opponents (Georgia Tech and Navy) scored TDs in the last 30 seconds of the game. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has defeated Boston College and Pitt since losing to Stanford, and is now 3-3. Sacramento State also has a 3-3 record, having lost a couple of close games to highly ranked Div. IAA opponents -- # 12 Montana (28-25) and # 9 Montana St. (64-61 -- that\'s not a typo).

Re: Random statistics - washingtonismoney - 10-11-2010

Piggyback on point #2: we\'ve had nine turnovers in the last three games. That\'s a serious worry. Kind of a miracle we\'re 2-1 over that stretch, considering.