Interesting read for this wk!!
Mark Lawrence
Brick Walls
A good measure of a team?s defensive prowess is the ability to hold an opponent below their average in offensive yardage.
The best barometer is finding teams that hold EVERY opponent to a season-low yardage mark.
Here is a list of each team that has managed to hold EVERY opponent to a season-low yardage mark this campaign: Arizona, Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rice, South Carolina, Stanford, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington and Washington State.
On the other side of the coin, only one team has allowed season-high yards in every game: New Mexico State.
Freshen Up
According to our powerful database, it seems Game Four of the College Football season is often times a critical stepping-stone for teams who play with a week of rest.
This is especially true for teams that are either playing at home off a win, or on the road off their first defeat of the season. Check out these refreshing numbers:
? When these reinvigorated home teams take the field off a win with a week of rest in Game Four of the season, they are a super-strong 70-33-1 ATS overall since 1980.
This week finds Buffalo, Oregon and UCF with smiles on their faces.
Dress these rested Game Four hosts with a measure of revenge and they rocket to 26-9 ATS. And if they dress up as a favorite or dog of 10 or less points, they zoom to 20-4 ATS. With that, Buffalo will be looking to rise to new heights this Saturday.
? Meanwhile, Game Four rested road teams who find themselves off their first loss of the season show their muscle, having gone 20-10 ATS over the same span in this role. East Carolina fits the bill this week.
And finally, if these rested Game Four road teams are off an initial defeat of 7 or less points, their record climbs to 11-2 ATS. East Carolina will seek the bounty this week.
Now, if you?re either a Bulls or a Pirates fan this week, raise your hand if you?re sure!
Inside Out
One of our favorite statistical approaches to the football card each week is examining teams who won their last game on the scoreboard but lost the yards on the stat sheet.
We call it winning ?inside-out?.
College football teams playing this week who won the game but lost the stats in their previous game include: Buffalo, Fresno State, Houston, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Nevada, South Alabama, Stanford and USC.
In the NFL, the smoke and mirrors winners included: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City and Miami.
Note: Fresno State and the Dolphins have won all three games this season despite being outgained in every contest.
Slow Down
On the NFL totals front, there were no games win Week Three in which any team ran 80 or more plays on offense.
The teams who ran the quickest offenses last week were: Vikings (79), Chiefs (77), Packers (77), Bills and Browns (75), Panther and Saints and Redskins (74), and the Broncos (73).
They combined to go 4-5 UNDER, a reversal of fortune for OVER players using this formula during the first two weeks of the season.
Stat Of The Week
LSU?s Les Miles is 22-1 straight up in his last twenty-three games in which his team is undefeated and the opponent is not.