I've made a number of pages (which are listed on the lower right sidebar) that hold my Yardage Analysis data. This way I can include the full lists, with information for each team, without having posts a mile long. The seven pages include:
A) Total yardage
B) Total offense
C) Total defense
D) Rushing offense
E) Passing offense
F) Rushing defense
G) Passing defense
The first page, Total yardage, is formed by subtracting C from B, of course; B is D + E, while C is F + G. There are links to the other related pages at the tops of the columns, so once you get into Total offense or Total defense, you can "sort" the columns for rushing and passing yards.
Here's a rundown of the data, starting with offense:
Total Offense Yardage Averages (Corrected for Schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. Tulsa (3-1) 594.5 ( 1) 199.1 ( 26) 395.4 ( 5)
2. Oregon (4-1) 585.0 ( 2) 300.9 ( 4) 284.0 ( 19)
3. Hawaii (5-0) 560.8 ( 3) 84.3 (110) 476.4 ( 1)
4. Louisville (3-2) 551.1 ( 4) 128.5 ( 85) 422.6 ( 3)
5. Texas Tech (4-1) 538.8 ( 5) 66.7 (116) 472.1 ( 2)
6. New Mexico St (3-2) 533.8 ( 6) 111.6 ( 96) 422.2 ( 4)
7. West Virginia (4-1) 518.8 ( 7) 321.5 ( 3) 197.2 ( 85)
8. Boston College (5-0) 510.9 ( 8) 138.6 ( 73) 372.2 ( 6)
9. Arkansas (2-2) 497.9 ( 9) 340.7 ( 2) 157.2 (111)
10. Brigham Young (3-2) 492.6 ( 10) 155.8 ( 59) 336.7 ( 9)
No big surprises there, except who knew New Mexico State was such a potent offense? A quick check shows they rank 20th in raw stats, and evidently has played teams with an aggregate above-average defense. Teams that pass a lot tend to rank high, regardless of whether they win games, though every team here has a winning record. So let's check out the passing offense numbers:
Passing Offense Yardage Averages (corrected for schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. Hawaii (5-0) 560.8 ( 3) 84.3 (110) 476.4 ( 1)
2. Texas Tech (4-1) 538.8 ( 5) 66.7 (116) 472.1 ( 2)
3. Louisville (3-2) 551.1 ( 4) 128.5 ( 85) 422.6 ( 3)
4. New Mexico St (3-2) 533.8 ( 6) 111.6 ( 96) 422.2 ( 4)
5. Tulsa (3-1) 594.5 ( 1) 199.1 ( 26) 395.4 ( 5)
6. Boston College (5-0) 510.9 ( 8) 138.6 ( 73) 372.2 ( 6)
7. Arizona (2-3) 478.6 ( 15) 129.9 ( 84) 348.7 ( 7)
8. Nebraska (4-1) 489.9 ( 11) 150.9 ( 63) 339.0 ( 8)
9. Brigham Young (3-2) 492.6 ( 10) 155.8 ( 59) 336.7 ( 9)
10. North Texas (0-4) 449.1 ( 30) 114.1 ( 93) 335.0 ( 10)
Lots of correlation to the Total Offense list, except North Texas doesn't have much of a running game to complement its passing. It's odd, just a few years ago, the Mean Green had one of the best rushing attacks in the country, with 2 of the nation's leading rushers on one team (Patrick Cobbs, NCAA leader in 2003, and Jamario Thomas, NCAA leader in 2004). Speaking of rushing offense:
Rushing Offense Yardage Averages (Corrected for Schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. Navy (3-2) 426.7 ( 43) 345.9 ( 1) 80.8 (121)
2. Arkansas (2-2) 497.9 ( 9) 340.7 ( 2) 157.2 (111)
3. West Virginia (4-1) 518.8 ( 7) 321.5 ( 3) 197.2 ( 85)
4. Oregon (4-1) 585.0 ( 2) 300.9 ( 4) 284.0 ( 19)
5. Texas A&M (4-1) 457.8 ( 25) 283.3 ( 5) 174.4 ( 94)
6. Illinois (4-1) 362.4 ( 74) 255.9 ( 6) 106.4 (120)
7. Louisiana-Lafayette (0-5) 405.1 ( 53) 240.7 ( 7) 164.4 (108)
8. UCLA (4-1) 487.7 ( 14) 239.6 ( 8) 248.1 ( 41)
9. Air Force (3-2) 417.1 ( 48) 233.7 ( 9) 183.4 ( 90)
10. Oklahoma (4-1) 476.5 ( 16) 229.5 ( 10) 247.0 ( 43)
Navy's adjusted numbers put it slightly ahead of Arkansas for the top spot (their spots are reversed from the raw data). Navy is almost completely run-oriented—their passing game ranks dead last in the country. Louisiana-Lafayette lives (or dies, as the case may be) by the run also.
Now on to defense:
Total Defense Yardage Averages (corrected for schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. LSU (5-0) 214.3 ( 1) 51.1 ( 6) 163.2 ( 13)
2. Ohio State (5-0) 218.2 ( 2) 40.3 ( 4) 177.9 ( 20)
3. Oklahoma (4-1) 218.8 ( 3) 62.6 ( 9) 156.2 ( 7)
4. Brigham Young (3-2) 226.4 ( 4) 57.9 ( 7) 168.4 ( 15)
5. Southern Cal (4-0) 230.4 ( 5) 71.5 ( 13) 158.9 ( 9)
6. Colorado (3-2) 239.2 ( 6) 96.2 ( 21) 143.0 ( 3)
7. Florida St (3-1) 246.6 ( 7) 51.1 ( 5) 195.5 ( 37)
8. Oregon St (2-3) 247.9 ( 8) 33.6 ( 1) 214.2 ( 55)
9. Arizona St (5-0) 256.8 ( 9) 75.5 ( 16) 181.3 ( 23)
10. South Florida (4-0) 257.1 ( 10) 70.9 ( 12) 186.2 ( 26)
LSU holds on to the #1 spot by adjusted yardage, even though Ohio State passed them in overall scoring defense this week. BYU is only #41 in raw yardage defensively, but they held Arizona to 23 yards rushing, and UCLA to just 236 total yards, so that when adjusted they look much better (even making up for Tulsa's 490 passing yards against them, which is still 100 yards below Tulsa's adjusted average).
Passing Defense Yardage Averages (corrected for schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. SE Louisiana St (I-AA) (0-3) 339.5 ( 42) 239.7 (116) 99.7 ( 1)
2. North Carolina St (1-4) 337.1 ( 39) 235.5 (115) 101.6 ( 2)
3. Colorado (3-2) 239.2 ( 6) 96.2 ( 21) 143.0 ( 3)
4. Fresno St (2-2) 281.8 ( 14) 130.9 ( 41) 150.8 ( 4)
5. Auburn (3-2) 267.7 ( 11) 116.7 ( 32) 151.0 ( 5)
6. Houston (2-2) 303.7 ( 21) 149.4 ( 61) 154.2 ( 6)
7. Oklahoma (4-1) 218.8 ( 3) 62.6 ( 9) 156.2 ( 7)
8. South Carolina (4-1) 326.6 ( 34) 170.1 ( 78) 156.4 ( 8)
9. Southern Cal (4-0) 230.4 ( 5) 71.5 ( 13) 158.9 ( 9)
10. Notre Dame (0-5) 362.4 ( 55) 201.4 (103) 161.0 ( 10)
What stands out here? Other than SE Louisiana, which is still listed among Div I-A since they've played 3 I-A teams but won't be listed next week. Notre Dame is #10 in passing defense? Actually they rank #7 when unadjusted, so there actually is an element of their game that is working. Or maybe they're so easy to run on, teams don't have to bother to pass? (Which is clearly the case with SE Louisiana)
Rushing Defense Yardage Averages (corrected for schedule):
Rank Team Rec Total (rank) Rush (rank) Pass (rank)
1. Oregon St (2-3) 247.9 ( 8) 33.6 ( 1) 214.2 ( 55)
2. Florida (4-1) 284.0 ( 16) 34.9 ( 2) 249.0 ( 86)
3. Cincinnati (5-0) 318.6 ( 30) 35.3 ( 3) 283.3 (106)
4. Ohio State (5-0) 218.2 ( 2) 40.3 ( 4) 177.9 ( 20)
5. Florida St (3-1) 246.6 ( 7) 51.1 ( 5) 195.5 ( 37)
6. LSU (5-0) 214.3 ( 1) 51.1 ( 6) 163.2 ( 13)
7. Brigham Young (3-2) 226.4 ( 4) 57.9 ( 7) 168.4 ( 15)
8. Boise St (3-1) 317.3 ( 27) 58.2 ( 8) 259.0 ( 97)
9. Oklahoma (4-1) 218.8 ( 3) 62.6 ( 9) 156.2 ( 7)
10. UCLA (4-1) 323.1 ( 32) 66.7 ( 10) 256.3 ( 93)
Oregon State, on the other hand, has a great rushing defense, and their passing defense isn't completely terrible, so in this case it's probably a reflection of actual quality. The Beavers rank third unadjusted for schedule.
Finally, here are the top 25 teams who are outgaining their opponents in total yardage:
Total Yardage Differential (Corrected for Schedule) thru 9/29/2007
Rank Team Rec Yards Off Def
1. Brigham Young (3-2) 266.1 10 4
2. Oklahoma (4-1) 257.6 16 3
3. West Virginia (4-1) 232.8 7 18
4. LSU (5-0) 224.9 33 1
5. Southern Cal (4-0) 224.5 27 5
6. Arizona St (5-0) 211.5 18 9
7. Hawaii (5-0) 203.3 3 53
8. Colorado (3-2) 201.5 32 6
9. Oregon (4-1) 199.7 2 66
10. Florida (4-1) 182.7 19 16
11. Oregon St (2-3) 182.3 39 8
12. Arkansas (2-2) 179.6 9 29
13. UCLA (4-1) 164.6 14 32
14. Houston (2-2) 159.8 20 21
15. Tulsa (3-1) 146.8 1 100
16. California (5-0) 144.8 34 19
17. Alabama (3-2) 139.2 13 48
18. Arizona (2-3) 139.2 15 41
19. Ohio State (5-0) 138.5 76 2
20. South Florida (4-0) 135.6 58 10
21. Clemson (4-1) 129.2 17 43
22. Texas Tech (4-1) 123.9 5 88
23. New Mexico St (3-2) 123.0 6 86
24. New Mexico (3-2) 122.3 36 26
25. Colorado St (0-4) 121.7 24 38
BYU is the surprise leader; perhaps they're better than their record, or not—they don't show up very high in corrected scoring differential (they're 29th), so either they somehow gain lots of "garbage" yards and don't score, or their opponents find it easy to get into the end zone and don't need to rack up a lot of yards doing so. Also, there is the chance that their opponents' return yards are killing them, or perhaps their special teams are particularly poor?
New Mexico State and New Mexico are in the same boat to a lesser degree—they're winning the yardage game but not always the scoring game. Colorado State is noteworthy too, as they haven't won a game yet. But a quick look at their scores shows they've lost several tight games, and to good opponents. They might be a pretty decent team that's had poor luck and a tough schedule. They're 56th in the Points power rating, the best of any winless team.
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