One last time, we opened a week of games with a statistical comparison. This one comes with a variation, perhaps an asterisk.
Alabama is a week away from playing at Ohio State for the national championship in Miami Gardens. That in itself is not such a strange statement in a normal world … but, you know. Finding equal comparisons between Ohio and Alabama is difficult, as the Buckeyes played just seven games against Crimson Tide’s 12.
So the numbers may not be as revealing when you look at the two teams side by side. The sample sizes are just different. With that in mind, we take some of the normal statistics measured in this space and convert them into averages per game instead of gross numbers for the entire season.
It works in two ways for Buckeyes, where a bad game in a particular category can distort numbers much more in a set of seven games than in a pack of 12.
Anyway, these are two explosive offenses that score more than 40 points per game and rank in the top six in total attack and scoring.
Grab a grain of salt and take a look at these statistics as Alabama and Ohio State prepare for the national title game next Monday.
Hurried offense
1. Air Force 305.6
5. Ohio State 272.5
46. Alabama 185.6
Offense passing
1. Florida 378.6
5. Alabama 349.3
31. Ohio State 276.3
Total offense
1. UCF 568.1
4. State of Ohio 544.9
6. Alabama 535.0
Offense score
1. Alabama 48.2
2. BYU 43.5
5. State of Ohio 43.4
Hurried defense
1. Georgia 72.3
2. State of Ohio 89.1
13. Alabama 108.5
Passing the defense
1. West Virginia 159.6
79. Alabama 242.9
116. Ohio State 281.1
Total defense
1. Army 275.3
32. Alabama 353.2
41. State of Ohio 370.3
Scoring defense
1. Marshall 13.0
13. Alabama 19.0
31. Ohio State 22.0
Turning margin
1. Ohio State + 1.29 / set
12. Alabama + 0.92 / set
Penalties
1. Georgia Southern 33.8 yards per game
50. Alabama 48.4
85. State of Ohio 58.0
3rd descent offense
1. Alabama 59.26%
2. Texas A&M 54.89%
6. State of Ohio 50.00%
Defense 3rd descent
1. State of Oklahoma 26.5%
25. Ohio State 35.1%
76. Alabama 41.4%
Red zone score
1. Missouri 94.1% (32/34)
9. Alabama 91.9% (57/62)
100. State of Ohio 76.9% (30/39)
20 yard games
Ohio State 7.71 / set
Alabama 6.58 / set
20 yard games allowed
Alabama 3.83 / set
Ohio State 5.0 / set
Sacks
1. Pitt 4.18 / set
24. Alabama 2.83 / set
34. Ohio State 2.71 / set
Allowed bags
1. Louisiana-Lafayette 0.90
24. Alabama 1.42
101. State of Ohio 2.86
Fight for the loss
1. Pitt 10.1 / set
13. Alabama 6.42 / gam
92. Ohio State 5.86 / set
Combat loss allowed
1. Marshall 3.50 / set
8. Alabama 4.00 / set
84. Ohio State 6.71 / set
Basket kick
1. Alabama 100% (13/13)
101. State of Ohio 60% (6/10)
Punting
1. Georgia Tech 47.6
16. Ohio State 44.8
118. Alabama 38.0