TheDailyEdge
Pretty much a regular
Iowa 28, Nebraska 20 (Friday)
It’s easy to overreact to the boxscore at first glance, as Nebraska won total yardage 433-250 in a game where Iowa had a defensive touchdown. But, yardage was inflated because of a huge 88-44 discrepancy in plays run. Iowa actually won yards-per-play 5.7 to 5.2, and then the turnover category 4-1. Still, the Hawkeyes aren’t exactly rolling into the Big 12 Championship game on fire given an 0 for 9 performance on third downs. Tricky because Iowa wasn’t as outclassed as raw yardage makes it look, but wasn’t as sharp as a 28-20 road win in a market coin flip makes it look either. They can’t count on a big TO edge and a defensive score vs. Michigan State next week.
Michigan State 55, Penn State 16
If you were only scoreboard watching here because more appealing games were on TV, you may have gotten the impression that Michigan State had finally found themselves after knocking off Ohio State. Not really. Total yardage was only 436-418. Michigan State won the turnover category 4-1, scoring on a fumble return TD, an INT return TD, and on a short 9-yard TD drive. Amazingly, Iowa and MSU were outgained 851-686 by Nebraska and Penn State but won turnovers 8-2 on their way to three combined non-offensive TDs. Could be a very tight Big 12 Championship with both offenses trying not to give the ball away.
BYU 51, Utah State 28
Weird one…where Utah State jumped ahead then BYU stormed back. Total yardage was 445-358 for Utah State, though BYU won yards-per-play 5.9 to 5.1 and the turnover category 2-0. BYU did have a fumble return TD. Best to think of it as the right team winning the game…but you’re not supposed to score 51 points on only 358 yards!
Florida State 27, Florida 2
Another one you may have skipped because more important TV games were on other channels. This was expected to be a defensive struggle, and was! Florida State’s “27” looks fairly explosive. But, they only had two long scoring drives, went just 2 of 14 on third down tries, and settled in at 5.2 yards-per-play. Clean win and cover…but FSU’s offense may still be in some trouble come bowl time. They weren’t as good as “27” made it look…and they were facing an opponent that was much more concerned about its SEC Championship battle with Alabama next week.
USC 40, UCLA 21
USC won total yardage 410-367 and was better at moving the ball given their 42% to 29% edge in third down conversions. But, they were able to pad their scoring with a punt return TD and a fumble return TD. This wasn’t quite the blowout the scoreboard suggested, which is why USC initially opened at +4 vs. Stanford in the Pac 12 Championship game instead of something more respected. USC didn’t impress recently at Colorado or Oregon, and wasn’t as good here as the score made it seem.
It’s easy to overreact to the boxscore at first glance, as Nebraska won total yardage 433-250 in a game where Iowa had a defensive touchdown. But, yardage was inflated because of a huge 88-44 discrepancy in plays run. Iowa actually won yards-per-play 5.7 to 5.2, and then the turnover category 4-1. Still, the Hawkeyes aren’t exactly rolling into the Big 12 Championship game on fire given an 0 for 9 performance on third downs. Tricky because Iowa wasn’t as outclassed as raw yardage makes it look, but wasn’t as sharp as a 28-20 road win in a market coin flip makes it look either. They can’t count on a big TO edge and a defensive score vs. Michigan State next week.
Michigan State 55, Penn State 16
If you were only scoreboard watching here because more appealing games were on TV, you may have gotten the impression that Michigan State had finally found themselves after knocking off Ohio State. Not really. Total yardage was only 436-418. Michigan State won the turnover category 4-1, scoring on a fumble return TD, an INT return TD, and on a short 9-yard TD drive. Amazingly, Iowa and MSU were outgained 851-686 by Nebraska and Penn State but won turnovers 8-2 on their way to three combined non-offensive TDs. Could be a very tight Big 12 Championship with both offenses trying not to give the ball away.
BYU 51, Utah State 28
Weird one…where Utah State jumped ahead then BYU stormed back. Total yardage was 445-358 for Utah State, though BYU won yards-per-play 5.9 to 5.1 and the turnover category 2-0. BYU did have a fumble return TD. Best to think of it as the right team winning the game…but you’re not supposed to score 51 points on only 358 yards!
Florida State 27, Florida 2
Another one you may have skipped because more important TV games were on other channels. This was expected to be a defensive struggle, and was! Florida State’s “27” looks fairly explosive. But, they only had two long scoring drives, went just 2 of 14 on third down tries, and settled in at 5.2 yards-per-play. Clean win and cover…but FSU’s offense may still be in some trouble come bowl time. They weren’t as good as “27” made it look…and they were facing an opponent that was much more concerned about its SEC Championship battle with Alabama next week.
USC 40, UCLA 21
USC won total yardage 410-367 and was better at moving the ball given their 42% to 29% edge in third down conversions. But, they were able to pad their scoring with a punt return TD and a fumble return TD. This wasn’t quite the blowout the scoreboard suggested, which is why USC initially opened at +4 vs. Stanford in the Pac 12 Championship game instead of something more respected. USC didn’t impress recently at Colorado or Oregon, and wasn’t as good here as the score made it seem.
