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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 4425920, member: 289"] (I've decided to break this out from my "Why they'll Win, Why We'll Win" posts, which follow.) I took a deep dive into the stats to see how we compared to big, bad Pittsburgh. I’ve learned my lesson- the last time I didn’t bother to look at blocked kicks – how often does that happen? I didn’t realize that the Irish had blocked four kicks this year and they blocked a fifth against us and it resulted in the clinching score in the game. So here is everything on this page: [URL="https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/702/p2"]NCAA College Football FBS current team Stats | NCAA.com[/URL] SCORING OFFENSE SU- 33 PITT- 30.5 TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS SU- 396 PITT- 409.5 OFFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS SU- 173 PITT- 171 OFFENSIVE RUSHING YARDS SU- 164.5 PITT- 182 OFFENSIVE PASSING YARDS SU- 231 PITT- 227 OFFENSIVE PASSING EFFICIENCY SU- 153 PITT- 127 OFFENSIVE COMPLETION PERCENTAGE SU- 65 PITT- 58 OFFENSIVE 3RD AND 4TH DOWN PERCENTAGE SU- 41 PITT- 39 OFFENSIVE RED ZONE POINTS SU- 159in33 = 4.8 PITT- 117in27 = 4.3 SACKS ALLOWED SU- 22 PITT- 16 TACKLES FOR A LOSS ALLOWED SU- 43 PITT- 50 BLOCKED KICKS ALLOWED SU- 2 PITT- 4 (I’m assuming blocked kicks are placekicks and added them to blocked punts) SCORING DEFENSE SU- 18 PITT- 28 TOTAL DEFENSIVE YARDS SU- 303 PITT- 351 DEFENSIVE FIRST DOWNS SU- 136 PITT- 147 DEFENSIVE RUSHING YARDS SU- 139 PITT- 120 (We went from 95 rushing yards allowed per game to 123. Clemson gained 34% of the rushing yards we have surrendered.) DEFENSIVE PASSING YARDS SU- 164.5 PITT- 231 DEFENSIVE PASSING EFFICIENCY SU- 115 PITT- 126 DEFENSIVE COMPLETION PERCENTAGE SU- 62 PITT- 57 DEFENSIVE THIRD AND FOURTH DOWN PERCENTAGE SU- 38 PITT-35 DEFENSIVE RED ZONE POINTS SU- 90in22 = 4.1 PITT- 141in32 = 4.4 SACKS SU- 19 PITT- 23 TACKLES FOR A LOSS SU- 48 PITT- 50 BLOCKED KICKS SU -2 PITT- 5 DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS SU- 3 PITT- 2 KICKOFF RETURNS SU- 26 PITT- 19 OPPONENT KICKOFF RETURNS SU- 23 PITT- 17 KICKOFFS THAT WERE RETURNED SU- 18/51 = 35% PITT- 9/46 = 20% PUNT RETURNS SU- 6 PITT- 6 OPPONENT PUNT RETURNS SU- 7 PITT- 5 PUNTS RETURNED SU- 12/29 = 41% PITT- 13/35 = 37% NET PUNTING SU- 35 PITT- 35 FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE SU- 12/13 = 92 PITT- 9/12 = 75% LONGEST FG SU- 54 PITT- 48 40 YARDS + SU- 3/4 ND- 4/5 EXTRA POINTS MISSED SU- 0 ND- 0 TURNOVER MARGIN SU- +5 PITT- -3 (But were +6 to Notre Dame’s -6 but we had 2 to their 1) PENALTIES SU- 70/540yds PITT- 59/487yds TIME OF POSSESSION SU- 28 PITT- 32 STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE SU- #25 PITT #60 (Everybody has their own system for this: I averaged the sources on this page: [URL="https://fbschedules.com/college-football-strength-of-schedule-2022-mid-season-rankings/"]College football strength of schedule: 2022 mid-season rankings[/URL] ) COMMON OPPONENTS: We beat Louisville 31-7: Pitt lost to them 10-24 I looked at that and there is what it tells me that seems to be in Notre Dame’s favor: - They’ve gained 13 more yards per game. - They’ve rushed for 18 more yards per game. - They’ve given up 19 fewer rushing yards per game. - They’ve given up fewer sacks - They’ve blocked more kicks and have fewer of them returned. - They’ve committed fewer penalties. Our advantages: - We’ve been more efficient passing the ball, with a higher completion percentage. But much of that was with a healthy Shrader. - We’ve been more productive in the Red Zone - Pitt has given up fewer sacks because they’ve run the ball more: they have more TFLs, which include sacks. - They’ve given up 10 more points per game. - They’ve given up 48 more yards per game. - Pitt has given up 19 fewer rushing yards but 65 more passing yards. Can we take advantage of that? - We’re getting 7 more yards per kickoff return but Pitt gives up fewer returns - Andre is almost automatic on field goals and has greater range than their kicker, although Pitt’s 75% used to be pretty good. - I was amazed that their strength of schedule was so much weaker than ours, since they played Tennessee, (and gave them the best battle they’ve gotten all year). Actually, they are middle of the pack and we are highly ranked, so they haven’t had a weak schedule. We’ve just had a better one. I wonder if Louisville is a better team now than when we played them. [/QUOTE]

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