Historic record against ranked teams away from home...

[A Clockwork Orange]

So I dug into the numbers tonight to see how SU has fared historically against ranked teams on the road. I did this firstly because I wanted to see how a win this weekend would rank in terms of the greatest wins of all time for this program. I looked back all the way to 1939 (the first time college football reference shows SU playing ranked teams).

So here are some numbers all time.

1. SU is 27-72-1 all time in games against ranked teams on the road and at neutral sites.
2. Taking out neutral site games, SU is 22-64 all time against ranked teams on the road. That's a 34% winning percentage.
3. Since 1990, SU is 11-33 in true road games.
4. SU has not won against a ranked team on the road since October 23, 2010 against West Virginia. They were ranked 20th.
5. That is 7 years, 11 months and 3 days since our last win against a ranked opponent on the road.
6. The longest such drought SU has ever had was from November 25, 1967 when SU beat #4 UCLA 32-14, to October 19, 1991 when SU beat #20 Pitt on the road 31-27. This stat does NOT include neutral site games.
7. In case you were wondering, that is 23 years, 10 months and 24 days between wins against a ranked team on the road.
8. The last time we beat a top 5 team on the road was on October 27, 2001 at VPI. We won 22-14, spurred on by a Jamel Riddle punt return for a touchdown. VPI was ranked #4 at that point in the season.
9. We have NEVER beaten a top 3 team on the road. All time we are 0-13 against top 3 teams.
10. We have never even lost a road game against a top 3 team by single digits. The closest we've come is two 10 point losses.
11. We lost to #1 Ohio State in the very first game of the season in 1980 by a score of 31-21. We also lost to #2 Pitt in 1976 by a score of 23-13.
12. The average score in games against top 3 teams is 42-8.
13. Since 1990 we have played five road games against top 3 teams. The average score of those games is 50.2-4.8.
14. The closest loss in that time frame was a tight one down in Miami in 1990. We only lost by 26 points, 33-7.

If SU were to go on the road to Clemson and somehow pull out a victory, it would count as the most improbable win in this team's history. If I were a betting man, I would take Clemson and the points. Our history bears that out. While crazy things can and do happen in college football, I'm not sure I can see a way SU beats Clemson this Saturday. Frankly, winning ATS would be a big victory (historically speaking).

I can dig into numbers more if any of you have questions. Just let me know.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Dislike (what the analysis says). Still gave you a like for the SWC-like effort!

 

[upperdeck]

should have solved this problem last year vs LSU

 

[TheCusian]

So I dug into the numbers tonight to see how SU has fared historically against ranked teams on the road. I did this firstly because I wanted to see how a win this weekend would rank in terms of the greatest wins of all time for this program. I looked back all the way to 1939 (the first time college football reference shows SU playing ranked teams).

So here are some numbers all time.

1. SU is 27-72-1 all time in games against ranked teams on the road and at neutral sites.
2. Taking out neutral site games, SU is 22-64 all time against ranked teams on the road. That's a 34% winning percentage.
3. Since 1990, SU is 11-33 in true road games.
4. SU has not won against a ranked team on the road since October 23, 2010 against West Virginia. They were ranked 20th.
5. That is 7 years, 11 months and 3 days since our last win against a ranked opponent on the road.
6. The longest such drought SU has ever had was from November 25, 1967 when SU beat #4 UCLA 32-14, to October 19, 1991 when SU beat #20 Pitt on the road 31-27. This stat does NOT include neutral site games.
7. In case you were wondering, that is 23 years, 10 months and 24 days between wins against a ranked team on the road.
8. The last time we beat a top 5 team was on October 27, 2001 at VPI. We won 22-14, spurred on by a Jamel Riddle punt return for a touchdown. VPI was ranked #4 at that point in the season.
9. We have NEVER beaten a top 3 team on the road. All time we are 0-13 against top 3 teams.
10. We have never even lost a road game against a ranked team by single digits. The closest we've come is two 10 point losses.
11. We lost to #1 Ohio State in the very first game of the season in 1980 by a score of 31-21. We also lost to #2 Pitt in 1976 by a score of 23-13.
12. The average score in games against top 3 teams is 42-8.
13. Since 1990 we have played five road games against top 3 teams. The average score of those games is 50.2-4.8.
14. The closest loss in that time frame was a tight one down in Miami in 1990. We only lost by 26 points, 33-7.

If SU were to go on the road to Clemson and somehow pull out a victory, it would count as the most improbable win in this team's history. If I were a betting man, I would take Clemson and the points. Our history bears that out. While crazy things can and do happen in college football, I'm not sure I can see a way SU beats Clemson this Saturday. Frankly, winning ATS would be a big victory (historically speaking).

I can dig into numbers more if any of you have questions. Just let me know.

Great look at the history. Thanks!

 

[Jake]

Holy crap. That’s, umm, interesting.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Holy crap. That’s, umm, interesting.

Before digging into it, I would not have thought the numbers were that skewed. Kind of humbling to see just how difficult it is to win on the road against top tier teams.

 

[TheCusian]

I would bet other peer teams have similar records vs ranked teams on the road. Though our streak of bad/mediocre years prob hurts us a ton.

I don’t know how much I’d read into it affecting this game and this team.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I would bet other peer teams have similar records vs ranked teams on the road. Though our streak of bad/mediocre years prob hurts us a ton.

I don’t know how much I’d read into it affecting this game and this team.

It's more meant as an overall look at winning on the road against ranked teams. Which is more difficult than I would have expected.

 

[upperdeck]

much harder when you arent very good much of the time

 

[cuse309]

So I dug into the numbers tonight to see how SU has fared historically against ranked teams on the road. I did this firstly because I wanted to see how a win this weekend would rank in terms of the greatest wins of all time for this program. I looked back all the way to 1939 (the first time college football reference shows SU playing ranked teams).

So here are some numbers all time.

1. SU is 27-72-1 all time in games against ranked teams on the road and at neutral sites.
2. Taking out neutral site games, SU is 22-64 all time against ranked teams on the road. That's a 34% winning percentage.
3. Since 1990, SU is 11-33 in true road games.
4. SU has not won against a ranked team on the road since October 23, 2010 against West Virginia. They were ranked 20th.
5. That is 7 years, 11 months and 3 days since our last win against a ranked opponent on the road.
6. The longest such drought SU has ever had was from November 25, 1967 when SU beat #4 UCLA 32-14, to October 19, 1991 when SU beat #20 Pitt on the road 31-27. This stat does NOT include neutral site games.
7. In case you were wondering, that is 23 years, 10 months and 24 days between wins against a ranked team on the road.
8. The last time we beat a top 5 team on the road was on October 27, 2001 at VPI. We won 22-14, spurred on by a Jamel Riddle punt return for a touchdown. VPI was ranked #4 at that point in the season.
9. We have NEVER beaten a top 3 team on the road. All time we are 0-13 against top 3 teams.
10. We have never even lost a road game against a top 3 team by single digits. The closest we've come is two 10 point losses.
11. We lost to #1 Ohio State in the very first game of the season in 1980 by a score of 31-21. We also lost to #2 Pitt in 1976 by a score of 23-13.
12. The average score in games against top 3 teams is 42-8.
13. Since 1990 we have played five road games against top 3 teams. The average score of those games is 50.2-4.8.
14. The closest loss in that time frame was a tight one down in Miami in 1990. We only lost by 26 points, 33-7.

If SU were to go on the road to Clemson and somehow pull out a victory, it would count as the most improbable win in this team's history. If I were a betting man, I would take Clemson and the points. Our history bears that out. While crazy things can and do happen in college football, I'm not sure I can see a way SU beats Clemson this Saturday. Frankly, winning ATS would be a big victory (historically speaking).

I can dig into numbers more if any of you have questions. Just let me know.

This is great news!!! It tells me that we are well overdue to knock off a top 3 team on the road.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

much harder when you arent very good much of the time

12-14-1 when we were ranked as well. A good deal better. I'll dig into spreads in a second, and give you a look at when we were favored vs. when we weren't.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

This is great news!!! It tells me that we are well overdue to knock off a top 3 team on the road.

Let's hope so!

 

[Marroniac]

Yeah, but Clemsoning. It’s yin and yang.

 

[MadNY3]

If SU were to go on the road to Clemson and somehow pull out a victory, it would count as the most improbable win in this team's history.

The data is really well done and show how difficult the task is 0-13 going against top three teams on the road.

That said, I cannot be convinced otherwise that the win over Nebraska in 1984 was more improbable. We lost 63-6 the year before and were blanked by a crap team leading up to the game.

If we somehow won this game, it would serve as proof that this team is for real. They are 4-0. They beat Clemson a year ago. So I don’t expect to win, but 17-9 in 1984 still blows my mind.

 

[juse5]

So I dug into the numbers tonight to see how SU has fared historically against ranked teams on the road. I did this firstly because I wanted to see how a win this weekend would rank in terms of the greatest wins of all time for this program. I looked back all the way to 1939 (the first time college football reference shows SU playing ranked teams).

So here are some numbers all time.

1. SU is 27-72-1 all time in games against ranked teams on the road and at neutral sites.
2. Taking out neutral site games, SU is 22-64 all time against ranked teams on the road. That's a 34% winning percentage.
3. Since 1990, SU is 11-33 in true road games.
4. SU has not won against a ranked team on the road since October 23, 2010 against West Virginia. They were ranked 20th.
5. That is 7 years, 11 months and 3 days since our last win against a ranked opponent on the road.
6. The longest such drought SU has ever had was from November 25, 1967 when SU beat #4 UCLA 32-14, to October 19, 1991 when SU beat #20 Pitt on the road 31-27. This stat does NOT include neutral site games.
7. In case you were wondering, that is 23 years, 10 months and 24 days between wins against a ranked team on the road.
8. The last time we beat a top 5 team on the road was on October 27, 2001 at VPI. We won 22-14, spurred on by a Jamel Riddle punt return for a touchdown. VPI was ranked #4 at that point in the season.
9. We have NEVER beaten a top 3 team on the road. All time we are 0-13 against top 3 teams.
10. We have never even lost a road game against a top 3 team by single digits. The closest we've come is two 10 point losses.
11. We lost to #1 Ohio State in the very first game of the season in 1980 by a score of 31-21. We also lost to #2 Pitt in 1976 by a score of 23-13.
12. The average score in games against top 3 teams is 42-8.
13. Since 1990 we have played five road games against top 3 teams. The average score of those games is 50.2-4.8.
14. The closest loss in that time frame was a tight one down in Miami in 1990. We only lost by 26 points, 33-7.

If SU were to go on the road to Clemson and somehow pull out a victory, it would count as the most improbable win in this team's history. If I were a betting man, I would take Clemson and the points. Our history bears that out. While crazy things can and do happen in college football, I'm not sure I can see a way SU beats Clemson this Saturday. Frankly, winning ATS would be a big victory (historically speaking).

I can dig into numbers more if any of you have questions. Just let me know.

Luckily for us, history is history. Those players and coaches that lost won't be on the field Saturday.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Two years ago Pitt went to Death Valley and came away with a win. They finished 8-5 and lost to Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl. Meanwhile Clemson beat a host of ranked teams and ended the season as national champs. We can absolutely win this game regardless of history or past/present/future record.

 

[DNABB5]

Before digging into it, I would not have thought the numbers were that skewed. Kind of humbling to see just how difficult it is to win on the road against top tier teams.

I remember getting all excited for @Miami in 93 and Shelby Hill got an unsportmanlike PF for kicking the ball after he dropped it in a 0-49 gutkick.

Troy Nunes in Blacksburg was 0-62.

Yea, the only win was that VT game where cuse jumped on them and then Freeney hurried Grant Noel on every down.

That game was a nooner too as I recall.

 

[donniesyracuse]

This is great news!!! It tells me that we are well overdue to knock off a top 3 team on the road.

Casinos love this kind of thinking

 

[OrangeDW]

I remember getting all excited for @Miami in 93 and Shelby Hill got an unsportmanlike PF for kicking the ball after he dropped it in a 0-49 gutkick.

Troy Nunes in Blacksburg was 0-62.

Yea, the only win was that VT game where cuse jumped on them and then Freeney hurried Grant Noel on every down.

That game was a nooner too as I recall.

Jamal Riddle with the punt return for a TD in Blacksburg in the beginning of the game! I think we blocked a punt deep in their territory that turned into points too. Typically you need a couple plays like that to knock off a top team on the road.

 

[ColoradoB]

That is one leg up on Michigan. They haven't beaten a top-25 team on the road since 2006.