Football
By the Numbers - Six-Game Totals
By Jeff Amey

This football story brought to you by:

Six games down, six to go (assuming a bowl appearance of course). That means it's time for the mid-season installment of the the offensive statistical breakdown. The Buckeyes went 2-1 in the past three games, similar to the first three games, and have had a few ups and downs.

Similarly to last season, the statistics will be compared this time to the last set of totals. When a statistic goes up, the difference will be in blue. If it goes down, it will be in red. If it stays the same, it will be in green. So let's dive right in and take a look at what the offense has done so far this season.

Run/Pass Breakdown

395 Total Plays--2,166 yards--5.5 ypp (+0.6)

66 (-4) plays for 361.0 (+21.3) yards per game

152 pass (38%)--96/152 for 1,171 yards 8 TD 3 INT

25.6 (-4.7) passes for 195.2 (+7.2) yards per game

243 runs (62%) for 995 yards 8 TD--4.1 ypc (+0.3)

40.5 (+0.8) runs for 165.8 (+14.1) yards per game

71 Total Drives--11.8 per game (-0.5)

ave. of 5.6 (-0.1) plays--30.5 (+3.0) yards

ave. start--OSU 33 (-7)

1st Down--174 (44%) plays for 884 yards

29.0 (-1.7) plays for 147.3 (+18.3) yards per game

45 pass (26%)--29/45 for 370 yards 4 TD 1 INT

7.5 (-2.5) passes for 61.7 (-3.0) yards per game

129 runs (74%) for 514 yards 3 TD--4.0 (+0.9) ypc

21.5 (+0.8) runs for 85.7 (+21.4) yards per game

ave. gain of 5.1 (+0.9) yards

2nd Down--136 (34%) plays for 758 yards

22.7 (-1.6) plays for 126.3 (-8.4) yards per game

56 pass (41%)--35/56 for 441 yards 1 TD 1 INT

9.3 (-1.4) passes for 73.5 (+3.2) yards per game

80 runs (59%) for 317 yards 4 TD--4.0 (-0.7) ypc

13.3 (-0.4) runs for 52.8 (-11.5) yards per game

ave. of 7.8 (+0.2) yards to go

ave. gain of 5.6 (+0.1) yards

3rd Down--83 (21%) plays for 516 yards

13.8 (-0.9) plays for 86.0 (+12.0) yards per game

50 pass (60%)--31/50 for 354 yards 3 TD 1 INT

8.3 (-1.0) passes for 59.0 (+8.0) yards per game

33 runs (40%) for 162 yards 1 TD--4.9 (+0.6) ypc

5.5 (+0.2) runs for 27.0 (+4.0) yards per game

ave of 6.8 (+0.3) yards to go

ave. gain of 6.2 (+1.1) yards

conversions--39/83 (47%)

4th Down--2 (1%) plays for 8 yards

0.3 plays for 1.3 yards per game

1 pass (50%) for 6 yards

1 run (50%) for 2 yards

ave. of 6.5 yards to go

ave. gain of 4 yards

conversions--1/2

Playaction Passing

10/22 for 244 yards 3 TD 1 INT

First Downs--104--17.3 (-1.0) per game

48 by pass

50 by run

6 by penalty

FORMATION BREAKDOWN

2 back formations--72 plays (18%)--12.0 (+4.3) per game

8 pass (11%)--2/8 for 81 yards 1 TD

1.3 (0) passes for 13.5 (-0.5) yards per game

64 runs (89%) for 170 yards 4 TD--2.7 (+2.0) ypc

10.7 (+4.4) runs for 28.3 (+23.6) yards per game

Shotgun formations--269 plays (68%)--44.8 (-5.2) per game

136 pass (51%)--89/136 for 1,026 yards 7 TD 3 INT

22.7 (-4.6) passes for 171.0 (+17.3) yards per game

133 runs (49%) for 613 yards 4 TD--4.6 (-0.1) ypc

22.2 (-0.5) runs for 102.2 (-3.5) yards per game

1 back formations--54 plays (14%)--9.0 (-3.3) per game

8 pass (15%)--5/8 for 64 yards

1.3 (-0.4) passes for 10.7 (-9.6) yards per game

46 runs (85%) for 212 yards--4.6 (+0.7) ypc

7.7 (-3.0) runs for 35.3 (-6.0) yards per game

RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--243 attempts

counter/trap--24 (10%) for 84 yards--3.5 (-2.2) ypc

draw--52 (21%) for 282 yards--5.4 (+0.9) ypc

sweep--3 (1%) for 16 yards--5.3 (+5.0) ypc

base/iso--43 (18%) for 127 yards 2 TD--3.0 (-0.4) ypc

end around--6 (2%) for -4 yards--(-0.7) (-1.1) ypc

power--3 (1%) for 23 yards--7.7 (+7.7) ypc

QB run/scramble--58 (24%) for 164 yards 2 TD--2.8 (-0.1) ypc

option--35 (14%) for 208 yards 4 TD--5.9 (-0.3) ypc

stretch--18 (7%) for 89 yards--4.9 (+2.5) ypc

pass lateral--1 (0.4%) for 7 yards--7.0 (0) ypc

Other Stats of Note

* 15 offensive penalties in 6 games

* 12 sacks and 12 turnovers (3 INT/9 fumbles)

*17/22 (77%) in red zone scoring (10 TD/7 FG)

* 112 of 395 plays have went for no gain or loss (28%)

*205 of 395 plays have been on opponent's side of 50 (52%)

* 272 of 395 have had 3 or more WR's lined up (69%)

*69 of those 272 plays ended with the ball in a WR's hands (25%)

Three weeks ago, I said that we'd have a better idea which direction the offense would be headed in three weeks. I was wrong. Three weeks have gone by and we have even less idea what's going to happen with the offense than we did before. In the intervening weeks, there has been one mediocre game from the offense (Michigan State), one great game (Iowa), and one terrible game (Penn State). The Michigan State game might have ended up in the great column too if the offense had been on the field more. The offense is still in last place in per game averages in a Big Ten conference that isn't just about defense and "slow white guys" anymore.

The statistics are at least a little bit encouraging with regard to trends in total yardage and rushing totals. On average, they are gaining 5.5 yards every time they snap the ball, which is actually a pretty good statistic. The per game average of yards gained for the game also went up over 20 yards per game on an average of four fewer plays. It's also good to see that the Buckeyes are running the ball a little bit more and with better success (about 1 more run and 14 more yards per game).

Also encouraging was better success for the offense on first down. The Buckeyes went from averaging 4.2 yards per first down play through three weeks to averaging 5.1 yards. This is due to much greater success with first down run plays, which went up nearly a full yard per carry.

Third down has also been kinder to the Buckeyes in the past three weeks, with a rise in yards gained per third down play of over a yard per play. The conversion percentage on third down is also on the rise up to 47% for the season. A statistic which wasn't included in the breakdown up there...only 83 of the 174 times Ohio State had a first down ended up getting to third down (48%). That means that that more than half of the time that the Buckeyes have a first down, they either get another first down, score a touchdown, or lose the ball on a turnover before it gets to third down. That's a pretty meaningful stat.

It also points to a problem that is plaguing the Buckeyes so far this season, and is probably the main reason behind Ohio State's two losses this season...turnovers. Ohio State is averaging two turnovers per game and more than one lost fumble per game. That won't get the job done on offense, especially when the defense isn't able to duplicate or better that number. The Buckeyes must take better care of the ball on offense if they want to finish this season with a chance to win the Big Ten.

Other disturbing stats are the percentage of plays that end up in a receiver's hands when there are three or more of them out on the field. Ohio State is currently only getting the ball to a receiver in that situation one fourth of the time. The Buckeyes are also gaining an average of one less first down per game on offense.

The biggest change and another big part of Ohio State's struggles on offense is that the Buckeyes average starting position has moved seven yards closer to their own end zone in only three games. The defense is not forcing punts and turnovers as well as they did early in the season, and the special teams haven't been able to set the offense up in scoring position. Since the Buckeyes haven't shown much ability to put long drives together since the first game of the season, that's not a positive trend for the Buckeyes.

All in all, there is evidence of slow improvement by the offense, but there is still a long way to go. The Michigan State game was reason to be optimistic about the offense heading in the right direction, but the Penn State debacle has to hang around in the back of your mind to temper any optimism. The Buckeyes now hit a three game stretch up against less than average defenses. Time to tune up and get ready for the stretch run.

Return to O-Zone Column and and Features

Return to O-Zone Front Page