Stephen Vilardo’s Week 3 Matchups by the Numbers


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports


---

The Pac-12 enters Week Three with a pair of potential College Playoff candidates in Oregon and UCLA, a new interim coach in USC’s Donte Williams,.

It is also suffering through the nation’s longest losing streak in Arizona’s 14-straight defeats, and an unexpected setback in Washington’s 0-2 start.

Regardless of each team’s current status, Saturday’s schedule presents 11 more opportunities to win.

Here are quick-hit notes and stats for each matchup.

Colorado leads the series 3-0 all-time

• The Buffs have won the three meetings in the series by an average of 30.3 points. The last meeting in 1992 was a one-point 21-20 CU victory.
• Minnesota has won 20-straight non-conference games, the longest active streak in the nation
• The Gophers are 59-65-9 all-time in road openers
• Colorado has gone 20-5 in their last 25 regular season non-conference games.
• Last week Trey Potts carried the ball 34 times for Minnesota, the most carries in a single game by any player this season, gaining 178 on those 34 totes.
• Colorado has allowed under 300 yards in each of its first two games this season, just the fourth time since 1988 the Buffs have done that
• Nate Landman is averaging 5.1 tackles per game in his career, the third-most of any active player in the nation.
• Dimitri Stanley leads the Pac-12 and is third in the nation with a punt return average of 20.2 yards

Oregon State leads the all-time series 37-6

• The Beavers are 16-1 in their last 17 games against the Vandals.
• BJ Baylor is second in the nation with a Pac-12-best five rushing TDs this season.
• Avery Roberts has recorded at least 10 tackles in nine of his 19 games in a Beavers uniform
• Oregon State leads the Pac-12 with 8.0 TFL per game this season.
• Last week, Idaho’s special teams allowed a TD on a punt return and a blocked punt.
• Avery Roberts leads the Pac-12 with 3.5 TFL this season.
• Tre Walker is averaging 4.76 tackles per game for his career, the fifth-highest career average among active FCS players.

USC leads the all-time series 61-10-4

• The Trojans are 15-4-2 all-time against Washington State in Pullman
• The Cougars are 19-4 in their last 23 games at home
• USC lost their Pac-12 opener for the ninth time since 2000. The prior eight times the Trojans have done that they have ended up in the Rose Bowl on three occasions and made a bowl in seven of the eight seasons.
• Jahad Woods is averaging nine tackles per game this season; his 337 career tackles are the third most of any active player in the nation.
• Woods also owns eight forced fumbles in his career, the third-most nationally among active players.
• Kedon Slovis is averaging 295.1 passing yards per game for his career, the second most of any active QB in the nation.
• Drake London’s 8.0 receptions per game this season is fourth in the country 
• Trevell Harris is averaging 19.3 yards per punt return this season, fifth-highest average in America

Cal leads the all-time series 2-0 

• In the two meetings between the schools, Cal has averaged 48 points per game while Sacramento State has averaged 8.5 points per game.
• Cal is 10-3 in their last 13 non-conference games.
• Pierre Williams needs 63 receiving yards to move into seventh place on the Hornets all-time list.
• Cameron Goode has 16.0 sacks in his career, the most of any active Pac-12 player and the ninth-most in the nation.
• With two TD Passes, Chase Garbers will tie Mike Pawlawaski for 10^th on the Cal all-time list with 40.

This is the first time the two teams have met

• Cade Otton is tied for fourth among TEs nationally with 5.5 receptions per game this season.
• Arkansas State’s Corey Rucker has four receiving TDs on the season, tied for the second most in the nation.
• Corey Rucker has also had at least one TD reception in each of the Red Wolves last three games.
• Washington has not allowed an opponent to score more than 35 points in 77 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the nation, and second-longest streak in UW history.
• Kivon Bennett has had at least 1.5 TFL in each of A-State’s first two games, he has 4.5 on the season
• Washington’s 8.5 points per game rank 129th in the nation. Only Navy has scored less this season, averaging 5.0 over two games.

Utah leads the series 17-12-1

• The Utes have outscored San Diego State 200-69 in the last five games of the all-time series.
• San Diego State and Utah are first and second nationally among all FBS teams in longest active streak of holding opponents to 450 yards or less of total offense. 
• Utah has held opponents to under 450 yards in a nation’s best 26 games, while San Diego State is second at 24. No other team has a streak of longer than 18 games
• Utah is 27-2 in regular-season non-conference games since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
• Devin Lloyd leads the Pac-12 and is second nationally with 12.5 total tackles per game.
• Daniel Bellinger has caught four passes for 123 yards, the 30.75-yard average is the fourth highest in the country and second highest of any TE (Dulcich, UCLA 33.0).
• San Diego State is 6-2 vs Pac-12 opponents since 2016.
• Matt Araiza leads the nation with a 55.2-yard punt average for the Aztecs.

First meeting between the teams

• Oregon a 27-game nonconference home winning streak, the second longest in the nation
• The Ducks have won their last 13 games at Autzen Stadium, the fifth longest streak in the nation.
• This is the first time Stony Brook has ever faced a Pac-12 opponent in football.
• CJ Verdell has rushed for 2,758 yards in his career, the seventh most in Oregon history and the 10th most of any active player in the nation.
• 11 different Oregon receivers caught a pass against Ohio State, with each having at least one reception of 10 yards or more.
• Ty Son Lawton is 15^th in the nation at the FCS level with 176 rushing yards this season
• Verone McKinley III is averaging 7.1 tackles per game in his last seven games.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Vanderbilt and Stanford

• The Cardinal are looking to get the Pac-12 their sixth ever win over an SEC team in the regular season since expanding to 12 teams (5-10).
• Vanderbilt has not faced a Pac-12 team since 1961.
• The Commodores are set for their first home nonconference match up against a Power 5 opponent since Sept. 16, 2017, when they welcomed a ranked Kansas State team to Vanderbilt Stadium.
• Vanderbilt is 2-0 in its last two nonconference home matchups against Power 5 opponents.
• Last week, Tanner McKee became the 13th FBS QB to defeat a ranked opponent on the road in his first career start.
• Tanner McKee’s 234 yards last week were the fourth-most for a Cardinal in their first start at QB since 2003.
• Nathaniel Peat is averaging 13.4 yards per touch in his career on rushing plays and punt returns.

Arizona leads the all-time series 15-1

• The Wildcats ahve won 14-straight vs. Northern Arizona, and have scored over 60 points in each of the last three matchups.
• Stanley Barnhill currently ranks third in the nation with 8.5 receptions per game.
• Arizona’s two sacks against San Diego State matched the team’s sack total from all five games last season.
• Kyle Ostendorp leads the Pac-12 with seven punts of 50 yards or more.
• Arizona has lost 14-straight games, the longest active streak in the nation.
• Arizona has never lost to an FCS opponent.
• NAU is 2-6 in their last eight vs FBS opponents.
• Luis Aguilar has made 66 straight PATs, the second longest streak in NAU history.
• Carson Taylor has 28.5 TFL in his career for the Lumberjacks, fourth most in school history and a half TFL shy of third.

Arizona State leads the all-time series 20-7

• The Sun Devils are looking for their sixth win over a ranked nonconference opponent in the Pac-12 era; their five are the most of any Pac-12 team.
• The last time two ranked teams met in Provo was 2009.
• Arizona State has won six-straight non-conference games, tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation 
• BYU has won 11-straight home games. 
• BYU’s 29 Power 5 wins since 2003 are the most of any non-Power 5 team
• Dating back to last season’s Boca Raton Bowl, the Cougars have gone three games without a turnover, a program first since LaVell Edwards took over as head coach in 1972.
• The Sun Devils are 8-2 in nonconference games under Herm Edwards.
• Arizona State is 2-4 against ranked opponents on the road under Herm Edwards
• The Sun Devils are allowing 189.5 yards per game, the fifth-best mark in the nation.
• Keenan Pili had 17 tackles vs Arizona this season, tied for the most in the nation in a single game this season. 
• ASU’s Darien Butler is the only player in the country with 2.0 sacks and two interceptions this season.
• Jayden Daniels has only thrown four interceptions on 463 attempts in his career, with none coming on third down
• BYU has nine wins over Power 5 teams under head coach Kalani Sitake. 

UCLA leads the series 6-3

• The Bulldogs’ three wins in the series have come in each of the last three meetings
• Jake Haener is responsible for 68 points this season, the most of any player in the nation entering week 3.
• Last week, Jake Haener had a QB rating of 282.36, the highest single-game rating of any FBS player this season.
• UCLA is allowing just 37.5 yards rushing per game, fourth best in the nation.
• Greg Dulcich is averaging 33.0 yards per reception on the season, the second-most in the nation.
• Ronnie Rivers has run for 2,791 yards in his career, the eighth-most of any active player.
• Dorian Thompson-Robinson leads the NCAA with a 20.53-yard average on each completion.
• UCLA has outscored opponents 24-3 in the first quarter this season and 45-12 in the first half.
• In his last five games, Brittain Brown has rushed 73 times for 521 yards for a 7.1-yard average per carry and three TDs.
• FSU is facing their second top-15 opponent of the season.
• Jake Haener has completed 73.6% of his passes this season, 10th-best in the nation.

[Read Dane Miller’s Week Three Pac-12 Football Previews]

Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenVilardo and his organization @SERCenter.

Visit his website at sercstats.com.