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Vilardo: Week 2 Statistical Pac-12 Football Matchups

A look at this weekend's Conference matchups by the numbers

Posted on November 12, 2020


  By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports

As we head into Week Two of the Pac-12 football season, I take a look at some of the statistical trends behind the matchups and track some players who are nationally ranked, along with those on the verge of reaching career milestones. The Cal-ASU and Utah-UCLA games have since been canceled, but their historical matchup stats remain relevant nonetheless.

Colorado at Stanford

Since Colorado joined the Pac-12, the Buffs have played Stanford five times, and the Cardinal currently own a 3-2 edge, with the Buffs taking the last two.  The combined score of the five meetings hasn’t been close. 

The Cardinal has averaged 31.2 points per game with Colorado scoring 8.6. Last year, Colorado was a 16-13 winner, and their 16 points were the most the Buffaloes have scored in the series as a Conference opponent.

The Buffs managed a 10-5 win the last time the teams met at Stanford; it is Colorado’s only win in four games as the road team in the series. Colorado has won two straight, but Stanford has out-gained Colorado in yards per play, 5.47 to 4.94.

Lewis

Last week against UCLA, Isaiah Lewis had three passes defended (PD), the most in the Pac-12, and his 3.0 PD per game tops the nation. (Shemar Jean-Charles of Appalachian State is the national leader at 2.17 among players with more than one game played). 

Carson Wells recorded 2.0 passes defended last week, the second most nationally for a linebacker. (Buffalo’s Kadofi Wright had 3).  As a team, Colorado recorded 6 PDs on UCLA’s 40 pass attempts, nearly double last season’s CU average of 3.67 per game, which ranked ninth in the Conference.   

Stanford and Oregon were the only teams in the Conference not to record—or allow, for that matter—a sack in Week One. The Cardinal allowed a Conference-low 3.0 tackles for loss in the opener.  Colorado was able to run for 264 yards against the Bruins, while Stanford gave up 269 on the ground to the Ducks. 

Jarek Broussard | David Zalubowski/AP via latimes.com

Jarek Broussard logged five runs for 10+ yards last week, which tied him for the most in the Conference, and included a Pac-12 co-leading two runs of 20+ yards. The Colorado sophomore leads the league with 187 rushing yards after one week. 

Stanley

Stanford led the Pac-12 last week with four plays from scrimmage that went for 30+ yards, three of the four via the air.  Colorado allowed UCLA to get loose on two pass plays of 40+ yards in the opener, which was the most of any Pac-12 team. Dimitri Stanley caught two third-down passes with both resulting in a Buffaloes first down in the opener.

Last season, Colorado was last in the Pac-12 and 125th in the nation in third-down defense with opponents converting 47.4%.  The Buffs allowed UCLA to convert on 58.3% a week ago, the only conference team with a worse mark was Stanford, as they allowed Oregon to cash in on 81.8% of its third-down opportunities.  Out of the 123 FBS teams to have played a game this season, defense marks rank 120th and 123rd nationally.

Stanford has won 12 straight home openers, the 16th longest streak in the nation.

USC at Arizona

usc logoThe Trojans have won seven in a row over the Wildcats by an average margin of 13.7 points per game.  USC has averaged 42.3 points per game in the last four meetings.

Kedon Slovis threw for 381 yards last week and currently is third nationally in yards passing per game.  The sophomore was 12 of 16 on third down and 4-for-5 in the red zone in the opener.  Slovis completed 75.6% of his passes on first and third down in the opener, but on second down the number dipped to 54.5%.  The Trojans averaged over six yards per play on first and third downs vs. Arizona State, but only 3.8 yards per play on second down.

St. Brown

Amon-Ra St. Brown caught three passes on 3rd down vs ASU with all three earning the Trojans a first down, the most in the Conference.  Drake London caught three third-down passes with two picking up a first down.  Last season, Arizona allowed 289.8 yards passing per game, 11th in the Pac-12 and 126th in the nation.  The Wildcats had issues last season getting third down stops ranking 11th in the conference and 123rd nationally with opponents converting on 47.2% of third downs.

Drake London had a Pac-12-best eight receptions in the opener.

Oregon at Washington State

The Ducks prevailed in this matchup last season, but the Cougars had won the prior four.  The four straight wins for Washington State equaled the Cougars longest win streak in the series.  Since 2007, Oregon has averaged 41.8 points per game in the series, while going 9-4 vs Washington State. 

The winning team has scored at least 37 points in 11 of the last 13 meetings, and the winner has scored at least 33 in all 13 matchups.

Shough

Oregon was able to convert on 81.8% of their third downs last week. That figure is easily the highest rate in the nation.  On third down last week, Tyler Shough had three carries for 41 yards and three first downs gained. He also completed five of six passes with all five completions earning the Ducks a first down. 

On third down last week, Tyler Shough himself averaged 11.1 yards per play. CJ Verdell was one for two running the ball on third down.

de Laura

Jayden de Laura threw for 150 yards in the first half vs. Oregon State, but just 77 in the second half. While the passing numbers dropped off after halftime for the Cougars, the offensive production went up.

WSU gained 162 yards on the ground in the second half compared to 67 in the opening 30 minutes.  The Cougars averaged 6.0 yards per play in the first half, and 8.9 in the second half.  The Cougs also scored 24 second-half points, compared to 14 in the first half.

Washington State ran the ball 30 times last week, they averaged 16.2 rushing attempts per game last season.   Obviously, we’re only one game in, but the last time Washington State averaged 30+ rush attempts per game in a season was 2011, when they ran the ball 32.5 times per game. 

Since 2011, the Cougars have averaged 22.6 rush attempts per game. On third down last week, Washington State ran the ball six times, picking up three first downs. Last season, Washington State had 29 total runs on third down in all 13 games.  Deon McIntosh had 106 yards on the ground after halftime, the second most in the Pac-12

Verdell

Oregon averaged 9.0 yards per carry in the second half vs Stanford. The Ducks ran for a Pac-12-best 189 yards in the second half.  CJ Verdell gained 73 of his 105 yards after halftime, churning out 9.13 yards per tote while Travis Dye carried the ball six times for 78 yards in the second half. His 13.0 yards per carry in the second half is the fourth highest in the nation and second nationally among RBs.

Cal at Arizona State

UPDATE: THE CAL-ASU GAME HAS BEEN CANCELED

Arizona State has won a Pac-12-best 21 straight home openers, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.  The Sun Devils have averaged 41.81 points per game in those 21 contests with an average margin of 31.05 points per game. The last time ASU lost a home opener was in 1998, which was also the last time the Devils opened with a Conference opponent. Washington went to Tempe that year and came away with a 38-14 win.

Cal and Arizona State have split their 34 all-time meetings 17-17, and have split their last six meetings since 2010, 3-3.  The combined scoring of the last six meetings has been pretty even, favoring Cal 220-203. While just 2.8 points per game separates the two teams over that stretch, the average margin of victory has been 11.8 points per game. Only two of the last six have been decided by a single score, and since 2000, only three of 14 meetings have been decided by eight points or less.

Daniels

Last week, Jayden Daniels was limited to just 21 second-half passing yards while completing 28.6% of his passes after halftime.  As a team, the Sun Devils gained 235 yards in the first half last week, and just 157 in the second half. 

Against USC, Chip Trayanum gained a Pac-12-leading 23 yards on third-and-short situations, but was only able to pick up a first down on one of his two carries.  He busted loose for a 25-yard gain on one, and was held to two yards on a third-and-three.

The Sun Devils’ Jermayne Lole led the Pac-12 last week with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFL.  

Cal has won six straight season openers, with three of the six coming against Power-5 opponents.

Utah at UCLA

UPDATE: THE UTAH-UCLA GAME HAS BEEN CANCELED

UCLA has lost their last two home openers, the second longest active streak among Power 5 teams and tied with Oregon State for the longest such streak in the Pac-12 after the Beavers lost to Washington State last weekend.  The only Power-5 team with a longer streak is Florida State, who lost their fourth straight home opener this season for the longest active streak in the nation.

Utah has won four in a row over the Bruins by an average of 29.0 points per game, the last three have seen the Utes win by an average of 36.0 points per contest.  Last season Utah’s 46-point win over UCLA was the largest margin for the Utes in series history.

Dating back to last season UCLA has lost four straight games and have given up an average of 44.3 points per game during the losing streak.

UCLA’s 28 points in the second half last week were the most in the Pac-12. The Bruins allowed 35 points in the first half, the most in the Pac-12 and currently the 35.0 per game in the first half would be tied for the most in the nation.

UCLA led the conference with 8.0 TFL vs Colorado last week, UCLA also allowed 5.0 TFL vs the Buffaloes.

Thompson-Robinson | ocregister.com

Last week Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 44.4% of his passes on first and third downs while connecting on 66.7% (8-for-12) on second down.  On first down he averaged 16.1 yards per completion compared to 14.4 yards per completion on second and third down. 

Dulcich

The junior quarterback leads the Pac-12 with 412 yards of total offense with his 109 rushing yards added to 303 through the air. He was the only conference QB with two passes of 40+ yards in the opener. Greg Dulcich had a Pac-12 best 126 receiving yards last week.

Last season Utah ranked sixth in the nation allowing 15.0 points per game.  Since 2015 they have never been ranked outside the top-40 in scoring defense.  The Utes have allowed 20.7 points per game since the start of the 2015 season.  The Utes allowed 269.2 total yards per game last season ranking second in the nation.

Last year Utah allowed 81.8 yards rushing per game and allowed one opponent to rush for more than 100 yards in their first 12 games.  The last two however were a different story.  Texas ran for 231 yards in the Alamo Bowl and Oregon ran for 239 in the Pac-12 Championship game.  Utah had given up a total of 675 yards on the ground all season prior to those two games in which they allowed 470.




Oregon State at Washington

Washington has won their last 10 home openers, the 18th longest active streak in the nation. The Huskies have beaten Oregon State eight straight times and nine of the last 10 meetings.  Washington’s margin of victory has been 25.8 points per game during their eight-game win streak in the series.

Jefferson

Jermar Jefferson’s 120 yards rushing last week were the third most in the Pac-12, the junior has scored seven rushing TDs in his last four games. Tristan Gebbia threw for a Pac-12 leading 239 yards after halftime last week.

Washington has allowed 31 or more points in just six games since the start of the 2015 season. Last season the Huskies allowed 19.4 points per game ranking 15th in the nation.  That was the most points they have allowed per game in a season since 2014.  It was the first time they have been ranked outside of the top-10 nationally in scoring defense since 2015.

Elijah Molden recorded a Pac-12 best 17 passes defended in 2019 ranking 5th in the nation. Last season Molden averaged 1.31 passes defended per game, Washington as a team had 3.5 per game, ranking 108th in the nation

Nationally Ranked Players 

Jarek Broussard, Colorado, second in the nation in rushing yards per game with 187.0

Kedon Slovis, USC, is third in the nation with 381 yards passing per game

Drake London, USC, is tied for ninth nationally with 8.0 receptions per game and his 125 receiving yards per game are eight in the nation

Greg Dulcich, UCLA, is seventh nationally with 126 receiving yards per game

Michael Turk, Arizona State, leads the nation with a 51.6-yard average on five punts this season

Evan Fields, Arizona State, had 10 solo tackles and assisted on 7, his 17 total tackles per game are the most in the nation.

Isaiah Lewis, Colorado, is tied for the lead with 3.0 passes defended per game

Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA, is second in the nation with 412.0 yards of total offense per game

Nationally Ranked Teams

Arizona State is fourth in the nation with 7.0 passed defended per game

Washington State is seventh in the nation with 4.0 sacks per game.

Career Records Watch

Tyler Vaughns, USC

Vaughns

Vaughns had seven receptions in the opener for 196 in his career, the 33rd most in conference history. Next up on the list is Brad Muster of Stanford with 198. He needs 134 receiving yards to break into the Top-50 all-time in conference history.

Oscar Draguicevich, Washington State

Draguicevich

Draguicevich had four punts for a 42.8-yard average, giving him a career average of 45.33 yards per punt, which would be second best in conference history (third best if Turk continues at his rate).

 

 

Michael Turk, Arizona State

Turk

Turk’s five punts in the opener for a 51.6-yard average bring his career total to 46.4 yards per punt on 72 career punts. That would be the best average in conference history.

 

Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenVilardo and his organization @SERCenter, and visit his website at https://www.sercstats.com/.