Arizona State, by the numbers

by DC Trojan on Nov 20, 2007 9:54 PM PST in USC Football Comment 0 comments

Arizona State by the Numbers

The "by the numbers" previews have been conspicuous by their absence of late, so there's no time like the penultimate game of the season to revisit. Rather than individual stats, this version is a look at the results that USC and Arizona State have against the conference teams that they have both played.

First, Arizona State:

		Offense		Defense
Opponent	Result	Passing	Rushing	Passing	Rushing	Other Notes
Cal	W, 31 - 20	219	144	261	98	ToP 37.30, T.O. +1
Oregon	L, 23 - 35	379	110	200	200	ToP 35.20, T.O. - 1
Oregon State	W, 44 - 32	361	35	190	324	ToP 30.50, T.O. +4
Stanford	W, 41 - 3	266	174	237	-2 (!)	ToP 34.26, T.O. +2
Washington	W, 44 - 20	227	296	142	146	ToP 35.33, T.O. -1
Washington State	W, 23 - 20	217	78	369	82	ToP 35.21, T.O. -1
	Total	1669	837	1399	848
	Average	278.2	139.5	233.2	141.3

And then, USC:

		Offense		Defense
Opponent	Result	Passing	Rushing	Passing	Rushing	Other Notes
Cal	W, 24 - 17	129	239	199	200	ToP 30.19, T.O. +1
Oregon	L, 17 - 24	277	101	157	182	ToP 30.59, T.O. -1
Oregon State	W, 24 - 3	187	100	85	91	ToP 29.34, Push
Stanford	L, 23 - 24	364	95	149	86	ToP 32.08, T.O. -4
Washington	W, 27 - 24	236	224	90	100	ToP 34.51, T.O. -1
Washington State	W, 47 - 14	302	207	183	64	ToP 33.02, T.O. - 1
	Total	1495	966	863	723
	Average	249.2	161	143.8	120.5

So, numbers.

I took a look at the Scouts preview, and the crux of their thinking was that ASU has the better quarterback and wide receivers, but SC otherwise has the edge. The notion is that SC's strong run defense will force ASU to pass more, and ASU's relatively porous offensive line not very good at protecting Rudy Carpenter (the team's yards per play average for the season is nearly a yard shorter because of all the sacks - from 4 yards and change to 3 yards and change).

The numbers suggest that the teams are well matched on offense, with USC having a slight disadvantage in passing and advantage in running. The defense, on the other hand, is not as close. If the Trojans take it easy on the turkey and don't get all sleepy from tryptophan overloading - as well as keeping a lid on the usual penalties, minimizing turnovers, stuffing the run, and putting pressure on Carpenter - they've got a reasonable chance of winning this game.

However, this is ASU's shot at the Rose Bowl - so they won't be taking the game at all lightly. Simply minimizing mistakes probably won't be enough for SC, so hopefully they can muster a little enthusiasm.