Inside the Stats: Numbers from Around the NFL and College Football

It’s amazing what can happen when all three forms of handicapping—fundamental, statistical and technical—come together in the same game.

To help us cut to the chase, let’s take a look "Inside The Stats" and behind some the "real numbers" that football teams have posted this season to date.

By looking beyond the scoreboard and focusing on the stats and stories behind the games we can put a different spin on the actual outcome and ultimately find the value we so dearly crave.

Here’s my spin on this week’s football card…

Inside-Out Burgers

Nine teams managed to win games last week despite being outgained on the stat sheet.  They include: Air Force, Arkansas State, Kent State, Maryland, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Temple and Western Kentucky.

The Golden Flashes, the Knights and the Terrapins were each outgained by over 100 yards.

Fresh Eggs For Sale

Four more undefeated teams left the ranks last week, leaving 12 teams with perfect records this season.

The Big East and SEC lead the race with three squads each, followed by the Pac-12, which has two unbeaten teams.

Of the Terrific 12, top-ranked Alabama owns the best defense in the land, having held every opponent to season-low yardage this campaign.  In fact, going back to last year’s national championship team, the Tide has held 14 opponents low yards, including the last eight in a row.

FYI: Only one other team in the land can lay claim to having held every foe to a season-low yardage mark this year.  Hint—its name starts and ends with a vowel.

On the other side of the coin, three teams are still in quest of their initial win of the season.  Two of them, Eastern Michigan and UMass, own 500-yard stop-units.  The other squad, Southern Mississippi, sports a marshmallow-like offense, ranked No. 112 overall.  

Not-So-Common Opponents

Florida International and Troy have faced one common opponent in 2012, Louisiana Lafayette.

The Panthers lost the game 48-20 and were outgained by 242 yards.  The Trojans dropped a 37-24 decision but won the stats by 199 yards.

In addition, California and Stanford have squared off against one similar foe this season, USC.  The Bears were mauled, 27-9, while losing the stats by 238 yards.  The Cardinal defeated the University of Spoiled Children, 21-14, while managing to win the stats by 137 yards.  

Leaking Oil

By definition, a team that is leaking oil is one that has lost the stats (total yards) in each of its last three games.

These teams become high-risk propositions when they find themselves as favorites; it’s not often that a favorite will beat the spread in a game in which it has been outgained.

This week’s list of college football favorites that are leaking oil include: Georgia Tech, Texas, UTEP and Vanderbilt.

On the NFL front, the Buffalo Bills should plan a visit to the nearest Jiffy Lube before hosting Tennessee this Sunday.

Where Have All The Victories Gone

Seven teams that made it to the postseason last year fail to own a winning record at this stage of the NFL season. 

Three of them—namely Detroit, New Orleans and Pittsburgh—own sub-.500 records.

Of the seven, surprisingly four quarterbacks—Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay), Peyton Manning (Denver), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) and Tom Brady (New England)—rank in the top six in NFL QB ratings.

Detroit’s Matthew Stafford’s 79.2 QB rating ranks the lowest (No. 24) of the subpar seven.

Gimme Five

No fewer than five NFL teams came up winners last week while losing total yardage in the game by over 100 yards.

They included: Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami and Seattle. 

Stat of the Year

NFC dogs are 33-4-1 ATS this season.  That is not a misprint.

All odds provided by Playbook.com