10 Craziest Stats from First Month of 2015 College Football Season
The month of October is almost here. By Week 5, September will officially be in the past. But that doesn't mean it'll be forgotten. On the contrary, September brought the 2015 college football season some memorable moments.
And, thanks to several cupcake games, September skewed some national stats in a major way. For other teams and/or players, September exposed some blemishes perhaps not previously seen.
In the following slides, we examine and rank the good, the bad and the generally ridiculous numbers that made the month of September so special. Stats listed can be either individual game performances or month-long trends for both players and teams. In some instances, stats are compared to previous years for context.
Got any other crazy stats that we missed? Feel free to share them in the comments section below.
10. Joshua Dobbs Literally Does It All in Loss to Florida
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Tennessee's loss to Florida was of the most unfriendly nature. The Vols have now lost two heartbreakers when they very easily should be 4-0.
Still, against the Gators, Vols quarterback Joshua Dobbs proved to be a one-man show. The junior led the offense in passing, which should be expected, rushing, which could also be expected, and...receiving.
Yes, Dobbs had one catch for 58 yards and a touchdown. However, that should tell you more about Tennessee's passing attack than anything. In fact, there was a moment in the game when Dobbs was the team's leading receiver and rusher but not its leading passer (h/t B/R's Barrett Sallee).
Finishing the game as such would have been even crazier, but for Dobbs to lead Tennessee in all three major offensive categories still stands out—even in a loss.
9. The Struggles of Ohio State's Quarterbacks
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What in the world has happened to Ohio State's offense? This looks nothing like the same unit that plowed through Big Ten defenses, Alabama and Oregon on its way to a national championship in 2014. Granted, the raw numbers aren't as bad you would think, as the Buckeyes are outscoring opponents 138-49 on the year. But the visual test shows this offense has been all over the place.
Specifically, quarterback Cardale Jones has not picked up where he left off last season. Through four games, Jones has 155.5 passing yards per game, putting him 12th in the Big Ten behind Christian Hackenberg (Penn State), Joel Stave (Wisconsin) and Tommy Armstrong Jr. (Nebraska).
Obviously, J.T. Barrett hasn't fared any better. The redshirt sophomore is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and ranks 15th in the Big Ten in passer rating. There's still time for Ohio State's quarterbacks to get things turned around, which is why this isn't higher on the list, but it's still pretty astonishing.
8. Wake Forest Improves on Its Rushing Yardage from 2014
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Last year, Wake Forest finished 127th out of 128 FBS teams in rushing with 479 yards. Only Washington State was worse, by one whole yard, with 478 rushing yards.
At least the Demon Deacons have improved on that for 2015. Through four games, Wake has 513 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. That surpasses both totals. However, it's the season-opening game against Elon that stands out the most. In that game, Wake's offense rushed for 203 yards, roughly 43 percent of its '14 total.
Coupled with 165 yards on the ground against Army, Wake rushed for 77 percent of its entire '14 yardage in two games. Does that say more about how bad the Demon Deacons were last year on the ground or how much they've improved this year?
Or, simply, "yes"?
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. TCU and Texas Tech Present the Offensive Masterpiece Theater
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One of the fun things about college football is its unpredictability. We can dissect a game in dozens of ways only to watch it go in a completely new direction after kickoff.
That said, the Week 4 game between TCU and Texas Tech went exactly as anticipated. It was an offensive display the likes of which we may not see again this season. Combined, the two teams had 1,357 yards of offense, 107 points and ran 187 plays, leading to a ridiculous 7.3 yards per play average.
Defense was certainly optional. But here's how the TCU-Texas Tech game stacks up to the rest of college football.
The total yards both teams racked up was more than 28 teams have had this season. The 187 plays ran were more than the total number of plays LSU and Troy have run in three games. The 7.3 yards per play would, by itself, put TCU and Tech among the top 10 offenses in college football.
You're not going to find many offensive games like this one.
6. Western Michigan WR Daniel Braverman's Production
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Heading into the Week 4 game against Western Michigan, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer called Broncos wide receiver Daniel Braverman an "NFL guy. Probably the best receiver we’ve faced so far," per Tim Shoemaker of Eleven Warriors.
And, well, he wasn't wrong. Braverman has been a production machine through the month of September. How's this for four games: 50 catches, which leads college football, for 521 yards and four touchdowns. The next-closest receiver, TCU's Josh Doctson, has 35 receptions.
Braverman has already played against arguably the two best teams in college football: Michigan State and Ohio State. His stats against those two defenses? How about 13 catches for 109 yards (vs. Michigan State) and 10 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown (vs. Ohio State).
And the Buckeyes have a top-10 pass defense nationally. That's what earns Braverman his top-10 spot.
5. Never Kick to Maryland's Will Likely Again
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Poor Richmond. The Spiders found out the hard way in Week 1 what happens when you kick to Maryland defensive back and return man William Likely. This happens, since Likely is an electric athlete who can make huge plays when he's given room to run.
However, the problem is Richmond found out again...and again...and again...in the same game.
In Maryland's 50-21 win over the Spiders, Likely returned eight punts for 233 yards and a touchdown. He also returned two kickoffs for an additional 63 yards, bringing his total on the day to 296 return yards.
Note to Richmond: Stop. Kicking. To. Likely.
Bowling Green should have taken note, but this is college football we're talking about here. This is a game for the absurd. Against the Falcons, Likely returned two punts for 82 yards while going for another score.
Eventually, teams like West Virginia realized the best defense against a Likely return was to avoid punting to him altogether. Still, the Terps defender leads all punt returners with a 28-yard-per-return average.
4. West Virginia's Defensive Turnaround
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This one requires some historical context: Remember when West Virginia's defense was a massive liability? Remember shootouts like 70-63 against Baylor in 2012?
Well, in true 30 for 30 fashion, what if I told you the Mountaineers had the No. 1 scoring defense in the country? Crazy, right? Yet West Virginia is giving up just 7.7 points per game. The Mountaineers are also No. 1 in the Big 12 in pass defense (5.6 yards per attempt allowed) and have allowed just two touchdowns to nine interceptions. On that note, WVU leads the Big 12 in turnover margin and hasn't given up a single first-half point this season.
Granted, the opponents have been Georgia Southern, Liberty and Maryland, but that's about as lockdown as a defense can be.
Things get more challenging in Week 5 against Oklahoma, but the Mountaineers have their most experienced defense in years. Second-year defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has been a stabilizing force for a coaching staff that's experienced a lot of turnover on that side of the ball.
3. Oregon's Porous Pass Defense
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In terms of touchdown passes allowed this season, no defense has been worse than Oregon's. Literally, no one is worse.
The Ducks are tied for dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 15 touchdown passes allowed through four games. The other team to have allowed as many passing scores is Texas State. If there's an advantage for Oregon, it's that it has five interceptions while Texas State has none. Still, SMU, Indiana and Texas Tech have all given up fewer touchdown passes.
For context, the Ducks gave up 21 touchdown passes all of last year (15 games). Twice this year, the Ducks have allowed five touchdown passes: vs. Eastern Washington and Utah. The Utes are primarily a run-first offense, so that's definitely not a good look for Oregon. Such a dramatic turn for the worse is why the Ducks are ranked this high.
2. Baylor QB Seth Russell vs. Rice
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Baylor has yet to be tested this season, so it shouldn't be a surprise the Bears have already put up video game-type numbers against some poor, overmatched defense.
But even Baylor's usual offensive dominance looks tame by comparison when looking back on Week 4's 70-17 win over Rice. In just over two quarters of work, quarterback Seth Russell went 12-of-16 for 277 yards and not one, not two, but six touchdowns.
That's one touchdown for every two pass completions. It's also an average of just over 23 yards per pass completion and 17 yards per attempt.
Yes, it's just Rice. No, Baylor likely won't average something like that again this season. But one out of every two pass completions resulting in a touchdown? Goodness.
1. LSU RB Leonard Fournette and the Art of Yards After Contact
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Did You Know: When not acting as LSU's star running back, Leonard Fournette moonlights as a snowplower and general stuff-mover. We don't mean he operates machinery or anything. We mean he actually plows stuff out of the way with his body.
As you've seen this season, it's translated onto the field, as well. Fournette leads all rushers with 210 yards per game. He's also third in the nation in total rushing yards (631) despite the fact that the season opener against McNeese State was cancelled.
But it's not just that Fournette is racking up yards. It's that he's doing so after being hit. Per Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports, Fournette has run for 163 yards after contact over the past two games, including 92 YAC against Syracuse.
Let's put it this way: 92 yards is a good game period for most running backs.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
