Auburn Football 2010: Contenders For The SEC and Ohio State Compared

The season is now two weeks old, there has been upsets and failure with mixed results so far. There always are at this time of the season. Teams are still forming and establishing their collective identities.

Fans must keep this in mind as we compare the contenders this week. There was no team that did not have room to improve in some area. For the most part, it can be taken for granted that they will.

Observations

No SEC team has really been impressive in the area of pass defense. While some have exaggerated statistics due to the opponents they faced, none has really been proficient thus far. This will benefit teams with inexperienced quarterbacks until teams start to improve.

The best rushing defenses of 2009 are not doing as well in 2010 to this point. Will rushing defense decide the leaders in the SEC once again?

There have been some very powerful offensive displays so far. It would appear that a team will be hard pressed to challenge without a very potent offense.

For Fun

Three SEC teams have vanquished ranked opponents. Let’s make a comparison with the next highest ranked team in the nation after week two. Statistics will be for a two game average and in yards and points. National Ranking will follow each statistic for each category.

Statistic	LSU	South Carolina	Alabama	Ohio State
Rushing Offense	221 28th	206.5 33rd	218.5 29th	230.5 22nd
Passing Offense	131 107th	195 74th	281.5 24th	241 45th
Total Offense	352.5 76th	401.5 55th	500 16th	471.5 23rd
Scoring Offense	28.5 points 64th	29 points 61st	36 points 33rd	40.5 points 22nd
Punt Returns	24.43 5th	8 61st	3 95th	7.67 65th
Kick Returns	26.75 20th	23 39th	20 82nd	31.33 14th
Sacks Allowed	1 per game 28th	3.5 per game 108th	1.5 46th	2.0 70th
Rushing Defense	44.5 4th	64 8th	108 46th	82 19th
Pass Defense	241 85th	254.5 99th	121 19th	193.5 55th
Total Defense	285.5 33rd	328.5 55th	229 12th	275.5 31st
Scoring Defense	13.5 points 24th	9.5 points 12th	3 points 1st	15.5 points 33rd
Tackles for Loss	10.5 4th	4.5 90th	1.5 120th	5.5 66th
Sacks	5.00 2nd	2 42nd	.5 109th	1.5 73rd
Turnover Margin	-1 84th	.5 40th	1.5 15th	3.5 1st
Net Punting	36.09 67th	40.2 29th	38.83 45th	26.75 110th

Florida, Arkansas and Auburn have not played a ranked opponent so far. Only Auburn has a win in the SEC at this early stage. To compare these teams let’s compare the three with the best performance of the four teams above as the standard for each category.

Statistic	Standard	Arkansas	Auburn	Florida
Rushing Offense	230.5 Ohio State	147 74th	278.5 9th	175 50th
Passing Offense	281.5 Alabama	361 5th	199.5 69th	142.5 104th
Total Offense	500 Alabama	509 10th	478 20th	317.5 92nd
Scoring Offense	40.5 points Ohio State	37.5 points 28th	34.5 points 37th	36 points 33rd
Punt Returns	24.43 LSU	14.83 19th	8.29 60th	9.4 47th
Kick Returns	31.33 Ohio State	21 68th	24.38 32nd	32 11th
Sacks Allowed	1 per game LSU	1.5 46th	1.5 46th	.5 10th
Rushing Defense	44.5 LSU	97.5 30th	80 17th	124 57th
Pass Defense	121 Alabama	90 5th	226 73rd	147th 28th
Total Defense	229 Alabama	187.5 4th	306 44th	271 28th
Scoring Defense	3 points Alabama	5 points 4th	20 points 56th	13 22nd
Tackles for Loss	10.5 LSU	9.5 8th	8.5 14th	6 51st
Sacks	5.0 LSU	3 17th	3.5 10th	1.5 73rd
Turnover Margin	3.5 Ohio State	-2 108th	-1 84th	3 2nd
Net Punting	40.2 South Carolina	32.33 102nd	35.38 74th	40 32nd

Looking at these numbers one thing is obvious; all of these teams are strong. In week two there might be more contenders for the SEC fall by the wayside, but no matter which team wins out, it looks as if they will be more than capable of competing with the best of the rest.