Ohio State Football: Bucks Victory over Indiana Is All about the Numbers

Many a coach has been known to say, "Statistics are for losers."  And so often that is true.  Like last year when Wisconsin bemoaned the fact that they out-gained Ohio State 368-184 but still lost the game 31-13. 

Of course you can manipulate numbers to say what you want them to say.  For instance, while Wisconsin did have twice as many yards as the Buckeyes from the line of scrimmage, Ohio State had an 89-yard interception return for touchdown by Kurt Coleman, a 32-yard interception return for touchdown by Jermale Hines, and a 96-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Ray Small. 

Obviously all of those yards, when added together, tip the scales to Ohio State, even though they didn't come from the line of scrimmage.

No wonder Evan Esar said, "Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions."  And good old Mark Twain put it even more succinctly when he wrote, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Realizing all of that, we football fans are wise to not put too much stock in figures.  Still, after Ohio State's recent victory over Indiana it is impossible not to dwell on a few interesting numbers.

334: Pryor's passing yards Saturday, his most to date.  Actually by halftime Pryor had already thrown for a personal record 280 yards as he literally shredded Indiana's dreadful secondary.

130: Ohio State's total rushing yardage, as leading rusher Terrelle Pryor did not run the ball one time (although he was sacked three times for minus-19 yards).  Once again questions about how well the OSU tailbacks can run the ball go unanswered, although nobody can blame Brandon Saine who didn't get a single carry, although he was used brilliantly as a receiver. 

105: Penalty yards against Ohio State, as the officials decided that hard hitting is now outlawed if you wear a silver helmet.

100: Jim Tressel's career victories at Ohio State, which makes him the fastest coach to reach that milestone in Scarlet and Gray (having done it in 121 total games).

68: Percentage of passes Pryor has completed in 2010 (a far cry from the 56.6 percent of '09).  Against Indiana TP hit on 24-of-30 which works out to 80 percent (and I did that without a calculator).

43.2: Points per game the Buckeyes are scoring to date (what happened to Tresselball?)

17: Turnovers forced by the Silver Bullets this year after getting another three on Saturday (which is 10 more that the Buckeyes have lost).

8: Total sacks registered by OSU in 2010, the least I can ever remember at this point in the season, after failing to get to the IU quarterbacks even one time (which proves you can play good D without a bunch of sacks).

7: Touchdowns so far this year by receiver Dane Sanzenbacher. (He came into this season with eight for his career).

4: Touchdown catches by Brandon Saine, which is one more than he has rushed for (OK—I won't beat a dead horse).

1: Where the Buckeyes are now ranked in the latest AP and USA Today polls, as the bull's-eye on their back just got bigger as they prepare to face 80,321 nasty Wisconsin fans.