:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47120696/usa-today-8782494.0.jpg)
Northwestern 16, Stanford 6
Confused? Visit the Advanced Stats glossary here.
| Basics | Northwestern | Stanford | Nat'l Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Plays | 79 | 62 | |
| Close Rate (non-garbage time) | 100.0% | ||
| Avg Starting FP | 25.3 | 28.4 | 29.6 |
| Possessions | 12 | 11 | |
| Scoring Opportunities* |
5 | 3 | |
| Points Per Opportunity | 3.20 | 2.00 | 4.96 |
| Leverage Rate** | 67.1% | 62.9% | 68.3% |
| Close S&P*** | 0.488 | 0.484 | 0.586 |
|
* A scoring opportunity occurs when an offense gets a first down inside the opponent's 40 (or scores from outside the 40). ** Leverage Rate = Standard Downs / (Standard Downs + Passing Downs) *** When using IsoPPP, the S&P formula is (0.8*Success Rate) + (0.2*IsoPPP) |
|||
| EqPts (what's this?) | Northwestern | Stanford | |
| Total | 29.2 | 20.9 | |
| Rushing | 20.8 | 8.2 | |
| Passing | 8.4 | 12.7 | |
| Success Rate (what's this?) | Northwestern | Stanford | Nat'l Avg |
| All (close) | 27.9% | 38.7% | 41.3% |
| Rushing (close) | 24.1% | 41.7% | 42.9% |
| Passing (close) | 36.0% | 36.8% | 39.6% |
| Standard Downs | 26.4% | 48.7% | 46.8% |
| Passing Downs | 30.8% | 21.7% | 29.5% |
| IsoPPP (what's this?) | Northwestern | Stanford | Nat'l Avg |
| All (close) | 1.33 | 0.87 | 1.28 |
| Rushing (close) | 1.60 | 0.82 | 1.06 |
| Passing (close) | 0.93 | 0.91 | 1.53 |
| Standard Downs | 1.11 | 0.80 | 1.11 |
| Passing Downs | 1.71 | 1.13 | 1.84 |
| Line Stats | Northwestern | Stanford | Nat'l Avg |
| Line Yards/Carry (what's this?) | 2.47 | 2.62 | 2.82 |
| Std. Downs Sack Rt. | 0.0% | 5.3% | 5.8% |
| Pass. Downs Sack Rt. | 0.0% | 10.5% | 6.5% |
| Turnovers | Northwestern | Stanford |
|---|---|---|
| Turnovers | 0 | 2 |
| Turnover Points (what's this?) | 0.0 | 10.6 |
| Turnover Margin | Northwestern +2 | |
| Exp. TO Margin | Northwestern +0.22 | |
| TO Luck (Margin vs. Exp. Margin) | Northwestern +1.78 | |
| TO Points Margin | Northwestern +10.6 points | |
| Situational | Northwestern | Stanford |
| Q1 S&P | 0.538 | 0.508 |
| Q2 S&P | 0.484 | 0.327 |
| Q3 S&P | 0.418 | 0.542 |
| Q4 S&P | 0.542 | 0.520 |
| 1st Down S&P | 0.493 | 0.491 |
| 2nd Down S&P | 0.472 | 0.570 |
| 3rd Down S&P | 0.407 | 0.389 |
| Projected Scoring Margin: Northwestern by 18.9 | ||
| Actual Scoring Margin: Northwestern by 10 | ||
First things first: well done, Northwestern. Any time I've referenced this game over the last week, it's been in reference to what it means for Stanford. Before the game, I was looking for the Cardinal to begin proving me correct in my offseason optimism; after the game, I was angry at them for doing the opposite. But they had an opponent! And that opponent looked good! At least on defense!
This game basically came down to the following:
1. Finishing drives. Northwestern was bad at it. Stanford was hilariously bad at it. Northwestern's own failures -- five scoring opportunities should easily net you 20+ points -- left the door open for the Cardinal, who simply said "No, thank you." That this was Stanford's biggest issue last year, too, is alarming, to state a very obvious point.
2. Big plays. Northwestern had a few more. The Wildcats had three plays of 20-plus yards, including a 42-yard run by quarterback Clayton Thorson. Stanford had a single 20-yard play (a 27-yard run by Christian McCaffrey, who otherwise gained 64 yards in 16 touches). Again, we're talking about degrees of offensive struggle here, but NU struggled less.
3. Turnovers. Stanford lost about 11 points to turnovers in a 10-point loss. In fact, with that turnover margin, Northwestern probably should have won far more handily.
Loading comments...