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This week’s Five Factors box scores are up! Check out all the results here. Week 5’s superior performances in each category are below.
Top 5 success rate margins (vs. FBS)
- Alabama (+54.2% vs. UL-Lafayette)
- Cincinnati (+33.9% vs. UConn)
- Wake Forest (+31.8% vs. Rice)
- Michigan State (+30.2% vs. CMU)
- Fresno State (+29.7% vs. Toledo)
Michigan State pawed at CMU like a cat with an injured mouse but never actually got around to administering the kill.
Top 5 yards per play margins (vs. FBS)
- Oklahoma (+6.4 vs. Baylor)
- Troy (+5.2 vs. Coastal Carolina)
- Georgia Tech (+5.0 vs. Bowling Green)
- Alabama (+4.8 vs. UL-Lafayaette)
- Cincinnati (+3.6 vs. UConn)
UConn and UTEP have gotten attention for how bad they’ve been this year, but Bowling Green has been slipping below the radar. But make no mistake: the Falcons have been terrible. And they’re just 1.0 points from being the worst team in S&P+.
Top 5 field position margins (vs. FBS)
- Kentucky (+19.7 yards per possession vs. South Carolina)
- Ball State (+17.8 vs. Kent State)
- UTSA (+17.5 vs. UTEP)
- ODU (+16.8 vs. ECU)
- Michigan State (+15.5 vs. CMU)
ODU is not good, but ECU overcame a massive field position advantage to secure a win. The Pirates are, at 102nd, almost in the double digits in S&P+. These aren’t amazing things, but they’re definitive signs of progress in Greenville.
Top 5 points per scoring opportunity margins (vs. FBS)
- UAB (+4.7 points per opp vs. Charlotte)
- Iowa State (+4.5 vs. TCU)
- Cincinnati (+4.4 vs. UConn)
- Georgia Southern (+4.1 vs. Arkansas State)
- Appalachian State (+4.0 vs. South Alabama)
Let’s not overlook the fact that Georgia Southern is now 3-1, less than a year after looking like they were going to go 0-12. The Eagles still have to deal with Troy and company in the Sun Belt East, but Chad Lunsford’s done a hell of a job there so far.
Top 5 turnovers luck margins (vs. FBS)
- Liberty (+2.7 vs. New Mexico)
- WKU (+2.5 vs. Marshall)
- Georgia State (+2.4 vs. ULM)
- West Virginia (+2.3 vs. Texas Tech)
- UCF (+2.0 vs. Pitt)
Translation: WVU had a turnover margin that was +2.3 ahead of where national averages suggest it should have been. As each turnover is worth approximately five points, that means the Bears enjoyed about a 11 to 12-point boost thanks to turnovers luck in an eight-point win. You fell asleep but got away with it, Mountaineers.
(Baylor, by the way, was at plus-1.8 in the turnovers luck department. Always fun to get lucky in a 33-point loss.)
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