Inside The Stats: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Stats don't lie. People who interpret them do.

Final scores on the scoreboard do not tell the whole story.  A deeper dive into the stats on each game does.  Here is a review of the 2019 football season from a statistical perspective.

INSIDE OUT STAT WINNERS

A total of 12 FBS teams won games but were outgained in the contest last week.  There were 6 more teams in the NFL that did the same thing. From top to bottom in total negative yardage they include:

California -92

Auburn -90

Appalachian State -84

UCLA -63

USC -61

Arkansas State -52

Virginia -26

West Virginia -23

Tulane -22

SMU -18

Buffalo -18

Boise State -02

Saints -250

Giants -115

Lions -86

Bars -56

Jaguars -48

Colts -18

LEAKING OIL 

From our Midweek Alert statistical newsletter the following teams on this week's card are 'leaking oil'. In rotation order, these are favorites who have been outgained in each of their last three straight games.

• California
• BYU
• Akron
• Wyoming
• Vanderbilt
• Giants
• Steelers

TOUGH AS NAILS

These are college football teams that have that have held more than half of their FBS opponents to a season-low in offensive yards. Alphabetically, in quantity as opposed to amount of FBS games they played, they include...

Clemson 3 / 4

Kansas 2 / 2

Michigan State 3 / 4

Mississippi State 3 /4

North Carolina 3 /4

Notre Dame 3 / 3

Ohio State 4 / 4

Purdue 2 / 2

Texas A&M 3 / 3

West Virginia 2 / 3

Wisconsin 3 / 3

On the flip side, taking the gas, Massachusetts has allowed season-high yardage in all three of its FBS contests to date.

Back next week with an overview of next week's games.