Thursday, September 22, 2005

Statistically Speaking | by Pat

Brady Quinn kept up his assault on the record books. His five touchdown passes lands him at #1 in terms of single game TD passes, surpassing a gaggle of Irish QBs (Jackson, Powlus, Beuerlein, Lamonica, Bertelli) who had four. It also moves him up to 3rd place all-time for career touchdown passes. His 487 yards passing ranks 2nd all time behind Joe Theisman's 526 yard day against the Trojans in 1970. From the "run to win" side of things, the top four passing games for Irish quarterbacks all come in losing efforts. For a complete look at the other records that Quinn is threatening to break, check out the pdf version of the ND/UM game notes from und.com.

On the flip side, Drew Stanton's 327 yards passing were the most by an MSU quarterback in a Notre Dame/Michigan State game. But, as can be said about Quinn's record, this series has historically been of the three yards and a cloud of dust variety, so the new pass-friendly offenses for both schools are obviously going to be setting new records.

Jeff Samardzija's three touchdown receptions tied a school record for most touchdown receptions in one game. The record is shared by six other players (Tom Gatewood, Jim Seymour, Jim Kelly, Jim Mutscheller, Bill Barrett, Eddie Anderson).

On the season, Samardzija now has 5 touchdown receptions. That moves him into a tie for 9th place all-time on season receiving touchdowns with 75% of the season left to play. He should quickly move up this list and has a great shot at taking the top spot when all is said and done.

1. Derrick Mayes - 11, 1994
2. Jack Snow - 9, 1964
3t. Jim Seymour - 8, 1966
3t.Tom Gatewood - 8, 1969
5. Tom Gatewood - 7, 1970
6t. Ken MacAfee - 6, 1977
6t. Derrick Mayes - 6, 1995
6t. Bobby Brown - 6, 1997
9t. Ken McAfee - 5, 1975
9t. Tim Brown - 5, 1986
9t. Jeff Samardzija - 5, 2005

Anthony Fasano is still moving up the tight end career reception list that was mentioned a few weeks ago. Currently he is in 4th place with 60 and only two receptions behind Derek Brown and Dean Masztak, who are tied for second place. After that though, it's a long haul to catch up to Ken McAfee who has 128 career receptions.

Season-long Running Averages

Offense

Category Pitt UM MSU 2005
2004
Yards per rush
5.5
2.4
2.8
3.7
3.32
Avg yards per pass attempt
8.4 4.78.17.3 7.2
Avg yards per pass completion
11.0 11.7 14.8 12.2 13.4
Pass completion percentage
67%
63%
55%
60%
54%
Third Down conversions
10/15 (67%)
4/15 (27%)
6/18 (33%)
20/48 (42%)
68/183 (37%)
Rushing yd average, with nat'l ranking 275.0
104.0
107.0
162.0 (48th)
127.4 (85th)
Passing yd average, with nat'l ranking 227.0
140.0
487.0
284.7 (19th)
218.1 (54th)
Total offense yd average, with nat'l ranking
502.0
244.0
594.0
446.67 (21st)
345.5 (81st)
Time of possession / game 32:45 30:55 35:49 33:10 30:50
Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency
5/ 6 (83%)
2/2 (100%)
4/ 5 (80%)
11/ 13 (85%)
25 / 36 (69%)

Defense

Category Pitt
UM
MSU
2005
2004
Yards per rush given up
3.3
2.4
4.5
3.9
2.7
Avg yards per pass attempt
6.3 5.1
12.1 7.3 7.9
Avg yards per pass completion
11.0 11.7 20.4 14.0 13.6
Pass completion percentage
57%
43%
59%
52%
58%
Quarterback sacks
5 2 1 8 30
Rushing yd average against, with nat'l ranking 103.0
114.0
161.0
126.0 (50th)
88.2 (4th)
Passing yd average against, with nat'l ranking 220.0
223.0
327.0
256.7 (92nd)
281.2 (116th)
Total yd offense average against, with nat'l ranking
323.0
337.0
488.0
382.7 (68th)
369.4 (54th)

Turnovers

Category Pitt
UM
MSU
2005
2004
Interceptions by ND
1
1
1
3
9
Fumbles Forced / Recovered
2/ 1
3/ 1
4/ 2
9/ 4
27 / 12
Turnovers gained
2 237 21
Had Intercepted 1
0
1
2
10
Fumbles / Lost 1/ 0
3/ 1
1/ 1
5/ 2
15 / 6
Turnovers lost
1
1
2
4
16
Turnover Margin +1
+1
+1
+3
+5

Special Teams

Category Pitt
UM
MSU
2005
2004
Kickoff return average
17.5
24.0
21.5
20.7
18.7
Kickoff return average allowed
16.0 18.0 20.8 18.5 19.9
Punt return average
23.0 19.0 11.0 16.0 10.8
Punt return average allowed
0.0
5.2
2.0
4.1
8.2


Fun Stat O' the Day

D.J. Fitzpatrick is only 2 punts away from becoming #5 on the All-Time Punts in a Career list. Ok, some maybe not fun stat o' the day. How about depressing reminder of recent offensive woes.