Both of these teams give up plenty of free yards via penalties, ranking 121st and 122nd overall, and USC should lean on the pass against Ohio State's No. 1 S&P
+ rush defense.
Alabama boasts the nation's No. 2 S&P
+ Rush Defense, which will be critical against Georgia's No. 8 ranked S&P + Rush Offense.
What the metrics say: Alabama boasts the nation's No. 2 S&P
+ Rush Defense, which will be critical against Georgia's No. 8 ranked S&P + Rush Offense.
Not exact matches
The 6» 5, 260 - pound pass
rusher led the SEC with 11.5 sacks, and his ability to get after opposing quarterbacks allowed the Aggies to rank second nationally in pass
defense S&P
+ this season.
Adjust for opponent, and you've got a
defense that ranked 12th in
Rushing S&P
+.
K - State aside, the run
defense has been fine (28th in
Rushing S&P
+, and yes, that is adjusted for opponent), and the pass
defense has been disruptive.
The 2017 UT
defense struggled pretty dramatically against a decent run game (107th in
Rushing S&P
+) but completely dictated the terms against opposing passing games.
-- and there's no guarantee that Leonard Fournette and company will find traction against a Notre Dame
defense better against the run (48th in
Rushing S&P
+) than the pass (84th in Passing S&P
+).
The Badgers fell to 97th in
Rushing S&P
+ and leaned far too heavily on Joel Stave's arm; it worked because the
defense was so good, but the Badgers were 83rd in Off.
Memphis's
defense ranked 104th in
Rushing S&P
+ and 58th in Passing S&P
+ and now has to replace a good portion of its secondary.
The Spartans»
defense also ranks first in
Rushing S&P
+.
And Houston, with a
defense that ranks 111th in
Rushing S&P
+, might not be able to stop him.
FSU's
defense ranks 45th in Passing Downs S&P
+ despite a strong pass
rush, and Watson's ability to avoid pressure and scramble for necessary yardage has been key.
Against an ASU
defense that ranks 104th in
Rushing S&P
+, he found lanes, to say the least.
Clemson's
defense ranks No. 1 in
Rushing S&P
+.
Against a
defense that ranked only 51st in
Rushing S&P
+ last season, Michigan found no opportunities to run.
The Buckeyes rank only 39th in
Rushing S&P
+ on
defense and 36th in Passing S&P
+ on offense.
More importantly, State will also be without their star quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, so I don't think they can exploit a horrific Louisville
defense that ranks outside of the top 90 in both
rushing S&P
+ and passing S&P
+.
Stuckey says: Most will focus on Oklahoma State's offense against Virginia Tech's
defense, but I can't see the Hokies scoring enough to beat a Cowboys
defense ranked 23rd in
Rushing S&P
+ and 37th in Passing S&P
+.
Stuckey says: It's tough to trust an FIU
defense that ranks outside of the top 100 in both
rushing S&P
+ and passing S&P
+, but I expect a fully motivated bunch playing in Florida.