Under The Hood: Nebraska vs Oklahoma State - Why Bother?

by Jon Johnston on Oct 12, 2007 12:27 AM CDT in Nebraska Husker Football

Under the Hood - Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma State comes into Lincoln at 3-3, 0-3 on the road. Both teams lost last weekend, Nebraska getting a butt-whipping the worst of which I can remember. Oklahoma State's loss was disappointing because they let Texas A&M come back and win after blowing a 17-0 lead. Both teams have severe confidence issues.
Maybe the biggest question this week - are you going to shell out $29.95 for a PPV game against the Cowboys?

Here's the Cowboys' 2007 schedule to date:

@ Georgia L 14-35
Florida Atlantic W - 42-6
@Troy L 23-41
Texas Tech W 49-45 Sam Houston State W 39-3

Average margin of victory in their three wins at home - 25.3 points.
Average margin of victory in three road losses - 13.3 points
Sagarin's ratings for the two teams?
- Oklahoma State is 52nd, with a schedule ranking of 69th.
- Nebraska is 36th, with a schedule ranking of 22nd.

Oklahoma State's offensive performance halfway through the season:

Oklahoma State By The Numbers: Offense

Rush YPG	Rush YPC	Rush TD	Pass YPG	Pass YPA	Pass TD	QB Rating	Total Offense	Scoring Offense

234.5 (10)	5.39 (11)	11 (T-37)	238.67 (51)	7.8 (23)	12 (T-27)	137.1 (38)	473.17 (14)	31.67 (T-39)

Nebraska By The Numbers: Offense

Rush YPG	Rush YPC	Rush TD	Pass YPG	Pass YPA	Pass TD	QB Rating	Total Offense	Scoring Offense
146.17 (66)	3.93 (64)	12 (T-27)	293.17 (20)	7.6 (30)	10 (T-40)	135.98 (41)	439.33 (29)	30.83 (45)

I would have thought that with Adarius Bowman that the Cowboy's passing offense would be a lot more potent than it is. At the beginning of the season, I thought that Adarius Bowman was the best receiver in the Big 12, which could be even more true with Texas' Limas Sweed gone for the season. But who could have foreseen the rise of Tech's Jeremy Crabtree?
Their rushing offense is better than I expected.They have five players in double digits with Dantrell Savage leading the pack with 410 yards.
By comparison, Nebraska has two players in double digits with rushing. Marlon Lucky has 632 yards, and next is Quentin Castille with a measly 122 yards.
In receiving, Nebraska has seven players in double digits, Purify with 308 yards. Oklahoma State has only four players in double digits receiving with Bowman leading at 621 yards.

Oklahoma State By The Numbers: Defense

Rush YPG	Rush YPA	Rush TD	Pass YPG	Pass YPA	Pass TD	Total Defense	Scoring Defense
108.5 (26)	2.93 (23)	9 (T-73)	321.83 (116)	7.9 (T-99)	10 (T-76)	430.33 (94)	25.67 (61)

Nebraska By The Numbers: Defense

Rush YPG	Rush YPA	Rush TD	Pass YPG	Pass YPA	Pass TD	Total Defense	Scoring Defense
190.5 (97)	4.8 (100)	13 (T-105)	251 (87)	6.7 (T-58)	8 (T-52)	441.5 (96)	29 (75)

Egad. Does this suck or what?

Let's look at the comparison of opponents. I sometimes wonder why I do this post now - I don't get a lot of comments on these. Should I stop doing them? Do they serve any purpose?

Nebraska-Oklahoma State Opponents' Positional Ranks

Total Offense Rank	Nebraska Opponent	Total Defense Rank	--	Total Offense Rank	Oklahoma State Opponent	Total Defense Rank
10	Nevada	95	--	77	Georgia	28
92	Wake Forest	51	--	66	Florida Atlantic	91
19	USC	10	--	22	Troy	89
15	Ball State	88	--	1	Texas Tech	36
84	Iowa State	44	--	##	Sam Houston State Div IAA	##
4	Missouri	79	--	48	Texas A&M	63
37.3	Average	61.2	--	42.8	Average	61.4

- Both teams have played very good teams on offense, with Nebraska playing four teams in the top 25 in total offense. You could ask if that is to account for some of the Husker's defensive woes, or you could make the point that the teams are higher in total offense because our defense is so bad.
- Neither one of these teams has played a good defense with the exception of USC at #10. Both teams offensive numbers should be much higher than they are, obviously, accounting for how miserable both of these teams look on the field.
- If you had to give Nebraska a mid-season MVP, would it be Adi Kunalic? Marlon LLucky? If not them, then who? - That's enough of this, isn't it?

Poll