One final time, we open a game week with a statistical comparison. This one comes with a twist, perhaps an asterisk.
Alabama is one week from playing Ohio State for the national championship in Miami Gardens. That in itself isn’t such a strange statement in a normal world … but, you know. Finding apples to apples comparisons between Ohio State and Alabama is difficult since the Buckeyes have played just seven games to the Crimson Tide’s 12.
So the numbers are, just maybe not as telling when looking at the two teams side by side. The sample sizes are just different. With that in mind, we took some of the normal stats measured in this space and converted them to per-game averages instead of season-long raw numbers.
It works both ways for the Buckeyes where one bad game in a certain category can skew numbers much more in a seven-game set than a 12-pack.
Either way, these are two explosive offenses that score more than 40 points a game and rank in the top six for both total offense and scoring offense.
Take a grain of salt and look over these stats as Alabama and Ohio State get ready for next Monday’s national title game.
Rushing offense
1. Air Force 305.6
5. Ohio State 272.5
46. Alabama 185.6
Passing offense
1. Florida 378.6
5. Alabama 349.3
31. Ohio State 276.3
Total offense
1. UCF 568.1
4. Ohio State 544.9
6. Alabama 535.0
Scoring offense
1. Alabama 48.2
2. BYU 43.5
5. Ohio State 43.4
Rushing defense
1. Georgia 72.3
2. Ohio State 89.1
13. Alabama 108.5
Passing defense
1. West Virginia 159.6
79. Alabama 242.9
116. Ohio State 281.1
Total defense
1. Army 275.3
32. Alabama 353.2
41. Ohio State 370.3
Scoring defense
1. Marshall 13.0
13. Alabama 19.0
31. Ohio State 22.0
Turnover margin
1. Ohio State +1.29/game
12. Alabama +0.92/game
Penalties
1. Georgia Southern 33.8 yards per game
50. Alabama 48.4
85. Ohio State 58.0
3rd down offense
1. Alabama 59.26%
2. Texas A&M 54.89%
6. Ohio State 50.00%
3rd down defense
1. Oklahoma State 26.5%
25. Ohio State 35.1%
76. Alabama 41.4 %
Red zone scoring
1. Missouri 94.1% (32/34)
9. Alabama 91.9% (57/62)
100. Ohio State 76.9% (30/39)
20-yard plays
Ohio State 7.71/game
Alabama 6.58/game
20-yard plays allowed
Alabama 3.83/game
Ohio State 5.0/game
Sacks
1. Pitt 4.18/game
24. Alabama 2.83/game
34. Ohio State 2.71/game
Sacks allowed
1. Louisiana-Lafayette 0.90
24. Alabama 1.42
101. Ohio State 2.86
Tackles for loss
1. Pitt 10.1/game
13. Alabama 6.42/gam
92. Ohio State 5.86/game
Tackles for loss allowed
1. Marshall 3.50/game
8. Alabama 4.00/game
84. Ohio State 6.71/game
Field goal kicking
1. Alabama 100% (13/13)
101. Ohio State 60% (6/10)
Punting
1. Georgia Tech 47.6
16. Ohio State 44.8
118. Alabama 38.0
