I was reading the Trey Sermon section of this morning's Skull Session and it got me wondering what kind of track record Trey has in "big" games. I did a little research on the 2017 and 2018 Oklahoma seasons, as well as the 2020 Ohio State season. While you could easily argue that every game is a big game when you're at Oklahoma or Ohio State, I looked for a smaller sample size... BIGGER "big" games, if you will. To qualify as a big game in my study the game had to meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Rivalry Game
- Ranked Opponent (at time of game)
- Conference Championship Game
- College Football Playoff Game
I came up with 14 big games in these three seasons where Sermon had carries and/or receptions. Some games have very low touch counts, I did not research to see the possible factors for this. I still included these games.
Interpret / discuss / critique / anticipate in the comments below.
TL/DR Averages at bottom after each game breakdown!
Date: September 9, 2017 Opponent: Ohio State (Ranked Opponent) Road Game
Carries: 17
Yards: 62
Rush Average: 3.65ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 3
Yards: 23
Receiving Average: 7.67/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 1
Game Result: Won 31-16 (ok... got that one out of the way)
Date: October 14, 2017 Opponent: Texas (Rival) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 20
Yards: 96
Rush Average: 4.8ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 2
Yards: 11
Receiving Average: 5.5/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 29-24
Date: November 4, 2017 Opponent: Oklahoma State (Rival) Road Game
Carries: 10
Yards: 81
Rush Average: 8.1ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 1
Receptions: 2
Yards: 25
Receiving Average: 12.5/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 62-52
Date: November 11, 2017 Opponent: TCU (Ranked Opponent) Home Game
Carries: 3
Yards: -1
Rush Average: -0.33ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 0
Yards: 0
Receiving Average: n/a
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 38-20
Date: December 2, 2017 Opponent: TCU (Conference Championship) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 10
Yards: 63
Rush Average: 6.3ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 1
Yards: 13
Receiving Average: 13/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 41-17
Date: January 1, 2018 Opponent: Georgia (CFP Semifinal) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 2
Yards: 34
Rush Average: 17ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 0
Yards: 0
Receiving Average: n/a
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Lost 54-48
Date: October 6, 2018 Opponent: Texas (Rival) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 9
Yards: 54
Rush Average: 6ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 1
Receptions: 2
Yards: 63
Receiving Average: 31.5/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Lost 48-45
Date: November 10, 2018 Opponent: Oklahoma State (Rival) Home Game
Carries: 16
Yards: 124
Rush Average: 7.75ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 2
Receptions: 2
Yards: 33
Receiving Average: 16.5/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 48-47
Date: November 23, 2018 Opponent: West Virginia (Ranked Opponent) Road Game
Carries: 5
Yards: 12
Rush Average: 2.4ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 1
Receptions: 0
Yards: 0
Receiving Average: n/a
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 59-56
Date: December 1, 2018 Opponent: Texas (Conference Championship) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 18
Yards: 65
Rush Average: 3.61ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 1
Receptions: 1
Yards: 3
Receiving Average: 3/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 39-27
Date: December 29, 2018 Opponent: Alabama (CFP Semifinal) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 9
Yards: 19
Rush Average: 2.11ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 1
Receptions: 0
Yards: 0
Receiving Average: n/a
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Lost 45-34
Date: October 31, 2020 Opponent: Penn State (Ranked Opponent) Road Game
Carries: 13
Yards: 56
Rush Average: 4.31ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 1
Yards: 4
Receiving Average: 4ypc
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 38-25
Date: November 21, 2020 Opponent: Indiana (Ranked Opponent) Home Game
Carries: 9
Yards: 60
Rush Average: 6.67ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 0
Receptions: 1
Yards: 13
Receiving Average: 13ypc
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 42-35
Date: December 19, 2020 Opponent: Northwestern (Conference Championship) Neutral Site Game
Carries: 29
Yards: 331
Rush Average: 11.41ypc
Rush Touchdowns: 2
Receptions: 3
Yards: 4
Receiving Average: 1.33/ypr
Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Game Result: Won 22-10
OKLAHOMA "BIG GAME" CAREER (11 GAMES)
5.12 yards per carry 13.15 yards per reception 8 total touchdowns
OHIO STATE "BIG GAME" CAREER (3 GAMES - so far)
8.76 yards per carry 4.2 yards per reception 2 total touchdowns
APPROXIMATE CAREER PER GAME STATS(14 GAMES)
12 carries for 76 yards 1 touchdown
2 receptions 14 yards 0 touchdowns
I also looked at Home vs. Away vs. Neutral site games. Trey (aided of course by the B1G Championship Game but hampered by Oklahoma playoff games) has been strongest in neutral site games:
94.57 rush yards per game
13.43 receiving yards per game
0.71 touchdowns per game
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Go Bucks! Destroy Clemson!
