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2018 Washington OL and DL Stats

+5 HS
TomD's picture
December 8, 2018 at 7:46am
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Looking ahead to the Rose Bowl, and at the metrics from the Football Outsiders NCAA Offensive Line and Defensive Line rankings, Washington’s line play, at least as revealed by these metrics, has not been particularly impressive in 2018.

Washington Offensive Line - 69th in the nation of the 130 FBS Division I teams in run blocking, 57th in the nation in Pass Protection. Buckeye DL is 4th and 32nd, respectively.

The Huskies OL is 69th in the nation in Run Blocking, 85th on Standard Downs (Buckeye DL 2nd), 24th on Passing Downs (Buckeye DL 113th).  Of note, the Washington OL is better at run blocking on passing downs.

  1. 39th in Opportunity Rate, the percentage of carries (when four yards are available) that gain at least four yards, i.e. the percentage of carries in which the line does its job, so to speak. (Buckeye DL is 16th)
  2. 22nd in Power Success Rate, the percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. (Buckeye DL is 71st)
  3. 55th in Stuff Rate, the percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage. (Buckeye DL is 7th)

The Huskies OL is 57th in the nation in Pass Protection (Buckeye DL is 32nd), 24th on Standard Downs (Buckeye DL is 62nd), 92nd on Passing Downs (Buckeye DL is 21st).  Washington’s OL is not nearly as effective in pass protection on passing downs.

So based on these metrics, Washington’s offensive line seems to be significantly more effective when the the Huskies run on passing downs and pass on standard downs.

Washington OL rankings better in 3 categories, Buckeye DL better in 6 categories.

 

Washington Defensive Line - 75th in the nation of the 130 FBS Division I teams against the run (Buckeye OL is 66th), 111th in the nation against the pass (Buckeye OL is 17th).

The Huskies DL is 75th in the nation against the run, 70th on Standard Downs (Buckeye OL is 51st), 92th on Passing Downs (Buckeye OL is 97th).  It would appear that the Washington DL is vulnerable to the run on passing downs.

  1. 51st in Opportunity Rate, the percentage of carries (when four yards are available) that gain at least four yards, i.e. the percentage of carries in which the line does its job, so to speak. (Buckeye OL is 35th).
  2. 40th in Power Success Rate, the percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. (Buckeye OL is 102nd).
  3. 101st in Stuff Rate, the percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage. (Buckeye OL is 70th).

The Huskies DL is 111th in the nation against the pass (Buckeye OL is 17th), 122nd on Standard Downs (Buckeye OL is 45th) , 81st on Passing Downs (Buckeye OL is 8th).  The Washington DL is not very effective against the pass on standard downs, perhaps implying that the Buckeyes should throw quite a bit on 1st and 2nd down, although the Buckeye OL also seems to have a big advantage on passing downs too.

So, at least based on these metrics, against the Washington DL, the Buckeye offense should look to pass the ball more on standard downs and run the ball more on passing downs.

Washington DL is better in 2 categories, Buckeye OL in 7 categories.

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This is only one set of metrics, but provides some interesting initial information on Washington line play in 2018.

It should be noted that Washington's defense is ranked 12th in the nation in Total Defense, giving up only 301.8 yards per game, 5th in the nation in Scoring Defense, yielding only 15.5 points per game, 16th in the nation in Rushing Defense, yielding 116.4 rushing yards per game and 20th in the nation in Passing Defense, yielding 185.4 passing yards per game.  So, overall, Washington's defense is actually quite good.

However, in Total Offense, the Huskies only rank 60th in the nation, gaining 412.4 yards per game.

(Mod Edit: moved to the College Sports Forum.)

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