2015 e-Systems College Football Pool – Week 13 Results

As a whole, I generally try to make this space a positive one.  I try to talk about teams that win games instead of teams that lose, because for the most part I don’t know what loyalties we have within our ranks.  I wouldn’t think it’s much fun to read negative items about your team here, so I generally try to keep it to a minimum.  However, I have to make an exception this week because of the incredible nature of this statistic (and because I feel like it’s a fairly low chance of knocking someone’s team).  You might remember that earlier this year I said that Boston College’s defense would be able to keep them in games this year.  It certainly did that; in fact, unless a team in a championship game this weekend has a tremendous defensive performance, the Eagles will end this year with the #1 total defense (in terms of yards allowed per game) in the country.  However, BC finished the year 3-9 and 0-8 in the ACC after a 20-17 loss to Syracuse.  It will be only the second time since 1993 that a team with the #1 total defense will not go to a bowl game (NC State finished 5-6 in 2004).  In fact, only once since 2005 has a team with the #1 total defense lost more than three games (2012 BYU – 8-5).  In that span, the teams with the #1 total defense have won a national championship (2011 Alabama), played for another (2007 Ohio State), and won two other BCS games (2008 USC and 2010 TCU).

How would you like to average better than two touchdowns per game for an entire season?  That’s what it’s like to be Kenneth Dixon or Jeremy McNichols.  Dixon, who plays for Louisiana Tech, has 17 touchdowns in ten games this year, highlighted by a six-touchdown performance against North Texas on November 7^th.  He’s averaging 13.2 points per game.  McNichols, a Boise State running back, has 18 touchdowns in eleven games, and has scored in every game he’s played in this year.  As a result, he’s averaging 12.5 points per game.  Some Alabama fans might ask about Derrick Henry – he’s third in the country at 11 points per game.  Other interesting facts from a season’s worth of data:

• Tennessee has the national leader in kickoff returns and punt returns, but they’re different players!  Evan Berry, at 38.3 yards per return, leads in kickoff returns, and Cameron Sutton, at 18.7 yards per return, leads in punt returns.
• Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey had the two games with the most all-purpose yards this year – 389 against California, and 369 against UCLA. He also averaged over 50 all-purpose yards per game more than the #2 player in the country (San Jose State’s Tyler Ervin).
• Two different Cincinnati quarterbacks have two of the top three passing yard totals in a single game; Hayden Moore had 557 against Memphis, and Gunner Kiel had 523 against Houston.
• Kent State “allowed” -33 yards to Delaware State (-38 rushing, 5 passing) in week 2.  Delaware State still managed to score 13 points due to two fumble recoveries for touchdowns, but the -33 yards is the only game this year in which a defense allowed negative yards.

In small school news, the lower division playoffs are off and running, and North Dakota State and William & Mary have revenge on their minds!  It’s a funny thing to say about a team that has won the last four national titles in its division, but the North Dakota State Bison are looking to avenge a loss from earlier in the year.  They face Montana, who beat them 38-35 on a touchdown on the last play of the game in the first game for both teams this year.  That game was in Missoula, Montana; this one will be in Fargo, North Dakota.  That might prove to be the difference.  Meanwhile, the William & Mary Tribe looks to gain redemption against Richmond.  The Spiders defeated W&M 20-9 in both teams’ last regular season game on November 21.  Because Richmond earned a first-round bye, they will play William & Mary twice in a row.

Congratulations to Mrshamie2, who wins week 13 with 168 points!  Crimson Gator took second place with 164 points, and AUBrian was third with 162 points.

Standings after thirteen weeks (dropping two lowest weekly totals):

We are down to the final week of regular season football, folks.  Six games are on the docket, including five conference championship games.  The first games are Saturday, December 5 @ Noon ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!