I’m a stats guy. I always have been. My football coaching father told me there is only one stat folks remember and that is the one on the score board. I get it. In college I gave an informative speech explaining the NFL QB rating system. I think it has been tweaked since then. Ken Anderson’s 1981 QBR of 98.5 was explained on a black board in Crestview Hall. Doing my best John Madden, chalk dust flying, and me telling classmates “This is how it works, boom!”
Sure, another stats guy or gal from Alabama could bring another litany of numbers to dazzle you with. Ones like how Alabama has spent more than 900 hundred weeks in the AP Top 25 poll over the years and Indiana has only spent 95 weeks in the poll with 26 of those 95 coming in the Coach Curt Cignetti era. They would be correct. Good for them. This is not about revisionist history. I’m just saying, on paper, Alabama is in trouble. Thankfully paper is not worth much. Kind of like that line when art critics are arguing.
Critic #1: “How can you call that work unimportant? It’s hanging in the Metropolitan!”
Critic # 2: “Well, so is toilet paper.” My apologies to Pat Conroy and The Prince of Tides.
The following are numbers based on the first 13 games played by Indiana and Alabama. There is a reason Indiana is the number one team in America. My dad would say, “Look at the dadgum score board. Indiana is 13-0.” I get it dad. These stats taken from each school’s website and NCAA stat website.
Scoring: Indiana 41.9 to 10.85 Alabama 31.2 to 17.38
First Downs given up by penalty: Indiana 7 Alabama 19
3rd Down Defense: Indiana .281 Alabama .347
Penalty Yards per game: Indiana 28.46 Alabama 41.92
Turnover Margin: Indiana +17 Alabama +7
Fumbles Lost: Indiana 1 Alabama 7
Tackles for Loss: Indiana 8.6 per game Alabama 5.7 per game
QB Passing Efficiency Rank: Indiana #2 Alabama #39
Field Goal kicking: Indiana 15 of 16 Alabama 13 of 20 (Bama was 2 for 2 against Oklahoma Saturday so now 15 for 22; you know I love all kickers.)
Heisman Trophy Winner: Indiana 1 Alabama 0
That Heisman Trophy is great and all. I’ve never seen a trophy score a touchdown.
Last one and probably the most telling:
Rushing Yardage Comparison:
Indiana 221.6 yds per game Indiana’s opponents 77.6 yds per game
Alabama 109.9 yds per game Alabama’s opponents 120.6 yds per game
My dad is right. I won’t give a rat’s bladder (apologies to Captain Furillo) if Bama has 500 yards passing and -34 yards rushing as long as Indiana scores one more point than Alabama. At the end of the day, I am just an old stats guy. Trouble is I can recite Terry Bradshaw’s stats quicker than I can Patrick Mahomes.
At the end of the day, I can tell you that I fell off the turnip truck 40 years ago. Alabama fans will tell you Indiana hasn’t played anyone. A few Alabama fans, and I have enjoyed looking in on some Bama podcasts today, did take notice that Indiana University is in Bloomington and not Indianapolis when the Hoosiers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in The Big Ten Championship Game to run their record to 13-0.
One more stat. This one is from the January 22, 2011, edition of The Birmingham News. The article announcing that Alabama assistant coach Curt Cignetti was leaving the Tide and cutting his $250,000 salary from Alabama in half to become the head coach at Division II Indiana (Pa.). THE STAT? This story was in the middle of page 4C that January 22nd day.
Today I heard Paul Finebaum tell Matt Barrie that the pressure in on Indiana more than it is Alabama, as we head into this New Years Day battle in The Granddaddy of the All. I miss Keith Jackson. How can Paul’s logic even start to stick to the wall? It can’t. Alabama has much more to lose than Indiana does and Paul knows that. He’s an SEC cheerleader and he is a good one. Bama has the legacy. IU is building one. The last time the Indiana Hoosiers played in The Rose Bowl Stadium, Indiana won 42-13. The last time Alabama played in The Rose Bowl, Bama lost 27-20 in OT. With a nod to my dad, those may be stats to remember as well.