Kellen Moore was his usual prolific self on Saturday. But how prolific might he have been? The Boise State defense gave up more yards than usual. So what's up with that?
These are questions that BIFFF can help answer thanks to gamecharting, formulas, and some good old fashioned football analysis. Continue reading for the advanced stats and interesting tidbits from Boise State's win over Toledo, and let me know in the comments if the stats match your impressions.
The Bronco Institute of Football Facts and Figures (BIFFF)seeks to add context and numbers to Boise State statistics. Some of it is math, much of it is game charting, and the rest is pie charts.
The BIFFF Box Score
| Statistics |  |  |
Explanations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Score | 14 | 57 | |
| Swing Points | 0 | 7 | Points on defense, special teams or drives < 25 yds |
| Turnovers | 5 | 0 | |
| Total Yards | 287 | 500 | |
| Net Yards | 243 | 434 | Yards on offense minus penalties |
| Wasted Yards | 193 | 64 | Yards on non-scoring drives (including penalties) |
| Yds on Scoring Drives | 129 | 411 | Yards on scoring drives (including penalties) |
| Passing Yards | 222 | 293 | |
| Completions | 21 | 17 | |
| Attempts | 29 | 23 | |
| Yds per Attempt | 7.7 | 12.7 | |
| Rushing Yards | 65 | 207 | |
| Attempts | 31 | 40 | |
| Average | 2.1 | 5.2 | |
| Penalty Yards | 44 | 66 | |
| Penalties | 5 | 5 | |
| Average | 8.8 | 13.2 | |
| Plays | 60 | 63 | |
| Yds per Play | 4.8 | 8.0 | |
| Run:Pass Ratio | 28:32 | 40:23 | |
| Negative Plays | 7 | 1 | Plays that gained negative yardage |
| Third Down Conversion Pct | 55% | 43% | |
| Conversions | 6 | 3 | |
| Attempts | 11 | 7 | |
| Avg Yards to go | 6.5 | 5.5 | |
| Avg Field Position | TOL 28 | BSU 38 | Average starting field position |
Notable:
- Boise State would have averaged 2 yards to go on 3rd down were it not for a 3rd and 30 on the last series of the game.
- The numbers show that Toledo's offense had a pretty decent day except for the copious amounts of turnovers. The Rockets converted more than half of their 3rd downs, they averaged nearly five yards per play, and they completed 73 percent of their passes. Teams have done much worse than that against this Bronco defense.
- Boise State averaged nearly 13 yards per pass attempt. That is just not fair.
- The Broncos' lackluster kickoff coverage did not show too badly in the final average field position stat, thanks to a couple of Toledo special teams penalties and some second half touchbacks by Trevor Harman. Hopefully he didn't use up his touchback quota in garbage time.
- Boise State's only negative play of the game was a Drew Wright 7-yard loss late in the fourth quarter.
- As far as game charting goes, this one was a tough one due to WAC TV's go-to replay angle being a very low sideline camera that was like watching the broadcast view except standing in a hole.
- Thanks again to MKingery for his help with this weekly feature.
The five most interesting stats from Boise State versus Toledo
Boise State missed a lot of tackles
The Broncos were at their tackling worst on Saturday night, whiffing 17 times on Toledo ball carriers. That was by far the highest total of the season and the only time so far that the team has even been in double digits.
Your missed tackle leaderboard from Saturday: Jeron Johnson (4), Kharyee Marshall (2), George Iloka, Aaron Tevis, J.C. Percy, Byron Hout, Jarrell Root, Shea McClellin, Winston Venable, Brandyn Thompson, Jason Robinson, Antwon Murray, Tommy Smith.
Boise State was successful on four out of five rushing attempts
Note: Successful plays gain 50 percent of needed yards on 1st down, 75 percent of needed yards on 2nd down, or 100 percent of needed yards on 3rd or 4th down.
Out of Boise State's 40 rushing attempts Saturday night, 32 times the Broncos had successful plays. Jeremy Avery went 5-for-7, and Doug Martin was 7-for-8 (he would have been 8-for-8 had he gained a single extra yard on his four-yard 1st and 10 carry).
Toledo passed with more success than usual against Boise State
Again using the metric of successful plays, the Rockets were 17-for-29 on dropbacks Saturday night, converting successful plays nearly 60 percent of the time. A big part of that was WR Eric Page whose 11 receptions were successful nine times, including five straight to open the game.
Kellen Moore was even more on the money than we thought
Moore threw incomplete six times on Saturday night, and here they all are:
- Sideline pass to Austin Pettis. Drop.
- Pass over the middle to Austin Pettis. Drop.
- Screen pass to Doug Martin. Drop.
- Sideline throw to Titus Young. Missed throw.
- Out route to Tyler Shoemaker. Pass broken up.
- End zone pass to Titus Young. Throw away.
To recap: three drops, a PBU, a throw away, and one miss. Give this man his Heisman already!
Toledo blitzed extensively on Boise State's two-minute drill drive
The Rockets must have thought that pressuring Kellen Moore was the easiest way to ensure that a 90-yard drive in 70 seconds didn't happen. Not so much, huh. Toledo blitzed on four out of Moore's five completions, and before you knew it, Boise State was at the five yard-line, knocking on the door.
Your turn
What are your thoughts on Boise State's stats against Toledo? Did it feel like the Rockets were having success through the air? Do you think Pettis deserves credit for his two drops? Share your thoughts in the comments.