Defensive TD's and misleading boxscores Along with a few others here I had Wiscy last week vs Ohio State. I had the game on in the corner and was glancing at it off and on. When I checked back at the boxscore at the end of the game, my first reaction was a profanity laced instant message on how we doubled their yardage and should have won the game outright. While I still think Wiscy plus the large points was probably a decent bet last week, I've definitely softened on my stance that they dominated the game.
This was a crazy game with 3 non offensive scores from Ohio State. Obviously, our first reaction is to think how much Wisconsin gets screwed from the misfortune of giving up 21 points. What's more interesting is how Ohio State, the team scoring on defense, actually gets the screw job in the boxscore...
Ohio State passed for 6.7 yards per pass holding Wisconsin to 5.6 yards per pass. And Ohio State rushed for 3.6 YPC while holding Wisconsin to 2.7 YPC. But Ohio State loses the yardage battle 184-368! The culprit is the defensive scores. Ohio State's offense runs a measley 40 offensive plays compared to 89 by Wisconsin even when they are more effective on a per play basis through both the air and ground. A 96 yard kickoff return is great for your team, but it's hell on your boxscore considering the other team's offense heads right back on the field and starts racking up stats on a defense with zero rest, while your offense stays on the sideline. Not to mention Sweater Vest starts to play conservative with a lead that wasn't even manufactured by solid offense.. another blow to the offensive boxscore of Ohio State.
Anyways, I guess the point is while it's true that special teams scores and defensive scores have a decent amount of randomness, it's also important not to actually punish the team scoring on defense, or feel too sympathetic towards the team giving up the defensive scores when looking at the stats of the game.
