BCS Bowl Statistical Preview - Sugar Bowl

 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl

#6 University of Utah
vs.
#4 University of Alabama


Friday, January 2, 2009 - 8:00PM EST
The Super Dome - New Orleans, LA
FOX-TV


Depending how you look at this game, you either see a over matched Mountain West Conference team against the runner-up to the SEC crown. Or, you see a hot mid-major conference team poised for a nice upset of a suddenly more vulnerable major conference team.


I see it as a potentially great game to watch. If...and only if, Utah plays to their potential. Alabama is a very good team. One that can score quickly and play very tough defense. How tough? 


National Rankings: Defense
AverageRanking
Rushing D
78.854
Passing D
101.6313
Total D
256.923
Scoring D
136

They're not USC, but they can pretty much play with anyone. And until a 9 point loss to Florida, they cruised through a touch SEC schedule. They run the ball much better then they pass it. Their offense ranks 56th overall in the country averaging 196 yards on the ground and 170 through the air per game.

National Rankings: Offense

AverageRanking
Rushing Off.
196.4623
Passing Off.
170.6996
Total Off.
367.1556
Scoring Off.
31.1530

Speaking of cruising through a schedule, albeit not quite as tough, Utah had no problem disposing of all 12 teams they played this year, including Michigan.

I think Utah came into this year with a hope to be able to challenge BYU for the title. Well, the last game of the year, they had no problem with that, winning 48-24.

Utah comes into this game with both a very talented offense led by Brian Johnson at QB who sits at 18th in the nation in passing efficiency. They run and throw the ball well. And they also score a lot of points.

National Rankings: Offense

AverageRanking
Rushing Off.
168.4241
Passing Off.
236.8341
Total Off.
405.2531
Scoring Off.
37.4215

Those numbers stack up very well against what Alabama can do on offense. Of course, they'll need to play their best game of the year to be able to put anywhere close to their average points against Alabama's defense...especially on the ground.

But Utah is not just a one-trick-pony. They can play defense too.

National Rankings: Defense

AverageRanking
Rushing D
104.8314
Passing D
108.6422
Total D
295.9218
Scoring D
17.2512

I really like the way this game is shaping up, statistically. Odds are neither squad is going to get to their average scoring numbers. Each defense's strength is what the other team does well on offense.

There is no common opponent to judge this game by, so season averages and stats are all we have. And here they are.
Scoring: Points/Game 31.2
37.4
Scoring: Games - Points 13 - 405
12 - 449
First Downs: Total 248 259
First Downs: Rushing - Passing - By Penalty 128 - 104 - 16
108 - 137 - 14
Rushing: Yards / Attempt 4.77 4.23
Rushing: Attempts - Yards - TD 535 - 2554 - 32
473 - 2001 - 23
Passing: Rating 125.77 149.73
Passing: Yards 2219 2842
Passing: Attempts - Completions - Interceptions - TD 304 - 177 - 7 - 10
373 - 252 - 9 - 26
Total Offense: Yards / Play 5.7 5.7
Total Offense: Plays - Yards 839 - 4773
846 - 4843
Punt Returns: Yards / Return 13.08 6.53
Punt Returns: Returns - Yards - TD 48 - 628 - 3
32 - 209 - 1
Kickoff Returns: Yards / Return 19.62 22.97
Kickoff Returns: Returns - Yards - TD 34 - 667 - 0
33 - 758 - 0
Punting: Yards / Punt 40.25 41
Punting: Punts - Yards 57 - 2294
51 - 2091
Interceptions: Returns - Yards - TD 15 - 305 - 4
17 - 328 - 3
Fumbles: Number - Lost 18 - 9
20 - 8
Penalties: Number - Yards 50 - 453
80 - 726
Time of Possession / Game 32:06.69 32:39.33
3rd Down Conversions: Conversion % 42.35% 46.11%
3rd Down Conversions: Attempts - Conversions 170 - 72
167 - 77
4th Down Conversions: Conversion % 80% 64.29%
4th Down Conversions: Attempts - Conversions 10 - 8
14 - 9
Red Zone: Success % 84.91% 90.38%
Red Zone: Attempts - Scores 53 - 45
52 - 47
Field Goals: Success % 70.4% 91.3%
Field Goals: Attempts - Made 27 - 19
23 - 21
PAT Kicking: Success % 95.7% 98.1%
PAT Kicking: Attempts - Made 46 - 44
53 - 52
2-Point Conversions: Success % 33.33% 50%
2-Point Conversions: Attempts - Made 3 - 1
2 - 1

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