Daily Blog • September 8, 2013

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed, I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Here are the Top 25 Game Grades (Team Performances) from Week 2

        OFF OFF OFF DEF DEF DEF   Total Game
Rank Team   Opp RUSH PASS PTS RUSH PASS PTS TO's Yards Grade
1 BYU   Texas 550 129 40 132 313 21 -2 234 118.32
2 Baylor   Buffalo 329 452 70 83 280 13 2 418 117.96
3 Oregon at Virginia 350 207 59 124 174 10 4 259 114.84
4 Georgia   South Carolina 227 309 41 226 228 30 1 82 101.23
5 Washington St at USC 7 215 10 139 54 7 -1 29 101.05
6 Kentucky   Miami, Oh 262 413 41 99 23 7 -1 553 99.55
7 Arizona at UNLV 397 86 58 161 125 13 2 197 99.28
8 Arizona St   Sacramento St 158 365 55 51 116 0 4 356 99.17
9 Utah St at Air Force 217 360 52 162 108 20 -1 307 98.84
10 Michigan   Notre Dame 166 294 41 96 314 30 1 50 98.57
11 Wisconsin   Tenn Tech 387 219 48 44 69 0 1 493 96.70
12 Northwestern   Syracuse 206 375 48 133 301 27 4 147 95.35
13 Stanford   San Jose St 197 207 34 35 216 13 0 153 95.26
14 Nebraska   Southern Miss 285 194 56 62 222 13 4 195 94.71
15 Florida at Miami, Fl 122 291 16 50 162 21 -4 201 94.55
16 Texas Tech   SF Austin 237 494 61 69 287 13 -2 375 94.04
17 LSU   UAB 152 293 56 160 136 17 0 149 93.50
18 Illinois   Cincinnati 210 312 45 148 308 17 1 66 93.45
19 ULM   Grambling St 367 204 48 94 143 10 -2 334 93.30
20 Utah   Weber St 338 290 70 69 136 7 2 423 92.68
21 Oregon St   Hawaii 57 451 33 69 170 14 0 269 92.24
22 Auburn   Arkansas St 301 167 38 150 272 9 0 46 91.86
23 Penn St   E Michigan 251 323 45 61 122 7 -2 391 91.69
24 Ohio St   San Diego St 263 182 42 64 216 7 3 165 91.14
25 South Carolina at Georgia 226 228 30 227 309 41 -1 -82 90.04
  1. It is well documented that I was very high on Texas this year, but last week was not the best situation for them traveling to altitude while playing a BYU team that was off a misleading game against Virginia. Kudos to the Cougars who rushed for an amazing 550 yards including QB Taysom Hill who ran for 259, the 2nd most by a QB in the last 10 years. Their dominating 40-21 win over the Horns gives them the top performance of the week!
  1. Last week Buffalo gave highly ranked Ohio St fits all the way into the 2H but this week against Baylor they were destroyed 70-13 as the Bears rolled up their 2nd consecutive romp by outgaining the Bulls by 418 yards. Thru the first 2 weeks, I would say that the Bears have been the most impressive team in the Big 12 so far.
  1. I thought Virginia had a shot at keeping relatively close with Oregon prior but it looks like the Ducks have not missed a beat with their new HC as they outgained the Cavs by 259 yards. Unlike LY, it looks like Oregon is keeping their foot on the gas pedal in the 2H as they have outscored their first 2 opponents 59-0 in the final 2 quarters.
  1. Georgia was in a must-win situation following the loss to Clemson last week and they delivered with a huge win over South Carolina. The Bulldogs had great balance on offense with 200+ rush and 300+ pass yards and nearly outgained the Gamecocks by a 100 yards in their 41-30 win.
  1. What a nice start to the season for Washington St and HC Mike Leach. After nearly pulling the upset LW in SEC country vs Auburn, this week they went on the road again and this time got their upset 10-7 over USC. Despite TO issues on offense, their defense has surprisingly been very physical as they stone-walled a USC team that I was very high on in the preseason.