The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| PSU pass rush | 4.3% 11684th | 8.3% 22878th | faces USC | 2.9% 17524th | 3.6% ~1.2 sacks |
| USC pass rush | 2.8% 144113th | 7.4% 28397th | faces PSU | 4.4% 11359th | 3.6% ~1.2 sacks |
sacks from CFBD play-by-play; college has no charted pressure, and these rates are not opponent-adjusted Measured on 7,926 team-games 2022–25: a college line's sacks-allowed rate carries +0.27 into its next game and a defence's sack rate only +0.10 — the line is most of this. The pairing predicts the game's sack rate +0.27, yards per dropback −0.16 and points added per play −0.15. Heaviest quarter of pairings against lightest: 7.8% vs 4.2% sack rate, 6.1 vs 7.2 yards per dropback.
USC with the ball
| USC offence vs PSU defence | USC offence | PSU defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.30719th | -0.10319th | 0 |
| success rate | 0.5355th | 0.31510th | +5 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.18791st | 1.17147th | -44 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.08285th | 0.04074th | -11 |
| rush: success rate | 0.48636th | 0.33931st | -5 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.829107th | 1.129125th | +18 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.56410th | -0.1643rd | -7 |
| pass: success rate | 0.5924th | 0.2966th | +2 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.49786th | 1.2074th | -82 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.55822nd | 0.36511th | -11 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.4673rd | 0.22423rd | +20 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.26849th | 2.52933rd | -16 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.16872nd | 0.229109th | +37 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.79343rd | 0.66750th | +7 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.61131st | 3.63688th | +57 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.0898th | 0.195114th | +106 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.04710th | 0.11294th | +84 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04242nd | 0.083120th | +78 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 69.30094th | — | — |
PSU with the ball
| PSU offence vs USC defence | PSU offence | USC defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.22055th | 0.191119th | +64 |
| success rate | 0.41894th | 0.42291st | -3 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.29942nd | 1.363113th | +71 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.10278th | 0.08089th | +11 |
| rush: success rate | 0.40999th | 0.40069th | -30 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.92981st | 0.96184th | +3 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.39132nd | 0.424127th | +95 |
| pass: success rate | 0.43472nd | 0.462114th | +42 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.81317th | 1.724115th | +98 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.47392nd | 0.44667th | -25 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.270106th | 0.374131st | +25 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 2.835105th | 2.58741st | -64 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.13634th | 0.19368th | +34 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.72782nd | 0.76294th | +12 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 3.96766th | 4.179119th | +53 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.11633rd | 0.1169th | -24 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.05819th | 0.07530th | +11 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.05879th | 0.04121st | -58 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 65.800126th | — | — |
Rank gap = the defence's FBS rank minus the offence's on the same measure: +60 means the offence ranks 60 places better than the defence it faces. Unit against unit only — college has no player charting to name a matchup by.