The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| USC pass rush | 2.8% 144113th | 7.4% 28397th | faces OSU | 3.6% 13842nd | 3.2% ~1.1 sacks |
| OSU pass rush | 5.1% 13868th | 8.9% 25966th | faces USC | 2.9% 17524th | 4.0% ~1.3 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.
OSU with the ball
| OSU offence vs USC defence | OSU offence | USC defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.3948th | 0.191119th | +111 |
| success rate | 0.5247th | 0.42291st | +84 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.34224th | 1.363113th | +89 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.17548th | 0.08089th | +41 |
| rush: success rate | 0.45068th | 0.40069th | +1 |
| rush: explosiveness | 1.02444th | 0.96184th | +40 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.6633rd | 0.424127th | +124 |
| pass: success rate | 0.6072nd | 0.462114th | +112 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.57964th | 1.724115th | +51 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.57210th | 0.44667th | +57 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.36537th | 0.374131st | +94 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.20158th | 2.58741st | -17 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.16870th | 0.19368th | -2 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.78348th | 0.76294th | +46 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 5.11113th | 4.179119th | +106 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.11124th | 0.1169th | -15 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.06323rd | 0.07530th | +7 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04859th | 0.04121st | -38 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 68.200107th | — | — |
USC with the ball
| USC offence vs OSU defence | USC offence | OSU defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.30719th | -0.08123rd | +4 |
| success rate | 0.5355th | 0.35333rd | +28 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.18791st | 1.21164th | -27 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.08285th | -0.04242nd | -43 |
| rush: success rate | 0.48636th | 0.435100th | +64 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.829107th | 0.94580th | -27 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.56410th | -0.1377th | -3 |
| pass: success rate | 0.5924th | 0.2752nd | -2 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.49786th | 1.58883rd | -3 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.55822nd | 0.39828th | +6 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.4673rd | 0.28271st | +68 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.26849th | 2.79162nd | +13 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.16872nd | 0.19469th | -3 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.79343rd | 0.66749th | +6 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.61131st | 2.77833rd | +2 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.0898th | 0.208125th | +117 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.04710th | 0.10478th | +68 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04242nd | 0.104135th | +93 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 69.30094th | — | — |
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.