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Saturday 2026-10-31 · time TBA · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
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The units, side by side

OSUUSCbar = FBS percentile, longer is better · dotted tick = median teamOffence: points per play — offence9587Offence: points per play — defence8414Offence: success rate — offence9697Offence: success rate — defence7734Offence: explosiveness — offence8334Offence: explosiveness — defence5418Run game — offence6639Run game — defence7036Pass game — offence9993Pass game — defence968Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — offence5865Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — defence5571Havoc (allowed vs created) — offence8395Havoc (allowed vs created) — defence994

Percentile among the 138 FBS teams on each measure this season, offence and defence, both teams. Raw values, plays behind them and ranks are in the tables below.

What actually happens around a number like this

tiecardsOSU by 46USC by 34

Each bar is how often a college game lands on that margin, from 7,877 FBS games 2015–2025, centred on our card line. The spread misses by 12.3 points on average (37% within a touchdown). OSU wins about 64% of the time at a number like ours.

OSU

Games4
Plays per game67.8
Drives per game11.5
SP+28.8 (2nd, offence 1st, defence 2nd)
Returning production68% (pass 94%, rush 55%, receiving 50%)

USC

Games5
Plays per game72.2
Drives per game9.8
SP+17.8 (13th, offence 3rd, defence 49th)
Returning production59% (pass 91%, rush 78%, receiving 27%)

What each side chooses to do

OffenceOSUUSC
pass rate, all downs51%44th50%57th
pass rate, passing downs79%7th78%10th
no-huddle share10%121st82%43rd
pass rate, standard downs43%59th41%80th
pass rate, 1st down44%64th38%103rd
pass rate, red zone39%64th41%55th
seconds per play (own drives)30.242nd29.851st

choices, from CFBD play-by-play; a choice repeats within a season, a result mostly does not Rank 1 = highest rate / fastest among FBS.

OSU offence

OSU offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.3942718 of 138
success rate0.5242717 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.34227124 of 138
rush: points added per play0.17527148 of 138
rush: success rate0.45027168 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.02427144 of 138
pass: points added per play0.6632713 of 138
pass: success rate0.6072712 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.57927164 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.57227110 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.36527137 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.20127158 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.16827170 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.78327148 of 138
points per trip inside the 405.11127113 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.11127124 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.06327123 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.04827159 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)68.200271107 of 138

USC offence

USC offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.30736119 of 138
success rate0.5353615 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.18736191 of 138
rush: points added per play0.08236185 of 138
rush: success rate0.48636136 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.829361107 of 138
pass: points added per play0.56436110 of 138
pass: success rate0.5923614 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.49736186 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.55836122 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.4673613 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.26836149 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.16836172 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.79336143 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.61136131 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.0893618 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.04736110 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.04236142 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)69.30036194 of 138

OSU defence

OSU defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play-0.08126923 of 138
success rate0.35326933 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.21126964 of 138
rush: points added per play-0.04226942 of 138
rush: success rate0.435269100 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.94526980 of 138
pass: points added per play-0.1372697 of 138
pass: success rate0.2752692 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.58826983 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.39826928 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.28226971 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.79126962 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.19426969 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.66726949 of 138
points per trip inside the 402.77826933 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.208269125 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.10426978 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.104269135 of 138
opponent average starting field position75.700269128 of 138

USC defence

USC defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.191294119 of 138
success rate0.42229491 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.363294113 of 138
rush: points added per play0.08029489 of 138
rush: success rate0.40029469 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.96129484 of 138
pass: points added per play0.424294127 of 138
pass: success rate0.462294114 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.724294115 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.44629467 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.374294131 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.58729441 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.19329468 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.76229494 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.179294119 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.1162949 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.07529430 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.04129421 of 138
opponent average starting field position75.300294125 of 138

points added per play: CFBD predicted points added (their EPA); positive helps the offence · success rate: share of plays that gain 50% of needed yards on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th · explosiveness: average points added on the plays that succeeded - big-play size · havoc: tackles for loss, forced fumbles, interceptions and breakups as a share of plays · rank: 1 = best among FBS teams in the direction that helps that side · fei: bcftoys.com FEI: opponent-adjusted possession efficiency, offence/defence/special teams, with FBS rank - theirs · fplus: bcftoys.com F+: FEI and SP+ combined, in standard deviations above average - theirs