Last week, we visualized college football drives like a bowling scorecard.
This week, after watching a lot of playoff baseball, let’s try to visualize college football drives like a baseball line score.
Instead of runs by inning, what if we showed points by possession?
The totals for runs, hits, and errors could be points, explosives (big plays), and turnovers.
Here are a few line score examples of games from this past weekend.
Miami 28, Florida State 22
Miami owned a 28-3 lead over Florida State by the middle of the third quarter. The Hurricanes logged more big plays, five to Florida State’s two, and managed to turn over the Seminoles three times.
Florida State scored the final 19 points of the game, but it wasn’t enough as Miami improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC.
UCLA 42, Penn State 37
The upset of the season so far is Penn State losing outright as 24.5-point favorites on the road at UCLA. The Bruins were aggressive and it paid off early.
UCLA scored a touchdown on its first possession and followed it up by recovering an onside kick to score another three points on its next possession. It was 10-0 UCLA before Penn State even had an offensive series.
The Nittany Lions earned more yards per play, although UCLA ran 20 more plays over the course of the game. A blocked punt for a touchdown helped Penn State pick up a “hidden” possession in the second half too.
UCLA won the explosive play battle, including four rushing plays over 20+ yards.
Clemson 38, North Carolina 10
This brings us to our last line score from the previous week, a 38-10 Clemson win over North Carolina. This game was more like a glorified scrimmage.
The Tigers scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions and it was 28-3 at the half. The winning team again won the big play battle as Clemson picked up six plays over 20+ yards to Carolina’s one play.
There isn’t much more to break down about this game outside of the obvious embarrassment that is North Carolina football at the moment.
Trust the process
North Carolina published a 1,385 word letter last week ahead of the Clemson game. It’s a lot of words to describe Carolina’s strategy of tanking a season in a sport without a draft.
The effort in that Clemson game Saturday was not great.
In the stands, it was alarming to watch that second Clemson touchdown. Watch the effort, or lack thereof, to tackle Clemson’s Adam Randall or push him out of bounds.
Carolina is now 2-3 overall with three losses by 24 or more points. This is the seventh such season since 1980 where Carolina has lost at least three games by 24 or more points.
The problem? There are seven games left.
The 33rd NFL team is currently 17th in the ACC using the F+ power ratings.
Before the game Saturday, Ludacris performed on campus at Polk Place. Yes, the timing of the concert was odd, and at times it felt like karaoke.
Still, it was a really pleasant morning. Great weather and a mixed crowd of parents, students, and children that enjoyed it for what it was. A free concert.
Around 10:35 am or so, Ludacris started to play some of his well-known features. This included Yeah!, which is Usher’s song that features Ludacris.
A friend turned to me and said, “He’s going to do this without Usher!?”
That’s sort of how it feels watching Carolina football lately.
You have Bill Belichick coaching football, but it’s not in the NFL, and it’s not with Tom Brady at quarterback.
Thanks for reading this far. If you have any thoughts on the line scores, please let me know in the comments.
A recommendation this week is Basket Under Review, an independent media outlet that covers college hoops.
The college basketball season is only a few weeks away somehow. ACC media days are even under way too. The local podcast, Ovies and Giglio, have tons of videos on their YouTube page previewing the men’s and women’s season. Check it out.
🤟 Enjoy the rest of the week 🤟
Runs - Hits - Errors
Feels like it should be Score - First Downs - Turnovers