College football stats: The 19 most interesting Week 11 numbers, from Mississippi State's comeback to Kansas' triumph
Week 11 of the college football season is in the books, with plenty of crazy numbers. Let’s get into it. 1. Kansas won its first Big 12 road game since 2008, beating Texas 57-56 in overtime. The win ended a 56-game Big 12 road losing streak. A total of 43 teams had won a road game at a Big 12...
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The 19 Most Interesting Stats from Week #11
by Chris Vannini, The Athletic
1. Kansas won its first Big 12 road game since 2008, beating Texas 57-56 in overtime
The win ended a 56-game Big 12 road losing streak. A total of 43 teams had won a road game at a Big 12 school since then, including five FCS teams. It was Kansas' first win in Austin and first win against an FBS team since 2019.
2. Texas is on a five-game losing streak for the first time in 65 years (1956).
At halftime of the Red River Showdown, Texas was 4-1 and led Oklahoma 38-20. Since then, the Longhorns have been outscored 185-121 and have lost five consecutive games.
3. Samford scored more points in a half against Florida than any opponent in Gators history
Samford led 42-35 at halftime but lost 70-52. The previous record for points in a half against Florida was Florida State's 38 in 1992. The only other FBS team to allow at least 42 points in a half to an FCS team over the past 20 years was North Texas to Portland State in 2015 (45). It's the most points ever allowed by an SEC team to an FCS team.
Samford QB Liam Welch passed for 400 yards and ran for 65. He's the first player since at least 2000 to put up 400 and 50 on Florida.
4. Old Dominion scored two points four times, in three ways, in a win against Florida Atlantic.
The Monarchs got two safeties, returned a blocked extra point for two and converted a two-point conversion on offense. ODU won 30-16 in a final score that does not accurately portray the strangeness of the game, which it led 4-3 in the second quarter.
5. James Madison kicker Ethan Ratke became the NCAA's all-time leader in points scored by a kicker and field goals made.
Ratke hit a field goal in the first quarter against William & Mary to reach 500 career points, and he made a school-record six field goals in the game, giving him 100 field goals and 517 points for his career.
6. Oklahoma scored its fewest points in a game since 2014.
The Sooners lost 27-14 to Baylor on Saturday, its fewest points since the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl (six). The next lowest was 16 points against West Virginia earlier this season. This ended a 35-game road streak with at least 30 points, the longest such stretch in major college football history.
The Sooners had also won 23 consecutive November games, dating to a 2014 loss to Baylor.
7. Tennessee became the first team to score 17 points on Georgia -- and lost 41-17.
The Vols entered Saturday scoring 38.2 points per game and led 10-7 after one quarter, but the Bulldogs took over in the second and pulled away. Georgia's opponents have scored just 76 points through 10 games, the lowest in a season at this point since 1950 (58) and the fewest allowed by any team through 10 games since 2011 Alabama.
8. Mississippi State had the biggest comeback in school history for the second time this season.
The Bulldogs trailed Louisiana Tech by 20 points in the fourth quarter but came back to win earlier this season. On Saturday, Mississippi State trailed Auburn 28-3 late in the first half but scored 40 consecutive points and won 43-34.
It's the third time Mississippi State has defeated three AP-ranked teams in one season, joining 2014 and 1940.
9. Michigan State has scored a touchdown on a flea-flicker four times this season.
The latest was a 52-yard touchdown pass to Montorie Foster to open the scoring against Maryland in a 40-21 win. The Spartans have completed four of six flea-flicker passes this season. It also worked for a touchdown against Youngstown State, Rutgers and Nebraska.
Purdue also scored on one against the Spartans last week.
10. Washington is 1-4 this season when the opposing team throws for fewer than 100 yards.
The latest was a 35-30 loss to Arizona State in which the Sun Devils passed for 90 yards. The Huskies also lost to Michigan (44 yards), Oregon State (48), and Oregon (98) and beat Arizona (57).
11. Alabama QB Bryce Young broke the school record for completion percentage (minimum of 15 attempts) for the second time this season.
Young completed 21 of 23 passes (91.3 percent) in a win against New Mexico State, completing his first 13 passes of the game. That completion rate surpassed his previous mark of 20 for 22 (90.9 percent) against Southern Miss this year.
12. Virginia Tech had more than 500 yards for the first time in 43 games.
In a 48-17 win against Duke, the Hokies had 573 yards, their first 500-yard game since a 2018 loss to Old Dominion. It was their most in a win against an FBS team since Sept. 23, 2017, against ODU.
13. Connecticut had minus-17 rushing yards against Clemson, including minus-49 at halftime.
That includes Clemson's six sacks, and it's the second-worst rushing performance in the FBS this season. (Colorado had minus-19 vs. Minnesota).
Meanwhile, Clemson's offense completed just 47.3 percent of its passes, the lowest by any team against UConn since Boston College in 2017.
14. Central Michigan ran 12 consecutive plays to running back Lew Nichols.
That included a run, a completion to him, nine consecutive runs to cap a touchdown drive, and one more run on the next drive. Nichols finished with 43 carries for 215 yards and four touchdowns. Nichols and Duke's Mataeo Durant both have had 43 carries in a game this season, the first running backs to do that since Texas' D'Onta Forman in 2016.
15. Western Michigan has allowed three special teams return touchdowns in two weeks.
Maybe it's something with midweek MACtion. Last week, Central Michigan returned two punts for touchdowns in a win against the Broncos. On Tuesday, Akron returned a kickoff for a touchdown against WMU. The Broncos also returned a kickoff of their own in a win.
16. Cincinnati and South Florida traded three turnovers in a span of five plays.
The Bearcats fumbled the ball away on their first play of the game, and USF fumbled it back on the next play. On Cincinnati's ensuing drive, the Bearcats threw an interception on the third play. Cincinnati went on to win 45-28, and quarterback Desmond Ridder became the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes (79).
17. Eight players have taken QB snaps for Southern Mississippi this season.
Two more did on Saturday against UTSA, and neither was a quarterback, as the Golden Eagles basically ran a wildcat offense. USM hung around for a while but lost 27-17.
18. Tulane has recovered four onside kicks this season.
The latest came Saturday against Tulsa, which set up a tying field goal by the Green Wave, but they eventually lost in overtime.
19. Massachusetts has lost two games to FCS opponents this season.
The Minutemen lost to Rhode Island last week and to Maine this week. The last FBS teams to lose two FCS games in one season were Idaho and Louisiana-Monroe in 2003. (Georgia State lost three in 2013, but it was a transitioning team u from FCS and went 0-12.)
The 12 FCS wins against FBS teams this year are the most since 2013 (15).
