Numbers That Mattered: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Written By: Evan Alvarez

Numbers drive so much in today’s world and the sports world is no different. Now more than ever teams are hiring and building analytics teams to get every edge possible over their opponents. Over the course of the season, we’ll look into many of those numbers following the Hoosiers’ matchups each week. 

Today, we are examining the numbers behind Indiana’s recent 66-0 win against the Purdue Boilermakers.

0th Percentile…

Represents Purdue’s percentile rank across several offensive categories per gameonpaper.com when compared against all FBS vs FBS games last year. Purdue ranked in the 0th percentile in EPA (expected points added) Per Play, Success Rate, Yards per Play, EPA per Rush Attempt, Explosive Play Rate, and 3rd Down Success Rate. The three other metrics measured that weren’t in the 0th percentile were EPA per Dropback (3rd percentile), Yards per Dropback (3rd percentile), and Red Zone Success Rate (5th percentile). To translate, these metrics mean that Indiana’s defense played so well it resulted in one of the worst single game offensive performances by an FBS college football team in the past two years. Say it with me, “DOMINATION.”

18…

Represents the number of rushing yards by Indiana DEFENSIVE TACKLE James Carpenter. Purdue as a team generated 13 total rushing yards. Check it out below.

94.4%…

Represents the lowest win probability Indiana had during Saturday’s game (per gameonpaper.com). It was for just one play, the third play of the game, and then immediately went back up to the ~96% range before quickly reaching 99%+ once the Hoosiers started pouring it on.

#1…

Represents Kurtis Rourke’s rank in Pro Football Focus (PFF) offensive grade among both teams during Saturday’s game against Purdue, finishing with a grade of 93.7. By PFF standards, this means Rourke was Saturday’s best offensive player. Rourke, however, is not only ranked #1 in this game alone. Looking at PFF’s passing grade across the country among over 150 QB’s graded, Rourke comes out on top as the holder of the best passing grade in the country at 92.9. By PFF standards, this means Rourke is the best passer in the entire country. Name any other QB in the country and Rourke is graded higher than them. Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Dillon Gabriel - anyone. Rourke is graded higher. What a year for the Maple Missile.

Tuesday, December 3rd @ 7:00 PM EST…

Represents the next College Football Playoff Selection Show. Tune in to see where IU ranks ahead of this year’s conference championship games. Once those games are decided, there will be one more selection show on Sunday, December 8th @ 12:00 PM EST where everything will be finalized and Indiana will learn their college football playoff fate.