B1G Numbers: Ohio State Can’t Stop the Pass and Nobody Can Stop Ty Johnson

Hopefully by now you’ve all replenished your supplies of hard liquor and cheap smokes after using up both during the CyHawk game. You weren’t alone, as a couple of other fanbases around the Big Ten had plenty of reasons to decompress, drown their sorrows or celebrate over the weekend.

Here are some of the numbers that led to that debauchery.

386

This was the number of passing yards given up to Oklahoma by Ohio State’s defense. Together with the numbers Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow and Co. dropped on the Buckeyes last week, Greg Schiano’s defense has allowed 806 yards through the air in two games. I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but this is what happens when you lose three NFL-caliber defensive backs. You don’t just plug and play. There’s going to be a learning curve, and class is fully in session for Ohio State right now.

191

This is the total number of yards gained by Northwestern’s offense against Duke. Star running back Justin Jackson was held to 2.6 yards per carry and Clayton Thorson went 11 of 29 with no touchdowns and two interceptions through the air. Before the season, many people (including myself) had Northwestern as a dark horse pick to win the B1G West. Some had them as the outright favorite. I haven’t seen anything from Pat Fitzgerald’s bunch through two games to merit them being a part of any division title race conversation.

15.05

This is how many yards per carry Maryland’s Ty Johnson is averaging through two games. He has only carried the ball 17 times, yet he has logged 256 yards on the ground. At this point, combined with what he did in 2016, it’s safe to say he is the most explosive player in the Big Ten not wearing No. 26 for Penn State.

Four

This is how many interceptions Nebraska’s Tanner Lee threw against Oregon. He didn’t toss any against Arkansas State a week ago, however, his total number of touchdowns and interceptions this season respectively is five and four. His completion percentage through two games is 52.1. These numbers are interesting, considering the fact that his touchdown-to-interception ration during his two season at Tulane was 5.75 to 5.25 and his completion percentage during that same timeframe was 53.2. It’s a small sample size, but right now, Tanner Lee’s overall efficiency and effectiveness at Nebraska is just about exactly what it was during his underwhelming tenure at Tulane.

6.5

This is how many points Western Kentucky was favored by against Illinois heading into their matchup this past Saturday. The Illini won the game in workman-like fashion and are quietly 2-0. With Lovie Smith’s squad scheduled to visit Iowa City on the first Saturday in October, Hawkeye fans might want to keep one eye on Illinois’ next two games against South Florida and Nebraska.

Four

This is the number of different Purdue players who caught touchdowns against Ohio over the weekend. So far this season, Purdue has scored eight times through the air and only once on the ground. It’s interesting -- and possibly concerning for the rest of the teams on their schedule — that the Boilermakers have had the success that they have through the air against two fairly formidable and well-coached opponents.