The Wiz of Odds

Thus Far, a Sharp Decrease in Personal Foul Penalties

Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com has noticed an interesting trend through the first four weeks of the 2013 season. Personal foul penalties called per game are down 25.9% from 2012.

In 2012, an average of 2.01 personal fouls were called per game. Thus far in 2013, the average is 1.49.

Marty has kept data on personal fouls called, whether they were accepted, declined or offset, since the 2005 season. From 2005-2012, the average number of personal fouls called was 1.74. That means the 2013 figure is a decline of 1.49 over the eight-season average. (Complete data on cfbstats.com.)

The only season that comes close to what is happening this year is 2006, when 1.53 personal fouls were called. But that was also the season when the new clock rules were implemented, leading in a decrease in the number of plays per game.

So what's the reason behind the decline in personal fouls? Perhaps it's the new targeting rules.

Sun Belt, Big 12 Games Are Most Penalized

Entering this week's play, the Sun Belt and Big 12 conferences are on pace to finish with the highest average number of penalties in league games in the past five-plus seasons, according to data from Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com.

Marty started tracking the data in 2004 and the Sun Belt has been a regular on the list, holding down five spots, including its current standing for 2009.

Marty reports that 14 Big 12 games in 2009 have had 20 or more penalties, topped by 28 penalties in the Colorado-Texas game on Oct. 10.

Boston College's Shinskie Cut Off at the Pass

Dave Shinskie, Boston College's 25-year-old freshman quarterback, had the dubious distinction of completing more passes to Virginia Tech defenders than his own teammates during the Eagles' 48-14 loss to the Hokies on Saturday.

Of the 12 passes thrown by Shinskie, two were intercepted, one of which was returned 22 yards for a touchdown by Rashad Carmichael.

The one pass Shinskie completed to a teammate went for a measly four yards.

"When I came in on the first series, I don't know what I was seeing back there," Shinskie said.

So how bad was it? According to Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com, Shinskie had a pass-efficiency rating of minus-22.20. That's the worst rating in the last five-plus seasons for players with 10 or more pass attempts in a game.

Mountaineers' Devine Is in It for the Long Run

There are a lot of explosive players in college football, but in one category, they're all trying to catch West Virginia's Noel Devine.

Devine's 77-yard touchdown run last week against Colorado moved him into first place among active players with scoring runs of 70 or more yards, according to Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com.

Devine has five such runs, one more than California's Jahvid Best. The Mountaineer running back averages a touchdown on a run of 70 or more yards every 70.4 carries. Best rips one off every 76.3 carries.

The best ratio belongs to Louisiana Tech receiver Phillip Livas at 24.0, followed by Florida's Chris Rainey at 38.7. Livas has only 48 career rushing attempts.

Thanks to Image of Sport.

New High for I-AA Opponents Means New Low for Fans

The season starts a week from today. Or at least that is what college football fans have been led to believe.

The reality is that Week 1 is full of laughable matchups involving Division I-A teams chalking up easy victories against I-AA opponents. How bad is Week 1? According to data provided by Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com, 38 of the 74 games (51.4%) involve I-A teams playing a I-AA opponent. It's likely the highest number and percentage of such games in a week's schedule since the NCAA adopted the divisional setup in 1978.

We can't say that is absolutely true because Marty's data goes back only to 2004, but any long-time follower of the game knows that the scheduling of such games has skyrocketed in recent seasons.

The Wiz will refrain from another long-winded rant on this topic. Rather, let this serve as a reminder to the sorry state of college football in 2009.

The 40/25 Rule Has Little or No Impact on Bowl Season

It started Dec. 20 with the Eagle Bank Bowl in Washington D.C. It ended Jan. 8 with the Bowl Championship Series title game in Miami. Thirty-four bowls over 20 days.

Bowl games, with an emphasis on commercial time and enhanced halftime shows, are among the longest events of a season. The 2008 postseason didn't disappoint, even with the use of the 40/25-second clock.

Marty Couvillon of cfbstats.com has been tracking the 40/25-second clock rule, which was enacted before the start of the 2008 season in an attempt shorten games. The Football Rules Committee took action after the average length of a game reached 3:23 in 2007.

The rule appeared to have worked, with the average game this past season reduced to 3:12. But when it came to bowl games, the average event lasted 3:26, only about a minute shorter than the 2007 postseason. All the games but one — the EagleBank Bowl between Navy and Wake Forest — were over 3 hours, with the Alamo Bowl between Missouri and Northwestern and Gator Bowl between Nebraska and Clemson pushing 4 hours.