ASU vs. Oregon State: The Statistical Head-to-Head Preview

Saturday's trip to Corvallis will be a crucial game for Arizona State. In the wake of their losses to Oregon and UCLA, the Sun Devils are reeling and need a huge win to stop the slide and stay in the Pac-12 South race.

Standing in their way will be the Oregon State Beavers, ranked 13th in the latest polls. OSU has surprised many in the nation with their uncharacteristically strong start, but fell from the ranks of the unbeaten after their interception-filled loss to Washington last week.

We compiled the key numbers from each team into one handy chart to see which team had the advantages. Taking a look at the chart, a few things jump out:

• The ASU pass defense was torched last week, and face a stern test with OSU's 15th ranked aerial attack. Can the Sun Devils shut down Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks?
• On the flip side, partially due to OSU's success in shutting down the run, their pass defense, despite the presence of elite cornerback Jordan Poyer, can be gashed.
• It could be a tough day on the ground against Oregon State's fifth-ranked run defense, who has shut down some powerful ground games already this year.
• The Beavers had one of the elite pass rushers in the nation in Scott Crichton, and ASU ranks 105th in the nation in sacks allowed.

Advantage	Conf	National	Actual	Category	Actual	National	Conf
	Rank	Rank				Rank	Rank
	4th	37th	192.4	Rushing Offense	108.43	111th	11th
	6th	30th	284.8	Passing Offense	311.7	15th	3rd
	4th	18th	477.1	Total Offense	420.1	55th	6th
	3rd	22nd	38.4	Scoring Offense	24.9	84th	8th
	10th	81st	173.6	Rushing Defense	83.4	5th	2nd
	1st	10th	101.80	Pass Efficiency Defense	101.91	19th	3rd
	1st	3rd	148.4	Pass Defense	260.7	94th	8th
	1st	20th	322.0	Total Defense	344.1	33rd	2nd
	5th	32nd	21.6	Scoring Defense	17.0	12th	1st
	1st	2nd	4.13	Sacks	2.57	26th	7th
	2nd	2nd	9.38	Tackles for Loss	6.57	35th	7th
	6th	47th	+.25	Turnover Margin	+1.00	13th	1st
	9th	81st	7.25	Punt Returns	7.8	70th	7th
	5th	31st	24.0	Kickoff Returns	17.1	113th	11th
	1st	12th	40.62	Net Punting	39.97	22nd	5th
	8th	105th	3.00	Sacks Allowed	1.86	60th	5th
	3rd	54th	41.67%	3rd Down Conversions	34.62%	101st	6th

Thanks to our friends at Ralphie Report for the inspiration for this feature (and HTML code).

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