Inside The Numbers: BBVA Compass Bowl Edition

Saturday at noon on ESPN the Kentucky Wildcats, representing the SEC, and the Pittsburgh Panthers, representing the Big East, will be squaring off at historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama in the 5th annual BBVA Compass Bowl. Here are some numbers and facts of interests concerning both teams to get you ready for the big game. Hope you enjoy:

Kentucky Wildcats

Overall Record: 6-6

SEC Record: 2-6 (5th, SEC East)

Non-Conference Record: 4-0

Record At Home: 5-2

Record On The Road: 1-4

Record vs. Ranked Opponents: 1-3

Record vs. Unranked Opponents: 5-3

All-Time Record In Bowl Games: 8-6

All-Time Record vs. Big East Teams (The 8 Teams Currently In The Big East): 51-29-5

All-Time Record vs. Big East Teams In Bowl Games (The 8 Teams Currently In The Big East): 0-2

All-Time Record Playing In Birmingham: 1-8-2

All-Time Record Playing In Bowl Games In Birmingham: 1-1 (Lost to #18 West Virginia 20-16 in the 1983 Hall Of Fame Bowl, Defeated #19 Wisconsin 20-19 in the 1984 Hall Of Fame Bowl)

All-Time Record Playing In The Month of January: 3-2

All-Time Record vs. Schools Located in the State of Pennsylvania: 9-4-1

Pittsburgh Panthers

Overall Record: 7-5

Big East Record: 5-2 (T-1st, Big East)

Non-Conference Record: 2-3

Record At Home: 4-2

Record On The Road: 3-3

Record vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-1

Record vs. Unranked Opponents: 7-4

All-Time Record In Bowl Games: 11-15

All-Time Record vs. SEC Teams (The 12 Teams Currently In The SEC): 8-1-2

All-Time Record vs. SEC Teams In Bowl Games (The 12 Teams Currently In The SEC): 3-0

All-Time Record Playing In The Month of January: 3-7

All-Time Record vs. Schools Located in the State of Kentucky: 7-7

Kentucky/Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania Connections

• Kentucky’s junior fullback Greg Meisner is from Greensburg, Pennsylvania
• Kentucky’s director of strength and conditioning, Rock Oliver, was previously a strength and conditioning coach at Pittsburgh

Kentucky/Alabama Connections

• Kentucky’s redshirt freshman tailback Jonathan George is from Lincoln, Alabama
• Kentucky’s junior offensive lineman Jake Lanefski is from Mobile, Alabama
• Kentucky’s freshman defensive back Dale Trimble is from Gadsden, Alabama

Here is a list of great individual offensive performances in past bowl games by the Kentucky Wildcats:

• Rod Stewart, 1976 Peach Bowl vs. North Carolina: 104 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
• Tim Couch, 1999 Outback Bowl vs. Penn State: 30-48, 336 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
• Anthony White, 1999 Outback Bowl vs. Penn State: 15 touches, 101 yards total offense, 1 touchdown
• Dusty Bonner, 1999 Music City Bowl vs. Syracuse: 30-43, 308 yards, 1 interception
• Rafael Little, 2006 Music City Bowl vs. Clemson: 23 touches, 151 all-purpose yards 
• Steve Johnson, 2007 Music City Bowl vs. Florida State: 7 receptions, 124 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Rafael Little, 2007 Music City Bowl vs. Florida State: 36 touches, 202 yards total offense, 1 touchdown
• Dicky Lyons, Jr., 2007 Music City Bowl vs. Florida State: 6 touches, 118 all-purpose yards
• Andre’ Woodson, 2007 Music City Bowl vs. Florida State: 32-50,338 yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception
• Tony Dixon, 2009 Liberty Bowl vs. East Carolina: 31 touches, 106 yards of total offense
• Derrick Locke, 2009 Music City Bowl vs. Clemson: 28 touches, 170 all-purpose yards

Kentucky Players Reaching Milestones

• Derrick Locke, with 2,557 career rushing yards, needs 101 yards to tie George Adams for 5th place on Kentucky’s career rushing yards list
• Derrick Locke, with 4,792 career all-purpose yards, will finish in 3rd place on Kentucky’s career all-purpose yards list
• Derrick Locke, with 27.2 yards per kickoff return in his career, is currently Kentucky’s all-time leader in career yards per kickoff return
• Derrick Locke, with 816 rushing yards this season, needs 112 yards to tie Moe Williams for the 10th most rushing yards in a single season in Kentucky history
• Derrick Locke, with 506 career carries, needs 26 carries to tie Mark Higgs for 5th place on Kentucky’s career carries list
• Derrick Locke, with 816 rushing yards this season, needs 84 yards to become only the 2nd player in Kentucky
  history to rush for at least 900 yards in consecutive seasons. Sonny Collins accomplished this feat 3 seasons in a row, from 1973 to 1975.
• Randall Cobb, with 2,192 all-purpose yards this season, needs 118 yards to tie Darren McFadden for the SEC single-season record for all-purpose yards
• Randall Cobb, with 226 career points, needs 6 points to tie Seth Hanson for 3rd place on Kentucky’s career scoring list
• Randall Cobb, with 1,290 career rushing yards, needs 7 yards to tie Don Phelps for 22nd place on Kentucky’s career rushing yards list
• Randall Cobb, with 139 career receptions, needs 2 receptions to tie Dicky Lyons, Jr. for 5th place on Kentucky’s career receptions list
• Randall Cobb, with 79 receptions this season, needs 6 receptions to tie Craig Yeast for the 2nd most receptions in a single season in Kentucky history
• Randall Cobb, with 955 receiving yards this season, needs 64 yards to tie James Whalen for the 4th most receiving yards in a single season in Kentucky history
• Randall Cobb, with 1,599 career receiving yards, needs 144 yards to tie Quentin McCord for 5th place on Kentucky’s career receiving yards list
• Mike Hartline, with 5,680 career passing yards, will finish in 4th place on Kentucky’s career passing yards list
• Mike Hartline, with 523 career completions, will finish in 4th place on Kentucky’s career completions list
• Mike Hartline, with 855 career attempts, will finish in 4th place on Kentucky’s career attempts list
• Mike Hartline, with a career 61.2% completion percentage, will finish in 4th place on Kentucky’s career completion percentage list
• Mike Hartline, completing 66.2% of his passes this season, will finish with the 3rd best completion percentage in a single season in Kentucky history 
• Mike Hartline, with 5,660 career yards of total offense, will finish in 4th place on Kentucky’s career total offense list
• Mike Hartline, with 3,143 yards of total offense this season, will finish with the 6th most yards of total offense in a single season in Kentucky history
• Mike Hartline, with 38 career touchdown passes, will finish in 5th place on Kentucky’s career passing touchdowns list
• Danny Trevathan, with 16 tackles for loss this season, needs 2 tackles for loss to tie Vincent Burns for 3rd most tackles for loss in a single season in Kentucky history

Here is a team-by-team comparison on many statistical categories from this season, with national ranking in parentheses (there are 120 schools in NCAA FBS):

Rushing Offense

Kentucky: 163.08 YPG (47th)

Pittsburgh: 157.75 YPG (54th)

Passing Offense

Kentucky: 274.17 YPG (22nd)

Pittsburgh: 210 YPG (68th)

Total Offense

Kentucky: 437.25 YPG (26th)

Pittsburgh: 367.75 YPG (72nd)

Scoring Offense

Kentucky: 33 PPG (25th)

Pittsburgh: 26.25 PPG (69th)

Interceptions Thrown

Kentucky: 9 (T-25th)

Pittsburgh: 10 (T-34th)

Passing Efficiency

Kentucky: 147.15 (22nd)

Pittsburgh: 135.53 (43rd)

Fumbles Lost

Kentucky: 10 (T-66th)

Pittsburgh: 11 (T-79th)

Turnovers Lost

Kentucky: 19 (T-32nd)

Pittsburgh: 21 (T-45th)

Tackles For Loss Allowed

Kentucky: 6.25 TFLPG (T-81st)

Pittsburgh: 5.17 TFLPG (36th)

Sacks Allowed

Kentucky: 1.25 SPG (25th)

Pittsburgh: 1.92 SPG (T-61st)

First Downs Offense

Kentucky: 22.42 FDPG (T-23rd)

Pittsburgh: 18.25 FDPG (T-84th)

3rd Down Conversion Percentage

Kentucky: 44.58% (34th)

Pittsburgh: 41.72% (50th)

4th Down Conversion Percentage

Kentucky: 64% (28th)

Pittsburgh: 41.18% (T-95th)

Red Zone Offense

Kentucky: 83% (T-50th)

Pittsburgh: 80% (T-77th)

Time
Of Possession

Kentucky: 30:30 (47th)

Pittsburgh: 32:23 (11th)

Rushing Defense

Kentucky: 170.08 YPG (79th)

Pittsburgh: 121.33 YPG (19th)

Passing Defense

Kentucky: 183.83 YPG (20th)

Pittsburgh: 182.92 YPG (19th)

Total Defense

Kentucky: 353.92 YPG (46th)

Pittsburgh: 304.25 YPG (9th)

Scoring Defense

Kentucky: 28.5 PPG (72nd)

Pittsburgh: 19.75 PPG (21st)

Passes Intercepted

Kentucky: 8 (T-98th)

Pittsburgh: 13 (T-49th)

Pass Efficiency Defense

Kentucky: 125.03 (53rd)

Pittsburgh: 114.77 (24th)

Fumbles Recovered

Kentucky: 7 (T-87th)

Pittsburgh: 8 (T-74th)

Turnovers Gained

Kentucky: 15 (T-107th)

Pittsburgh: 21 (T-67th)

Tackles For Loss

Kentucky: 5.92 TFLPG (T-57th)

Pittsburgh: 5.42 TFLPG (75th)

Sacks

Kentucky: 1.75 SPG (T-78th)

Pittsburgh: 2.5 SPG (T-24th)

First Downs Defense

Kentucky: 18 FDPG (T-28th)

Pittsburgh: 18.42 FDPG (T-39th)

3rd Down Conversion Percentage Defense

Kentucky: 38.56% (50th)

Pittsburgh: 40.63% (71st)

4th Down Conversion Percentage Defense

Kentucky: 85.71% (120th)

Pittsburgh: 75% (T-115th)

Red Zone Defense

Kentucky: 91% (T-113th)

Pittsburgh: 84% (T-71st)

Net Punting

Kentucky: 36.5 YPP (58th)

Pittsburgh: 40.3 YPP (6th)

Punt Returns

Kentucky: 6.93 YPR (77th)

Pittsburgh: 11.81 YPR (24th)

Punt Return Yardage Defense

Kentucky: 11.18 YPR (96th)

Pittsburgh: 4.61 YPR (11th)

Kickoff Returns

Kentucky: 22.51 YPR (43rd)

Pittsburgh: 20.79 YPR (85th)

Kickoff Return Yardage Defense

Kentucky: 24.08 YPR (101st)

Pittsburgh: 21.77 YPR (70th)

Turnover Margin

Kentucky: -.33 TPG (T-79th)

Pittsburgh: +/- 0 TPG (T-55th)

Fewest Penalties Per Game

Kentucky: 5.58 PPG (T-41st
)

Pittsburgh: 7 PPG (T-95th)

Fewest Yards Penalized Per Game

Kentucky: 45.17 PYPG (35th)

Pittsburgh: 56.83 PYPG (83rd)

Next will be individual statistical categories in which a player from either the University of Kentucky or Pittsburgh University is in the top 30 in the nation:

Passing Efficiency

Mike Hartline, Kentucky: 146.38 (23rd)

Total Offense

Mike Hartline, Kentucky: 261.92 YPG (28th)

Receptions Per Game

Randall Cobb, Kentucky: 6.58 RPG (T-16th)

Receiving Yards Per Game

Randall Cobb, Kentucky: 79.58 YPG (30th)

Punting

Ryan Tydlacka, Kentucky: 43.67 YPP (27th)

All-Purpose Runners

Randall Cobb, Kentucky: 182.67 YPG (2nd)

Ray Graham, Pittsburgh: 135.45 YPG (28th)

Tackles

Danny Trevathan, Kentucky: 10.83 TPG (T-11th)

Tackles For Loss

Danny Trevathan, Kentucky: 1.33 TFLPG (T-18th)

Brandon Lindsey, Pittsburgh: 1.33 TFLPG (T-18th)

Interceptions

Dom DeCicco, Pittsburgh: .45 IPG (T-12th)

Jarred Holley, Pittsburgh: .42 IPG (T-14th)

Punt Returns

Cameron Saddler, Pittsburgh: 10.71 YPR (24th)

Field Goals

Dan Hutchins, Pittsburgh: 1.33 FGMPG (T-26th)

Sacks

Brandon Lindsey, Pittsburgh: .83 SPG (T-11th)

Jabaal Sheard, Pittsburgh: .75 SPG (T-20th)

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