I don't think it's enough to just say Notre Dame and Ohio State average X yards/points per game on offense and Y yards/points per game on defense. I think you have to compare it to what their opponents' season averages are, which is what I did (had some free time at work today). Here we go:
OFFENSE
ND yards per game, offense: 405.1
ND opponents' yards per game, defense: 352.4
ND edge: +52.7
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OSU yards per game, offense: 428.3
OSU opponents' yards per game, defense: 337.1
OSU edge: +91.2
ND points per game, offense: 37.0
ND opponents' points per game, defense: 23.6
ND edge: +13.4
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OSU points per game, offense: 35.8
OSU opponents' points per game, defense: 22.6
OSU edge: +13.2
Conclusion: OSU's offense outperforms ND's offense in yards (and also yards per play, which I did not list here), but it's a statistical tie on the most important metric, points.
DEFENSE
ND yards per game, defense: 298.3
ND opponents' yards per game, offense; 381.3
ND edge: +83
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OSU yards per game, defense: 251.1
OSU opponents' yards per game, offense: 372.8
OSU edge: +121.7
ND points per game, defense: 14.3
ND opponents' points per game, offense: 28.0
ND edge: +13.7
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OSU points per game, defense: 12.2
OSU opponents' points per game, offense: 28.0
OSU edge: +15.8
Conclusion: OSU's defense outperforms ND's defense in yards (and also yards per play, again not listed here) and only slightly in points.
Overall conclusion: This game should be very close, unlike what some of the pundits think. The data show that unlike the national narrative, both offenses are about equal to each other, but ND's offense will be up against a slightly better defense than will OSU (a surprising narrative). It seems the key will be if ND can get a couple of short fields and/or points off turnovers, like they have all season. If you have stuck with me so far and want to weigh in with your thoughts, I'd like to hear them.
If tOSU can bring it - trouble. If ND can hold 'em off - good things will happen
upon the offense's alignment to either defend the run or pass. This makes for a lot of confusion for the OL, pre-snap. I hope Denbrock "spiced up" his play calling for tonight with more play action, & mis-direction to slow down that rush. Should be interesting......
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