Is there a metric that measures "Game Control?"

[ChiTownLion]

Penn State was "in control" for the vast majority of every game played. If there is a stat that measures percentage of total minutes played with the lead, good chance PSU is No. 1 in the country. The question then becomes whether this is a meaningful statistic and whether it should be considered by the playoff committee.

 

[Obliviax]

Penn State was "in control" for the vast majority of every game played. If there is a stat that measures percentage of total minutes played with the lead, good chance PSU is No. 1 in the country. The question then becomes whether this is a meaningful statistic and whether it should be considered by the playoff committee.

the announcers used that stat during or before the Fiesta Bowl. They stated, without reservation, that PSU had the lead more than any other team. I think it was either Power Five or FBS. They even showed a graphic.

 

[blion72]

Penn State was "in control" for the vast majority of every game played. If there is a stat that measures percentage of total minutes played with the lead, good chance PSU is No. 1 in the country. The question then becomes whether this is a meaningful statistic and whether it should be considered by the playoff committee.

this metric is used and quoted by Kirby from the playoff committee. I have never seen it calculated, but assumed it was % of the time a team had the lead. we must have been near the top in the country for that metric.

 

[4rosco]

Penn State was "in control" for the vast majority of every game played. If there is a stat that measures percentage of total minutes played with the lead, good chance PSU is No. 1 in the country. The question then becomes whether this is a meaningful statistic and whether it should be considered by the playoff committee.

I found this on ESPN. Not sure if is exactly what you were looking for. Under the Game Control Stat PSU was ranked #1 with a rating of 99.8 out of 100

Game Control: Reflects chance that an average Top 25 team would control games from start to end the way this team did, given the schedule. On a 0 to 100 scale, where 100 is best.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/fpi?id=213&year=2017

 

[crm114psu]

Could be misleading for teams that blow leads in the 4th quarter. A team could be 10-2 / 9-3 / 8-4 and still have a top rating.

 

[PSUSignore]

the announcers used that stat during or before the Fiesta Bowl. They stated, without reservation, that PSU had the lead more than any other team. I think it was either Power Five or FBS. They even showed a graphic.

I believe the stat they referenced was # of snaps in a game while trailing on the scoreboard. They said that PSU was #1 in the country, I think it was 80-something snaps in total for the season.

I've said this before, but props to the coaches for some significant year on year improvements in some of key problem areas:
- 1st quarter performance: PSU was one of the top teams in 1st quarter scoring margin and didn't allow and first quarter points until late in the season. Slow starts were a problem in 2016.
- 3rd down conversions: This was another problem area in 2016 that was massively improved, culminating in a phenomenal performance on 3rd down in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

[BoulderFish]

Could be misleading for teams that blow leads in the 4th quarter. A team could be 10-2 / 9-3 / 8-4 and still have a top rating.

Really? You don't say!?

 

[GoNavy]

They did mention that Stat, but just because you are ahead I don't think is a great measure that you "control" the game. I would say the amount of time ahead by more than one score is a better way to define control.

That said, it seemed to me that there were several games where the other teams got down so quick that they almost gave up trying to come back. Pitt, Rutgers, and Indiana all seemed content to just run the clock out and go home after the first quarter. Other than tOSU, Iowa and MSU the second half of games seemed almost boring (in a good way!) as PSU rarely was threatened.

 

[ChiTownLion]

Would be curious to see the winner of this Game Control metric for each of the last 10 years. Or the last 30 years. Or all time.

 

[LionJim]

the announcers used that stat during or before the Fiesta Bowl. They stated, without reservation, that PSU had the lead more than any other team. I think it was either Power Five or FBS. They even showed a graphic.

Something along the lines of PSU trailing for a total of 35 plays all year.