IMO the most important stat for any offense is 3rd down conversion %. As an Eagles fan I saw far too often under Chip Kelly the Eagles go 3 and out and punt the ball with less than 1 minute go off the clock, this happened far too often and led to the D constantly wearing down all year long. This year Penn State has been much better at 3rd down conversion, stringing together long drives. As successful as our O was last year, very rarely were we stringing long drives together. Our big play offense counter-balanced our poor 3rd down conversion %. The Iowa game was the game where we really struggled with that even though Saquan rushed for over 200 yards. So my concern tomorrow is the batted pass. In a hostile environment with a great DL the communication along the OL is completely different than at home. So with 1 second meaning all the difference in the world you shorten your routes to get the ball out of the QBs hand quicker. Now Iowa had a bunch of basketball players along their DL but I bet they knocked down 6 passes. You throw in the normal in-completions and you have about 15 passing plays where you gain nothing and the clock is stopped after each incomplete pass. This doesnt even take into account sacks and runs for minimal to negative yards. I am going to focus on how many batted passes Trace has, for as short as he is he usually does not have very many, except for Iowa. Those batted passes are huge because Trace has been much better with his accuracy, and they negate positive pick-ups so that you are in 3rd and 10 rather than 3rd and 3.
