Louisville's offense, Ohio State's defense are No. 1 in adjusted stat ratings
The first five weeks of the college football season have shown that teams with the better defenses win more than those with better offenses.
The top four teams in this week’s opponent-adjusted defensive ratings are a combined 19-0, while the top four teams in the adjusted offensive ratings are a combined 14-5. Among these records, Louisville’s offense and Ohio State’s defense are still the best in the nation.
Despite losing for the first time Week 5, the Louisville offense keeps its hold on the No. 1 ranking in this week’s adjusted offensive ratings. The main reason for this is the Louisville offense accumulated 568 total yards against a Clemson defense that had allowed an average of 218.50 yards per game during the first four weeks of the season.
The Ohio State defense remains as the No. 1 defense in the nation based on allowing 116 yards against a Rutgers offense that averaged 387.25 yards per game prior to their meeting last Saturday. Ohio State should be able to retain its No. 1 defensive ranking next week if it has a dominant performance Saturday against an Indiana offense that is currently ranked as No. 22 in the adjusted offensive ratings.
According to the Cody Kellner Points Index computer ratings, Louisville and Ohio State have played similarly strong schedules to this point, but Louisville’s loss to Clemson puts it 15 spots behind the Buckeyes. Louisville is ranked No. 17 overall while playing a schedule that is ranked as the 27th toughest in the FBS. Ohio State is ranked as the second-best team in the nation and has played a schedule ranked as the 30th most difficult.
Perhaps this week’s most interesting matchup in terms of offensive and defensive comparisons will be the Tennessee at Texas A&M on Saturday. Even though Texas A&M’s offense is the fourth best in the nation, its offensive success in this game might be offset by what its defense allows. The Aggie defense is ranked No. 68 in the FBS, and they will be lining up against a Tennessee offense that is ranked No. 38. In terms of overall computer rankings, the matchup is extremely close, as the Cody Kellner Points Index has Tennessee at No. 6 and Texas A&M at No. 7.