Crazy college football statistics through eight weeks of season

Sometimes in football you like big numbers and sometimes you like small ones, and your preference isn’t always determined by which side of the ball you line up on.

Here are a few team and individual statistics of note from college football’s highest division. We’ll try and give equal billing to the offenses and defenses.

374.6 — You’ve undoubtedly heard about the passing exploits of Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. The second most productive hurler in the FBS also plays for a Tech school. Louisiana Tech’s Ryan Higgins is averaging 374.6 yards a game. He has 24 scoring tosses and, perhaps most notably, only three picks in 279 pass attempts.

35:50 — Here’s a number both sides of the ball like. Utah is enjoying a time-of-possession advantage of nearly 12 minutes a game, averaging 35:50 second only to Army in the FBS. The Utes will need their clock-control game Saturday against high-scoring Washington.

16 — There are two FBS players who have scored 16 TDs. You’ve probably heard of one of them — Lamar Jackson. The other is Boise State running back Jeremy McNichols. The Broncos’ top backfield threat has 12 rushing scores and caught four more TDs. Now, he can’t quite match the Louisville signal caller’s total of 34 scores altogether since Jackson has 18 TD passes to go with his rushing scores. But McNichols does have a very nice total of 1,287 yards from scrimmage.

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9 — The Michigan defense has a whole lot of minuscule numbers to its credit. Perhaps the most impressive one is that the Wolverines have given up just nine total touchdowns all season. Four of those came in one game, Michigan’s 45-28 win against Colorado that has looked more impressive as the Buffs have continued to pile up wins.

1 — Here’s a small number that an offensive unit likes. In Troy’s seven games, the Trojans’ offensive line has surrendered a grand total of one sack. Make no mistake — this is not an option team that rarely throws. Troy QB Brandon Silvers attempts over 35 passes a game and averages 262 aerial yards. Excellent balance helps; the Trojans run for 199 yards a game, so props to the O-line all around.