Unique Stats from the 2022 College Football Regular Season

Statistics are a core piece of sports analysis. Whether you're in a debate with friends or writing an article, these numbers have a constant presence in our minds.

Football fans love discussing yards per play, points per game, third-down conversion rates, red-zone touchdown percentages, turnover margin and much more. There are dozens of common and advanced stats available to help justify our predictions.

But college football is a strange game. The uncommon stuff should be celebrated, too.

These numbers didn't define the 2022 campaign or have a major effect on championships. However, they might just be the answer to a trivia question or make you sound like a college football savant.

If you watch football regularly, you've probably heard some version of the phrase "all he does is score touchdowns."

Well, that's actually kind of true for Jyaire Shorter.

Entering bowl season, the North Texas wideout has grabbed 22 passes for 598 yards. That average alone—27.2 yards per catch—is wild enough, but Shorter has turned 10 of those receptions into touchdowns. He even finished a perfect 3-for-3 in a win over Florida Atlantic.

Per Sports Reference, here's the list of players since 2000 with 10-plus touchdowns on 25 receptions or less: Jyaire Shorter.

That's it.

The closest comparison is 2017 Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, who technically would've made the cut before his four catches in the Texas Bowl took him to 29 receptions for the season.

Old Dominion linebacker Jason Henderson didn't attract many national headlines this season. Nevertheless, the sophomore put together a near-record year for the Monarchs.

Henderson amassed a nation-high 186 total tackles, while no one else has more than 136 leading into bowl games. He ended narrowly shy of Lawrence Flugence's official NCAA record of 193 set in 2002.

Had Henderson not exited the clash with Appalachian State because of an injury, he likely would have surpassed Flugence's mark. Instead, he'll have to settle for merely being one of the most prolific tacklers in FBS history.

Looks like Henderson has a goal for next season.

This is not a criticism of Indiana as much as it is recognition of an old program that traditionally hasn't been successful.

The Hoosiers were bad once again in 2022. They opened the campaign with three straight wins, but they proceeded to drop seven consecutive games en route to a 4-8 finish that followed a 2-10 record in 2021.

Prior to last year, IU enjoyed a modestly competitive half-decade that spawned the cult-favorite pursuit of "NINE WINDIANA" recently. Perhaps fortunately, though, one of those enjoyable seasons didn't also include the inglorious history of Indiana becoming the first program in FBS history to lose 700 games.

Instead, that happened in 2022 as the Hoosiers fell to Maryland in an otherwise nondescript mid-October matchup. Two fourth-quarter touchdowns doomed IU in the 38-33 loss.

If there's a bright side, a struggling Northwestern (697) program is hot on the heels of Indiana (704) heading into 2023.

As with Indiana, Rutgers isn't exactly a powerhouse. But the punting game fit the billing this season.

Seriously, the Scarlet Knights' fourth-down crew had an incredible 2022 campaign. Fire off any jokes you'd like, but Ray Guy Award-winning punter Adam Korsak and Rutgers' coverage group combined to create the most relentless special teams unit in the country.

Korsak notched only two touchbacks on 75 attempts, and Rutgers gained 11 yards on punts. The team surrendered only one return of positive yardage all season.

And the B/R All-American set a record along the way.

While his fifth year of eligibility helped, Korsak became the career FBS leader in punting yards. He surpassed the previous mark of 14,546 in mid-November and ended the season at 15,318, the new number to beat.

There is no greater example of what a coaching move can provide than Sonny Dykes and TCU, which ascended from a mid-tier Big 12 finisher to a College Football Playoff qualifier.

Duke, though, is another huge success story.

David Cutcliffe was a good coach who elevated the program, but his last three seasons didn't go well. From 2019-21, the Blue Devils mustered a combined 10-25 record, and their 3-9 mark in 2021 led to them parting with Cutcliffe. In his place, the school hired Mike Elko.

Elko, a longtime defensive coordinator at multiple stops, helped Duke immediately become an opportunistic group. Duke is tied for second in the country with a plus-14 turnover margin, which was a remarkable turnaround from last season, when it tied for 107th nationally with a minus-seven.

It isn't a coincidence that a net 21-takeaway gain accompanied the Blue Devils' jump from three to eight wins.

Note: USC soared from minus-one to plus-21 with new coach Lincoln Riley, though the concurrent arrival of quarterback Caleb Williams played a much greater role in that for the Trojans.

Running the ball effectively on third-and-short is valuable for offenses. Northern Illinois had a rough season, but Harrison Waylee moved the chains on 12 of his 17 third-down attempts with 1-3 yards to go.

The sophomore back provided a bit of flashiness, too.

Waylee racked up 277 yards in those situations, the highest total in the FBS dating back to at least 2009. Most impressively, he also ripped off three touchdowns of 50-plus yards on third-and-short carries and added a fourth score in a goal-to-go opportunity.

Even stranger, Waylee only had five trips to the end zone all season. That made him the nation's first player since Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld in 2015 with a handful-plus of rushing scores and a lone touchdown on first or second down.

While that doesn't atone for NIU's 3-9 campaign, the Huskies still managed to set a little history.

Relative to prototypical size, Troy linebacker Carlton Martial is on the smaller side at 5'9" and 210 pounds. He was a generally under-the-radar player considering Troy entered 2022 with three straight five-win years.

Production, however, has never been a problem for Martial. He's leaving Troy as an iconic FBS player.

During his 22-tackle game against Army, Martial broke Tim McGarigle's official NCAA record of 545 career stops. After recording his fourth consecutive 100-tackle season in 2022, he'll enter his Troy finale in the Cure Bowl with 564 takedowns.

Yes, there's an asterisk. McGarigle played four years compared to Martial's five. Luke Kuechly even registered 532 tackles in three years for a clear per-season advantage.

Nevertheless, the NCAA's all-time tackles record now belongs to Martial.

Note: All stats from cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted.