Daily Blog • January 16, 2013

Yesterday I gave you a great way in analyzing how efficient an offense is by looking at their yards per play. Today I will give you the other side of the ball by taking a look at defensive yards per play allowed.  

For years I have talked about how a defense can be hurt by a fast paced high scoring offense. A perfect example came two years ago when Stanford’s defense, which allowed just 338 ypg faced a total of 815 plays. Oregon had a much maligned defense in 2011 but they did face 1077 plays or 262 more!! The Ducks D, which finished #115 in the NCAA actually was #67 in yards allowed per play by the opposing teams offenses.

Now there are numerous factors in how many yards a team gives up. The first is the quality of the D. As you see by Colorado down at #124  they allowed 7.11 yards per play! Now that was a BAD defense.

Contributing to the amount of plays a teams faces are 3rd down conversions, and the pace not only of their own offense but of the opponents offenses as well. This is an era where many head coaches are talking about running plays as fast as they can as Oregon is one team that has had great success with that.

The chart listed below ranks each defense by the yards per play they allowed last year. It also ranks the total plays a team faced per game, the plays per point allowed and 3rd down conversions. The final column is also the 2012 total defense ranking in total yards allowed per game so you can contrast the differences.

Before the season I said that Florida State’s defense would be the best in the country and while they did finish #2 in the NCAA allowing just 254.1 ypg, they finished #1 in yards per play allowed at 386. Alabama, which finished #1 in ypg allowed at 250, came in at #2 in this category as they allowed 4.18. In fact, when comparing the offenses and defenses yards per play only Alabama, Florida St and Utah St ranked in the top 10 for both.

I did find it interesting that Notre Dame which was billed as one of the best defenses in the country came up a bit short in this category as they finished #18 allowing 4.78 defensive ypp. While the number still ranks among the top 15% in college football, it fell short of their #7 ranking as far as yards per game allowed. A big reason might be the fact that they faced just 63.8 plays per game (6th fewest) and to their credit they allowed 5 plays per point, which was 2nd best.    

Defensive Yards Per Play Allowed

  Yds YPP Plays Pl/Gm Plays Pl/Pt 3rd Dn 3rd Dn   Def Ypg
  Per Play rk Per Gm rk Per Pt rk Per Gm % rk Ypg rk
Florida St 3.86 1 65.9 14 4.48 6 15.7 27.3 3 254.1 2
Alabama 4.18 2 59.8 1 5.47 1 13.6 32.1 13 250.0 1
Utah St 4.33 3 74.5 101 4.84 3 17.1 32.9 19 322.1 14
Florida 4.36 4 65.9 15 4.56 5 14.4 31.0 10 287.5 5
Michigan St 4.37 5 62.8 3 3.85 13 14.6 30.5 8 274.4 4
BYU 4.38 6 60.8 2 4.34 7 13.9 26.5 1 266.1 3
LSU 4.46 7 69.0 40 3.93 12 14.2 31.9 12 307.6 8
Connecticut 4.59 8 67.6 23 3.41 22 15.8 33.9 21 309.9 9
Rutgers 4.59 9 67.8 29 4.79 4 15.2 36.4 34 311.6 10
Boise St 4.62 10 68.3 33 4.33 8 15.4 42.0 82 315.6 12
South Carolina 4.65 11 67.9 30 3.73 17 14.8 37.0 43 315.5 11
Bowling Green 4.68 12 63.4 4 3.78 14 14.2 28.1 4 296.6 6
Northern Illinois 4.72 13 78.3 116 3.94 11 16.2 39.7 58 369.3 40
Stanford 4.73 14 71.1 66 4.13 9 16.0 32.1 15 336.2 20
Fresno St 4.74 15 71.5 70 3.00 38 16.3 34.0 23 338.9 22
Vanderbilt 4.75 16 70.3 56 3.76 16 15.9 34.3 25 333.9 19
Virginia Tech 4.78 17 69.7 48 3.05 33 15.5 28.2 5 333.2 18
Notre Dame 4.78 18 63.8 6 5.00 2 13.7 36.5 36 305.5 7
Arizona St 4.78 19 73.3 91 3.02 36 16.0 35.1 26 350.8 27
Wisconsin 4.82 20 66.9 19 3.49 20 15.1 32.6 17 322.6 15
Tulsa 4.86 21 71.5 68 3.02 35 16.5 36.4 35 347.8 25
Penn St 4.90 22 72.1 78 3.78 15 15.9 37.2 47 353.4 29
Pittsburgh 4.91 23 67.3 21 3.19 28 15.3 44.7 100 330.5 17
TCU 4.92 24 65.8 13 2.91 44 14.4 30.0 7 323.9 16
Michigan 4.93 25 64.9 8 3.27 25 13.7 36.0 30 320.0 13
Oregon 4.94 26 75.8 111 3.51 19 15.1 32.1 14 374.2 44
Maryland 4.97 27 67.8 24 2.49 67 15.1 38.1 49 336.8 21
Ohio St 5.08 28 70.8 60 3.10 31 15.9 33.0 20 359.6 34
San Jose St 5.09 29 67.8 25 3.18 29 14.5 33.9 22 344.7 24
Virginia 5.10 30 69.3 43 2.39 75 14.9 30.7 9 353.3 28
UCF 5.11 31 73.1 90 3.31 24 15.3 40.2 62 373.6 42
Oregon St 5.15 32 68.7 37 3.33 23 13.9 29.3 6 354.0 30
San Diego St 5.16 33 71.5 67 2.93 40 13.8 42.2 85 369.0 39
Georgia 5.18 34 69.1 41 3.52 18 14.9 36.5 37 357.8 32
Buffalo 5.18 35 70.2 54 2.46 69 15.3 37.0 42 363.7 37
North Carolina 5.21 36 74.8 104 2.92 43 15.7 36.7 38 389.6 58
Texas A&M 5.22 37 74.8 103 3.43 21 15.7 32.4 16 390.2 59
Nebraska 5.24 38 68.8 38 2.49 66 15.0 37.1 46 360.6 35
Northwestern 5.25 39 72.1 76 3.20 27 14.4 40.6 66 378.2 47
Cincinnati 5.27 40 73.6 93 3.99 10 16.1 38.8 53 388.1 56
Minnesota 5.29 41 67.8 28 2.75 51 14.5 41.8 79 358.6 33
USC 5.30 42 74.4 99 3.06 32 14.4 38.0 48 394.0 62
Oklahoma St 5.30 43 79.5 118 2.82 48 16.5 36.3 32 421.7 82
Louisville 5.32 44 63.9 7 2.69 55 12.9 41.7 77 340.3 23
WKU 5.32 45 65.4 10 2.57 62 13.5 41.1 74 348.2 26
Utah 5.34 46 68.0 32 2.71 53 14.0 36.3 33 363.4 36
Memphis 5.35 47 71.7 74 2.37 78 14.0 42.3 86 383.6 52
Arkansas St 5.36 48 71.5 69 2.92 41 14.9 39.7 59 383.7 53
Ohio 5.37 49 72.4 82 2.92 42 15.8 43.9 93 388.4 57
Ole Miss 5.37 50 70.0 50 2.53 64 15.3 38.2 50 375.9 46
Washington 5.37 51 66.5 17 2.75 49 14.3 37.1 45 357.4 31
SMU 5.37 52 73.7 95 2.87 45 15.7 40.7 67 396.1 64
Texas Tech 5.38 53 68.3 34 2.15 105 14.5 40.4 64 367.3 38
Hawaii 5.39 54 69.2 42 1.94 115 14.8 39.0 55 372.9 41
Kansas St 5.40 55 69.5 45 3.15 30 13.7 39.9 60 375.3 45
Mississippi St 5.49 56 70.6 58 3.03 34 14.1 42.1 83 387.4 54
Missouri 5.50 57 71.0 63 2.50 65 14.0 35.1 27 390.7 60
Colorado St 5.51 58 73.7 94 2.44 72 15.7 48.4 116 405.6 71
Kentucky 5.53 59 70.7 59 2.28 91 14.5 52.3 124 391.0 61
Iowa 5.54 60 68.8 39 3.00 37 14.6 43.4 89 381.6 50
NC State 5.54 61 73.0 89 2.85 46 15.2 26.8 2 404.7 70
USF 5.56 62 72.3 81 2.64 57 14.5 42.0 80 401.8 67
Kent St 5.59 63 73.4 92 3.00 39 14.8 38.7 52 410.3 76
FIU 5.59 64 72.1 77 2.28 92 15.1 40.9 69 402.9 68
Boston College 5.59 65 81.6 121 2.75 50 17.8 49.8 120 456.4 102
Western Michigan 5.60 66 70.8 61 2.38 77 14.9 39.1 56 395.9 63
UCLA 5.60 67 74.3 98 2.69 54 14.6 32.8 18 415.9 78
Houston 5.62 68 85.9 124 2.39 76 17.1 45.4 103 483.0 118
Clemson 5.65 69 70.2 52 2.82 47 15.6 34.0 24 396.2 65
South Alabama 5.65 70 67.8 26 2.30 87 13.6 36.2 31 382.9 51
UTSA 5.66 71 67.1 20 2.33 84 13.6 41.1 73 379.8 49
California 5.67 72 77.8 115 2.35 82 15.1 45.3 101 441.3 95
Washington St 5.69 73 74.9 106 2.23 99 15.3 45.4 102 425.9 83
Georgia Tech 5.69 74 65.7 11 2.32 86 13.1 41.0 70 374.0 43
Syracuse 5.71 75 66.4 16 2.68 56 13.5 36.9 40 378.9 48
Iowa St 5.71 76 77.4 114 3.23 26 16.2 40.5 65 442.2 96
Purdue 5.71 77 72.8 87 2.33 85 15.0 41.0 72 416.2 79
Oklahoma 5.72 78 69.6 47 2.73 52 15.5 41.6 75 398.3 66
Arkansas 5.73 79 71.6 71 2.35 81 14.6 38.9 54 409.9 75
Marshall 5.75 80 79.4 117 1.84 119 15.2 44.5 99 456.6 103
Wake Forest 5.77 81 75.0 107 2.36 80 16.3 45.4 104 432.8 90
Air Force 5.80 82 70.6 57 2.44 73 15.1 47.5 113 409.4 74
Illinois 5.80 83 66.8 18 2.08 110 12.3 31.8 11 387.6 55
Louisiana 5.88 84 72.8 86 2.59 60 14.8 41.7 76 428.1 88
ULM 5.89 85 71.1 64 2.44 70 14.3 43.0 87 418.8 80
Texas 5.91 86 68.4 35 2.34 83 13.2 36.8 39 404.2 69
Nevada 5.94 87 74.5 100 2.21 101 14.5 46.6 111 442.5 97
East Carolina 5.94 88 72.5 84 2.29 89 14.1 41.0 70 430.7 89
Arizona 5.98 89 83.5 123 2.36 79 15.8 43.7 91 499.0 122
Auburn 5.99 90 70.2 53 2.48 68 14.1 40.8 68 420.5 81
Akron 6.02 91 74.8 102 2.10 108 14.2 35.9 29 450.0 101
UNLV 6.03 92 73.8 97 2.26 94 14.8 45.8 107 445.2 100
Baylor 6.05 93 83.1 122 2.23 97 16.4 52.1 123 502.2 123
Navy 6.05 94 67.5 22 2.63 58 12.2 48.4 117 408.9 73
Central Michigan 6.06 95 71.6 72 2.21 100 14.7 44.5 98 433.9 91
Middle Tennesee 6.09 96 72.4 83 2.59 61 14.3 50.6 121 440.8 94
UTEP 6.11 97 72.1 79 2.42 74 14.1 43.2 88 440.2 93
Southern Miss 6.11 98 69.8 49 1.85 118 13.4 49.7 119 426.5 85
Miami (FL) 6.11 99 79.6 119 2.61 59 14.3 42.1 84 486.4 120
Indiana 6.11 100 75.8 112 2.15 103 14.8 39.9 60 463.5 106
North Texas 6.11 101 67.8 27 2.44 71 14.0 44.1 96 414.8 77
Tennessee 6.13 102 76.9 113 2.16 102 15.9 38.2 51 471.3 110
UAB 6.15 103 69.4 44 1.85 117 13.4 43.5 90 427.3 86
Florida Atlantic 6.17 104 65.8 12 2.14 106 13.1 36.9 41 406.1 72
Wyoming 6.25 105 75.3 108 2.25 95 15.3 51.4 122 470.3 109
West Virginia 6.25 106 75.5 109 1.98 111 15.0 45.6 105 472.5 111
Rice 6.26 107 68.0 31 2.27 93 13.1 37.1 44 425.9 84
Temple 6.29 108 69.5 46 2.23 98 13.7 43.7 92 437.2 92
Troy 6.33 109 70.1 51 2.30 88 13.8 35.8 28 443.6 98
Ball St 6.33 110 73.0 88 2.28 90 14.2 44.0 95 462.4 105
Miami (OH) 6.34 111 73.8 96 2.11 107 13.6 46.6 112 467.7 107
Tulane 6.38 112 75.7 110 1.97 113 14.2 45.9 108 482.6 117
Massachusetts 6.39 113 72.2 80 1.80 122 12.8 45.8 106 461.3 104
Texas St 6.48 114 74.8 105 2.23 96 13.1 46.5 110 484.8 119
Toledo 6.50 115 72.8 85 2.56 63 13.9 40.3 63 473.2 112
Louisiana Tech 6.54 116 80.4 120 2.09 109 15.8 46.3 109 526.1 124
Idaho 6.60 117 71.8 75 1.69 123 13.5 44.4 97 474.3 113
Duke 6.68 118 70.2 55 1.95 114 14.0 41.8 78 469.2 108
Eastern Michigan 6.69 119 71.7 73 1.91 116 14.2 47.7 115 479.8 115
New Mexico St 6.71 120 70.9 62 1.80 121 13.5 42.0 81 476.2 114
Army 6.72 121 63.6 5 1.80 120 12.3 47.6 114 427.3 87
Kansas 6.78 122 71.1 65 1.97 112 12.8 39.6 57 481.8 116
New Mexico 6.83 123 65.0 9 2.15 104 12.1 49.7 118 444.2 99
Colorado 7.11 124 68.7 36 1.49 124 12.5 44.0 94 488.5 121