Who really has the best defense? Stop rate for all 134 college football teams

On Oct 23, 2024

Max Olson, ESPN Staff WriterOct 22, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
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- Covers the Big 12
- Joined ESPN in 2012
- Graduate of the University of Nebraska

Indiana’s offense enjoyed a dominant day in its 56-7 rout of Nebraska, but an excellent defense continues to be just as critical to the program’s undefeated start. The Hoosiers’ defense is one of the big movers in this week’s stop rate standings.

What is stop rate? It’s a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Defensive coordinators have the same goal regardless of their scheme, opponent or conference: prevent points and get off the field. Stop rate is a simple metric but can offer a good reflection of a defense’s effectiveness on a per-drive basis in today’s faster-tempo game.

Last year, national champ Michigan finished No. 1 with a stop rate of 81.6% in its games against FBS opponents. The top 25 teams in the final 2023 stop rate standings won a total of 249 games, with seven earning conference titles. Great teams find a way to get stops in critical situations.

To be clear, stop rate is not an advanced stat and is no substitute for Bill Connelly’s SP+ or other more comprehensive metrics. It’s merely a different method for evaluating success on defense.

Team	Games	Stop Rate	Pts/Drive
1. Texas	7	82.1%	0.76
2. Ohio State	6	81.8%	0.92
3. Tennessee	6	81.3%	0.90
4. Notre Dame	7	80.2%	1.00
5. Army	6	78.9%	1.38
6. Iowa State	6	77.6%	1.26
7. James Madison	6	76.8%	1.45
8. Ole Miss	6	75.7%	1.03
9. Indiana	6	75.4%	1.45
10. Wisconsin	6	75%	1.45
11. Duke	6	74.7%	1.27
12. Colorado	6	74.3%	1.55
13. Northern Illinois	6	73.9%	1.32
14. Oklahoma	7	73.3%	1.37
15. Navy	5	72.9%	1.56
16. Cal	6	72.9%	1.59
17. Utah	6	72.7%	1.42
17. South Carolina	7	72.7%	1.47
19. Oregon	6	72.6%	1.48
20. Missouri	6	72.3%	1.52
21. Penn State	6	71.7%	1.34
22. Alabama	7	71.3%	1.50
23. Liberty	4	70.8%	1.61
24. Nebraska	6	70.8%	1.75
25. SMU	6	70.3%	1.73
26. Virginia Tech	7	70.2%	1.82
27. Clemson	7	69.8%	1.83
28. Toledo	6	69.7%	1.52
29. Sam Houston	7	69%	1.85
30. Memphis	6	68.6%	1.83
31. UConn	6	68.4%	1.57
32. Georgia	6	68.2%	1.64
33. UNLV	6	68.1%	1.97
34. Northwestern	6	68.1%	1.75
35. San Jose State	6	68%	1.88
36. Kansas State	6	67.7%	1.88
36. Texas A&M	6	67.7%	1.70
38. Rutgers	6	67.2%	2.07
38. Western Kentucky	6	67.2%	2.14
39. USC	7	67.1%	1.83
41. Minnesota	6	66.7%	1.68
41. Kentucky	7	66.7%	1.68
41. UL Monroe	5	66.7%	1.66
44. Maryland	6	66.2%	1.84
45. Texas State	6	66.2%	1.79
46. BYU	6	66.2%	1.67
47. Old Dominion	7	65.9%	1.86
48. Michigan	7	65.8%	1.91
49. Houston	7	65.8%	1.97
50. Cincinnati	6	65.6%	1.71
51. Miami (OH)	7	65.4%	1.88
52. Washington	6	65.1%	1.75
53. Boise State	5	65%	2.11
54. Pitt	5	64.9%	1.98
55. Tulane	6	64.8%	1.79
56. Iowa	6	64.7%	1.87
57. FIU	6	64.4%	2.05
58. Arkansas	6	64.3%	1.97
59. LSU	6	64.2%	1.78
60. Fresno State	6	64.1%	1.87
61. Illinois	6	63.8%	1.94
62. San Diego State	5	63.8%	2.03
63. Auburn	6	63.6%	1.93
63. Miami	6	63.6%	1.99
65. Florida	6	63.2%	2.19
66. Louisiana Tech	5	62.7%	1.92
67. Georgia Southern	6	62.7%	2.26
68. Colorado State	6	62.3%	2.37
69. Rice	6	62.1%	2.13
70. Arizona State	7	61.3%	1.98
71. Michigan State	6	61.3%	2.18
72. Temple	7	60.7%	2.44
73. Washington State	6	60.6%	2.15
74. UTSA	6	60.5%	2.26
75. South Alabama	6	60.3%	2.21
76. Buffalo	6	60%	2.22
76. Oklahoma State	6	60%	2.38
78. East Carolina	6	59.5%	2.32
79. Baylor	6	59.4%	2.23
80. Arizona	6	59.2%	2.25
80. Jacksonville State	6	59.2%	2.25
82. Ohio	6	59.1%	2.21
83. Louisiana	6	58.9%	2.34
84. Georgia Tech	7	58.7%	2.18
84. Bowling Green	6	58.7%	1.93
86. Florida State	7	58.7%	2.09
87. Marshall	6	58%	2.32
88. South Florida	6	57.9%	2.50
89. Kansas	6	57.4%	2.36
90. UCF	6	57.4%	2.33
90. Virginia	6	57.4%	2.29
92. Louisville	6	57.1%	2.44
92. Eastern Michigan	6	57.1%	2.48
92. Kennesaw State	5	57.1%	2.64
95. Boston College	6	56.9%	2.12
96. Vanderbilt	6	56.7%	2.43
96. West Virginia	6	56.7%	2.66
98. UTEP	6	56.6%	2.52
99. TCU	6	56.5%	2.34
100. Tulsa	6	56.2%	2.65
100. North Carolina	6	56.2%	2.44
102. Air Force	6	56.1%	2.56
103. Texas Tech	6	55.7%	2.46
104. Florida Atlantic	6	55.1%	2.43
105. Georgia State	5	54.5%	2.68
106. Arkansas State	6	53.8%	2.70
107. Wyoming	6	53.7%	2.40
108. Charlotte	6	53.6%	2.69
109. Troy	6	53.2%	2.55
110. Syracuse	5	53.1%	2.35
111. Coastal Carolina	6	52.8%	2.64
112. NC State	7	52.5%	2.49
113. Central Michigan	6	52.1%	2.57
113. Nevada	7	52.1%	2.58
115. Oregon State	6	51.7%	2.60
116. North Texas	6	51.3%	2.77
117. UMass	6	50.8%	2.76
118. Hawai’i	5	50%	2.77
119. Stanford	6	49.3%	2.96
120. Akron	6	49.3%	3.18
120. Middle Tennessee	6	49.3%	3.11
122. New Mexico State	6	48.1%	2.90
123. Wake Forest	6	47.1%	2.93
124. UCLA	7	47%	2.86
125. Western Michigan	6	46.9%	3.15
126. Southern Miss	6	42.4%	3.27
127. App State	5	42.1%	3.32
128. Purdue	6	41.8%	3.49
129. UAB	6	39.4%	3.45
130. Utah State	6	39%	3.57
131. Mississippi State	6	38.3%	3.37
132. Ball State	6	36.9%	3.77
133. New Mexico	6	36.2%	3.75
134. Kent State	6	35.6%	3.85

Indiana’s defense climbed from No. 16 to No. 9 in this week’s updated standings, with a stop rate of 75.4%, after shutting down Dylan Raiola and the Huskers.

Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ crew grabbed five takeaways, including three interceptions, and got nine third-down stops. The Hoosiers also became the only FBS defense to go 5-for-5 on stopping fourth-down conversions in a game this season, according to TruMedia.

Another impressive stat that stood out to Indiana coach Curt Cignetti: Indiana was able to convert the five turnovers into 28 points.

“You don’t see that very often,” Cignetti said Monday.

But he’s used to seeing it from his DC. Haines coached the No. 12 stop rate defense in the country last season at James Madison, and their 2022 defense finished No. 8 in this metric after Haines was promoted to DC. Cignetti’s programs are known for cutting-edge offenses, but Haines has been with him since the Elon and IUP days and is still succeeding even against tougher Big Ten competition.

A few more movers to note following Week 8:

Texas’ stop rate dropped from 87.1% to 82.1% following its 30-15 loss to No. 5 Georgia, but that percentage still ranked No. 1 in this week’s stop rate standings, putting the Longhorns just ahead of Ohio State (81.8%) and Tennessee (81.3%).
Wisconsin (No. 10) and Colorado (No. 12) also made big moves this week after blowout wins over Northwestern and Arizona, respectively. Since we’re only midway through this season, defenses can still make big moves in these standings based on one great (or not so great) performance.
Oklahoma has been historically awful on offense this season and just fired OC Seth Littrell after seven games, but the Sooners’ defense continues to be excellent. That unit has been put in tough spots all season long yet still ranks 14th in stop rate at 73.3%.
South Carolina, Oregon, Missouri and SMU moved into the top 25 in this week’s standings. Nebraska dropped from No. 6 to No. 24 following its loss to the Hoosiers.
Iowa had a rough night against Michigan State, allowing scores on eight of 10 drives in a 32-20 loss, and slid from 14th to 56th in stop rate.

Note: All data is courtesy of TruMedia. Games against FCS opponents and end-of-half drives in which the opponent took a knee or ran out the clock were filtered out.

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