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The most up-tempo offenses in college football include some names you would expect. Baylor was the fastest, getting a play off every 18 seconds in 2014. Arizona, Oregon, and West Virginia and a few others averaged less than 20 seconds between plays.
When you take those raw pace numbers and adjust them based on how often teams ran the ball (since running plays naturally burn more clock than passing plays; see more on Bill Connelly's Adjusted Pace stat here), they all still occupy positions in the top 10. See the full 1-128 chart below.
But that adjustment shows some run-heavy teams like Air Force use more tempo than it appears. Air Force used a somewhat average number of seconds per play (23.1), but moved four seconds per play faster than it would be expected to. Adjusting the seconds-per-play figure ranks the Falcons as the country's eighth-fastest offense.
Here's the full list, via Football Study Hall's vaults:
Seconds/play | Run % | Expected seconds/play | Pace rank | |
Baylor | 18 | 52.3% | 23.8 | 1 |
Arizona | 18.3 | 47.1% | 23.2 | 2 |
Bowling Green | 18.6 | 47.8% | 23.3 | 3 |
Oregon | 19.5 | 55.1% | 24.2 | 4 |
BYU | 19.3 | 50.7% | 23.7 | 5 |
North Carolina | 18.8 | 46.6% | 23.2 | 6 |
West Virginia | 19.5 | 48.6% | 23.4 | 7 |
Air Force | 23.1 | 78.2% | 27 | 8 |
Memphis | 20.6 | 57.2% | 24.5 | 9 |
Northern Illinois | 21.9 | 63.8% | 25.2 | 10 |
Arkansas State | 20.8 | 53.4% | 24 | 11 |
UAB | 21.9 | 62.2% | 25 | 12 |
Texas State | 21.2 | 55.9% | 24.3 | 13 |
Mississippi State | 21.3 | 55.4% | 24.2 | 14 |
Marshall | 21 | 52.1% | 23.8 | 15 |
New Mexico State | 20.8 | 49.8% | 23.6 | 16 |
TCU | 20.7 | 47.3% | 23.2 | 17 |
Fresno State | 21 | 48.1% | 23.3 | 18 |
Texas Tech | 19.8 | 37.4% | 22 | 19 |
Washington | 22.4 | 57.7% | 24.5 | 20 |
Indiana | 22.7 | 60.2% | 24.8 | 21 |
Arizona State | 21.3 | 48.3% | 23.4 | 22 |
UCLA | 21.8 | 52.2% | 23.8 | 23 |
Western Kentucky | 20.6 | 41.6% | 22.6 | 24 |
California | 20.7 | 42.4% | 22.6 | 25 |
UNLV | 21 | 44.4% | 22.9 | 26 |
Texas A&M | 20.8 | 42.4% | 22.7 | 27 |
Auburn | 23.4 | 63% | 25.2 | 28 |
East Carolina | 20.3 | 37.4% | 22 | 29 |
Northwestern | 21.6 | 48% | 23.3 | 30 |
Massachusetts | 20.8 | 40.8% | 22.5 | 31 |
Hawaii | 21.8 | 48.6% | 23.4 | 32 |
Utah | 22.8 | 56.6% | 24.4 | 33 |
Duke | 22.2 | 49.9% | 23.6 | 34 |
Nebraska | 23.4 | 59.7% | 24.8 | 35 |
Tennessee | 22.2 | 49.4% | 23.5 | 36 |
Middle Tennessee | 23.3 | 57.9% | 24.5 | 37 |
Oklahoma State | 22.6 | 51.4% | 23.7 | 38 |
Cincinnati | 22 | 46.2% | 23.1 | 39 |
Georgia | 23.9 | 61.5% | 25 | 40 |
Syracuse | 22.5 | 49.6% | 23.5 | 41 |
Florida | 23.8 | 59.5% | 24.7 | 42 |
Kentucky | 22.5 | 48.2% | 23.4 | 43 |
Iowa State | 21.6 | 40.7% | 22.4 | 44 |
Toledo | 23.7 | 57.5% | 24.5 | 45 |
Ole Miss | 22.7 | 49% | 23.4 | 46 |
Houston | 22.7 | 48.9% | 23.4 | 47 |
Idaho | 22.3 | 45.3% | 23 | 48 |
Navy | 26.8 | 82.4% | 27.5 | 49 |
Appalachian State | 24.1 | 60.1% | 24.8 | 50 |
Clemson | 23.1 | 51.9% | 23.8 | 51 |
Oklahoma | 23.9 | 58.2% | 24.6 | 52 |
Ohio State | 24.2 | 60.2% | 24.8 | 53 |
USC | 23 | 50% | 23.6 | 54 |
South Alabama | 23.5 | 53.3% | 24 | 55 |
Boise State | 23.7 | 54.8% | 24.2 | 56 |
Colorado | 22.3 | 43.1% | 22.7 | 57 |
Tulsa | 22.8 | 47.2% | 23.2 | 58 |
Ball State | 23.5 | 51% | 23.7 | 59 |
Nevada | 24.2 | 56% | 24.3 | 60 |
NC State | 24 | 54.2% | 24.1 | 61 |
Missouri | 24 | 54.1% | 24.1 | 62 |
Notre Dame | 23.3 | 48.2% | 23.3 | 63 |
Maryland | 23.1 | 46.2% | 23.1 | 64 |
Eastern Michigan | 24.1 | 54.4% | 24.1 | 65 |
Old Dominion | 22.5 | 40.9% | 22.5 | 66 |
Temple | 23.2 | 45.3% | 23 | 67 |
Troy | 24.4 | 53.5% | 24 | 68 |
Akron | 22.6 | 38.2% | 22.1 | 69 |
Ohio | 24.4 | 52.9% | 23.9 | 70 |
Georgia Tech | 27.5 | 78.4% | 27 | 71 |
North Texas | 24.8 | 56% | 24.3 | 72 |
San Jose State | 23.8 | 47.6% | 23.3 | 73 |
Georgia Southern | 27.8 | 80% | 27.2 | 74 |
Virginia Tech | 24.1 | 49.4% | 23.5 | 75 |
Georgia State | 23.4 | 43.1% | 22.7 | 76 |
Florida State | 23.6 | 44.4% | 22.9 | 77 |
Louisiana Tech | 24.3 | 49.6% | 23.5 | 78 |
Kansas | 24.6 | 52.1% | 23.8 | 79 |
South Carolina | 24.1 | 47.7% | 23.3 | 80 |
Alabama | 24.9 | 54.1% | 24.1 | 81 |
ULM | 22.7 | 35.8% | 21.8 | 82 |
Virginia | 24.4 | 49.3% | 23.5 | 83 |
Illinois | 23.6 | 42.6% | 22.7 | 84 |
Florida Atlantic | 24.9 | 52.2% | 23.8 | 85 |
Iowa | 25 | 51.7% | 23.8 | 86 |
Florida International | 25.5 | 55.5% | 24.2 | 87 |
Army | 29 | 84.3% | 27.7 | 88 |
Colorado State | 24.4 | 46.3% | 23.1 | 89 |
Central Florida | 25.2 | 52.9% | 23.9 | 90 |
Penn State | 24 | 42.9% | 22.7 | 91 |
Southern Miss | 23.7 | 39.8% | 22.3 | 92 |
Texas | 25 | 50.2% | 23.6 | 93 |
Michigan State | 26.1 | 58.7% | 24.6 | 94 |
UL Lafayette | 25.9 | 57% | 24.4 | 95 |
Buffalo | 25.5 | 52.7% | 23.9 | 96 |
Washington State | 21.6 | 20.4% | 20 | 97 |
New Mexico | 28.6 | 78% | 27 | 98 |
LSU | 27.2 | 66.4% | 25.6 | 99 |
Tulane | 24.7 | 45.7% | 23.1 | 100 |
Minnesota | 27.4 | 67.9% | 25.7 | 101 |
UTSA | 25.5 | 51.6% | 23.8 | 102 |
Utah State | 25.9 | 53.7% | 24 | 103 |
Wisconsin | 27.4 | 65.6% | 25.5 | 104 |
Purdue | 25 | 45.2% | 23 | 105 |
Miami (Ohio) | 24.2 | 38.1% | 22.1 | 106 |
Boston College | 28.2 | 69.9% | 26 | 107 |
Rutgers | 26.5 | 55.9% | 24.3 | 108 |
San Diego State | 26.7 | 57.2% | 24.3 | 109 |
Louisville | 25.9 | 50.1% | 23.6 | 110 |
Miami | 26 | 50.8% | 23.7 | 111 |
Pittsburgh | 27.8 | 64.2% | 25.3 | 112 |
Rice | 27.2 | 58.8% | 24.6 | 113 |
Wake Forest | 25.4 | 43.7% | 22.8 | 114 |
SMU | 25.1 | 40.1% | 22.4 | 115 |
Arkansas | 27.8 | 59.4% | 24.7 | 116 |
Kansas State | 26.7 | 50.1% | 23.6 | 117 |
Connecticut | 26.7 | 49.7% | 23.5 | 118 |
Oregon State | 25.7 | 40.1% | 22.4 | 119 |
Kent State | 25.3 | 36.4% | 21.9 | 120 |
South Florida | 26.7 | 47.9% | 23.3 | 121 |
Western Michigan | 27.8 | 54.9% | 24.2 | 122 |
Stanford | 27.8 | 53.2% | 24 | 123 |
Central Michigan | 27.9 | 53.7% | 24 | 124 |
Wyoming | 27.5 | 49.5% | 23.5 | 125 |
Michigan | 28.7 | 53.1% | 24 | 126 |
Vanderbilt | 28.3 | 49.1% | 23.5 | 127 |
UTEP | 30.5 | 65% | 25.4 | 128 |
Comparing Auburn and Clemson spells out the difference. The Tigers and -- well, also the Tigers -- both took about 23 seconds per play and used a similar offense. But when adjusted for run percentage, Auburn ranks 28th and Clemson 51st. Auburn's offense is so run-heavy that it gets a significant adjustment bump.
Some predictions you probably got right are Arkansas and Alabama. Both of their coaches have criticized hurry-up offenses, and they practice what they preach. Alabama snaps every 24.9 seconds, good for an adjusted 81st in the country. But Lane Kiffin's occasional no-huddle means they're no match for Arkansas, which plods along at a play every 27.8 seconds, 116th in the country.