clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
SBNation.com homepage

Filed under:

Baylor has college football's fastest offense, but where does your team rank?

Pace of play has been a hot college football topic for a few years now. Here's how every team in FBS stacked up in 2014.

By Peter Berkes
USA Today and Getty

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.

Next Up In College Football