Every year I am adding to new features and articles to my College Football Preview and PhilSteele.com and for all 130 teams I have added a couple extra columns to the Game-by-Game Stats that you will find for every team. A lot of people have been asking me what those columns stand for and I thought I would explain it further in today’s blog.
Sample below of Alabama’s Game by Game Stats as a subscriber to Phil Steele Plus on Philsteele.com.
A couple years ago during the season I was wondering how certain offensive and defensive performances that a team had vs a particular opponent stacked up on how the other opponents fared against that team. Not every performance as far as yards gained and given up is created equal due to the quality of opponent played. So to the right of the net yards and points columns, you will see an offensive vs foe and defensive vs foe numbers. The first # is what that performance ranked compared to every other team their opponent allowed throughout the year (#1 being the best, with #12 being the worst since most teams play 12 games) while the second column contains the number of yards positive or negative against their opponent’s average.
I have broke down the offensive and defensive averages and in today’s blog I took all those averages (both offense and defense) and combined them to come up with the most impressive teams in the country compared to how they fared against their opponent. Here is a ranking of all 130 teams and how they did. This list does take out Garbage yards that may occur during overtime and/or blowout wins/losses. You you may see a difference in rankings from the Game by Game Stats listed on the actual Teams Pages. The team page game by game stats include garbage yards.
| Offensive | Defensive | |||||
| Team | Rank | Average | Rank | Average | Total | Rank |
| CLEMSON | 12 | 158.8 | 5 | 201.9 | 360.7 | 1 |
| UCF | 7 | 182.8 | 9 | 172.0 | 354.8 | 2 |
| MIAMI FLA | 1 | 217.3 | 18 | 123.7 | 341.0 | 3 |
| ALABAMA | 10 | 174.5 | 11 | 165.1 | 339.6 | 4 |
| OHIO ST | 5 | 195.8 | 16 | 133.0 | 328.9 | 5 |
| WISCONSIN | 14 | 146.2 | 15 | 141.3 | 287.6 | 6 |
| GEORGIA | 40 | 67.4 | 2 | 217.8 | 285.2 | 7 |
| OKLAHOMA | 2 | 214.6 | 39 | 62.7 | 277.3 | 8 |
| MICHIGAN | 50 | 56.0 | 3 | 208.4 | 264.4 | 9 |
| AUBURN | 72 | 19.1 | 1 | 239.5 | 258.6 | 10 |
| GEORGIA TECH | 13 | 155.8 | 23 | 99.5 | 255.3 | 11 |
| TCU | 18 | 131.9 | 20 | 108.9 | 240.8 | 12 |
| OKLAHOMA ST | 9 | 175.7 | 41 | 57.8 | 233.4 | 13 |
| FLORIDA ST | 70 | 21.2 | 4 | 206.3 | 227.5 | 14 |
| VIRGINIA TECH | 26 | 99.6 | 17 | 125.7 | 225.2 | 15 |
| LOUISVILLE | 3 | 202.9 | 59 | 19.5 | 222.4 | 16 |
| MICHIGAN ST | 54 | 48.2 | 10 | 171.0 | 219.2 | 17 |
| S MISS | 64 | 35.0 | 8 | 177.2 | 212.2 | 18 |
| BAYLOR | 15 | 144.1 | 40 | 62.6 | 206.7 | 19 |
| USC | 25 | 101.5 | 21 | 104.5 | 206.0 | 20 |
| DUKE | 90 | -5.2 | 6 | 199.6 | 194.4 | 21 |
| BOISE ST | 66 | 31.1 | 12 | 160.1 | 191.2 | 22 |
| UTSA | 62 | 36.8 | 14 | 152.8 | 189.7 | 23 |
| PENN ST | 24 | 102.2 | 29 | 84.3 | 186.5 | 24 |
| WASHINGTON | 28 | 95.6 | 31 | 80.4 | 176.0 | 25 |
| MINNESOTA | 83 | 2.4 | 13 | 157.2 | 159.7 | 26 |
| TEXAS TECH | 4 | 197.8 | 96 | -38.6 | 159.2 | 27 |
| OREGON | 16 | 138.6 | 58 | 20.6 | 159.1 | 28 |
| LSU | 35 | 76.0 | 32 | 79.9 | 155.9 | 29 |
| MISS ST | 27 | 98.6 | 46 | 52.3 | 150.9 | 30 |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 6 | 188.4 | 95 | -38.0 | 150.4 | 31 |
| HOUSTON | 56 | 45.8 | 22 | 103.3 | 149.1 | 32 |
| SMU | 11 | 174.1 | 90 | -26.9 | 147.2 | 33 |
| PURDUE | 49 | 56.2 | 26 | 88.8 | 145.0 | 34 |
| SAN DIEGO ST | 107 | -52.7 | 7 | 194.8 | 142.2 | 35 |
| SOUTH FLORIDA | 20 | 117.1 | 60 | 19.4 | 136.5 | 36 |
| ARIZONA ST | 23 | 103.5 | 54 | 31.5 | 135.0 | 37 |
| WASH ST | 47 | 58.0 | 34 | 75.3 | 133.3 | 38 |
| CALIFORNIA | 63 | 35.1 | 24 | 97.3 | 132.4 | 39 |
| NEBRASKA | 57 | 44.9 | 27 | 87.0 | 131.9 | 40 |
| NAVY | 21 | 115.3 | 62 | 15.0 | 130.3 | 41 |
| ARIZONA | 48 | 56.3 | 37 | 65.9 | 122.2 | 42 |
| NOTRE DAME | 17 | 138.5 | 92 | -27.9 | 110.5 | 43 |
| KANSAS ST | 68 | 22.2 | 28 | 86.8 | 109.0 | 44 |
| MARYLAND | 76 | 12.3 | 25 | 90.3 | 102.5 | 45 |
| VIRGINIA | 71 | 19.1 | 30 | 82.7 | 101.8 | 46 |
| HAWAII | 38 | 72.3 | 55 | 29.3 | 101.6 | 47 |
| WAKE FOREST | 53 | 50.3 | 47 | 50.4 | 100.8 | 48 |
| SYRACUSE | 31 | 84.3 | 61 | 15.3 | 99.7 | 49 |
| UCLA | 8 | 178.7 | 120 | -83.1 | 95.6 | 50 |
| TEXAS | 44 | 61.1 | 53 | 34.2 | 95.4 | 51 |
| COLORADO ST | 22 | 105.6 | 82 | -15.9 | 89.7 | 52 |
| NC State | 19 | 120.7 | 97 | -40.0 | 80.7 | 53 |
| NEW MEXICO ST | 33 | 81.3 | 80 | -10.0 | 71.3 | 54 |
| PITTSBURGH | 67 | 26.9 | 50 | 40.8 | 67.7 | 55 |
| IOWA | 82 | 4.2 | 44 | 52.7 | 56.9 | 56 |
| COLORADO | 79 | 7.4 | 48 | 46.2 | 53.7 | 57 |
| ARKANSAS | 93 | -18.0 | 36 | 71.5 | 53.5 | 58 |
| MISSISSIPPI | 43 | 63.0 | 81 | -10.8 | 52.2 | 59 |
| AIR FORCE | 86 | -3.5 | 45 | 52.5 | 49.0 | 60 |
| TEXAS A&M | 77 | 10.2 | 51 | 37.7 | 47.9 | 61 |
| STANFORD | 42 | 64.9 | 85 | -21.3 | 43.7 | 62 |
| NORTH TEXAS | 40 | 67.4 | 88 | -25.1 | 42.3 | 63 |
| NEW MEXICO | 114 | -73.6 | 19 | 114.6 | 41.0 | 64 |
| Appalachian St | 65 | 34.7 | 68 | 5.9 | 40.6 | 65 |
| UTAH ST | 61 | 38.3 | 71 | 1.8 | 40.0 | 66 |
| E MICHIGAN | 84 | 1.0 | 52 | 36.3 | 37.3 | 67 |
| ULM | 45 | 58.9 | 91 | -27.8 | 31.1 | 68 |
| OREGON ST | 51 | 54.1 | 87 | -25.1 | 29.1 | 69 |
| CINCINNATI | 39 | 69.2 | 98 | -41.1 | 28.1 | 70 |
| TROY ST | 81 | 5.0 | 56 | 21.7 | 26.7 | 71 |
| N CAROLINA | 36 | 73.3 | 103 | -50.0 | 23.3 | 72 |
| MIDDLE TENN | 98 | -32.5 | 43 | 55.0 | 22.5 | 73 |
| C MICHIGAN | 30 | 84.4 | 110 | -64.9 | 19.6 | 74 |
| IOWA ST | 29 | 89.0 | 113 | -70.5 | 18.5 | 75 |
| UTAH | 87 | -3.5 | 57 | 21.2 | 17.6 | 76 |
| Texas St | 80 | 5.9 | 64 | 10.2 | 16.1 | 77 |
| INDIANA | 59 | 40.4 | 89 | -25.4 | 14.9 | 78 |
| MIAMI (OH) | 110 | -62.7 | 33 | 76.3 | 13.7 | 79 |
| BOSTON COLL | 75 | 13.2 | 74 | -2.9 | 10.3 | 80 |
| LOUISIANA TECH | 37 | 72.7 | 109 | -64.4 | 8.2 | 81 |
| OHIO U | 91 | -5.4 | 66 | 8.2 | 2.8 | 82 |
| TULANE | 115 | -73.8 | 35 | 73.2 | -0.6 | 83 |
| NORTHWESTERN | 58 | 43.2 | 101 | -46.6 | -3.3 | 84 |
| BUFFALO | 88 | -4.6 | 72 | 1.0 | -3.6 | 85 |
| RUTGERS | 109 | -61.7 | 42 | 57.6 | -4.1 | 86 |
| UAB | 89 | -4.8 | 73 | -1.4 | -6.3 | 87 |
| Georgia St | 85 | -2.2 | 78 | -8.8 | -11.0 | 88 |
| UNLV | 46 | 58.3 | 115 | -72.3 | -14.0 | 89 |
| TOLEDO | 55 | 46.6 | 112 | -68.1 | -21.6 | 90 |
| VANDERBILT | 112 | -65.4 | 49 | 43.3 | -22.1 | 91 |
| FLORIDA | 78 | 9.9 | 94 | -35.9 | -26.0 | 92 |
| TENNESSEE | 73 | 17.6 | 99 | -44.5 | -26.9 | 93 |
| FRESNO ST | 94 | -23.5 | 75 | -5.0 | -28.5 | 94 |
| MEMPHIS | 99 | -35.0 | 69 | 3.9 | -31.1 | 95 |
| ARKANSAS ST | 34 | 78.0 | 122 | -109.5 | -31.5 | 96 |
| BALL STATE | 92 | -15.4 | 86 | -23.8 | -39.2 | 97 |
| ARMY | 103 | -50.2 | 65 | 9.8 | -40.4 | 98 |
| KENTUCKY | 105 | -51.6 | 67 | 7.4 | -44.2 | 99 |
| KANSAS | 52 | 50.4 | 121 | -95.7 | -45.2 | 100 |
| W MICHIGAN | 100 | -40.8 | 79 | -8.8 | -49.7 | 101 |
| TULSA | 32 | 82.2 | 125 | -134.1 | -51.9 | 102 |
| S CAROLINA | 108 | -59.3 | 70 | 3.8 | -55.6 | 103 |
| FLORIDA ATLANTIC | 69 | 21.4 | 119 | -78.7 | -57.3 | 104 |
| SOUTH ALABAMA | 116 | -88.3 | 63 | 14.6 | -73.7 | 105 |
| FLORIDA INT’L | 95 | -23.7 | 104 | -50.2 | -73.8 | 106 |
| ILLINOIS | 106 | -52.0 | 93 | -30.3 | -82.3 | 107 |
| MARSHALL | 97 | -32.4 | 106 | -56.8 | -89.2 | 108 |
| IDAHO | 104 | -51.4 | 102 | -49.1 | -100.5 | 109 |
| UMass | 102 | -46.1 | 105 | -55.7 | -101.7 | 110 |
| MISSOURI | 96 | -29.8 | 116 | -73.2 | -103.0 | 111 |
| NEVADA | 117 | -101.0 | 77 | -6.7 | -107.7 | 112 |
| W KENTUCKY | 119 | -107.5 | 76 | -6.7 | -114.2 | 113 |
| EAST CAROLINA | 74 | 14.8 | 126 | -138.1 | -123.3 | 114 |
| AKRON | 111 | -64.5 | 117 | -75.3 | -139.8 | 115 |
| WYOMING | 130 | -223.4 | 38 | 63.7 | -159.8 | 116 |
| LOUISIANNA | 101 | -41.3 | 123 | -119.2 | -160.5 | 117 |
| BYU | 123 | -144.7 | 84 | -17.6 | -162.2 | 118 |
| TEMPLE | 120 | -108.6 | 107 | -57.5 | -166.2 | 119 |
| N ILLINOIS | 126 | -153.2 | 83 | -16.0 | -169.2 | 120 |
| Old Dominion | 125 | -152.5 | 100 | -46.1 | -198.6 | 121 |
| CONNECTICUT | 60 | 40.2 | 130 | -239.2 | -199.0 | 122 |
| Charlotte | 122 | -142.8 | 111 | -66.2 | -209.0 | 123 |
| Coastal Carolina | 118 | -106.3 | 128 | -139.3 | -245.5 | 124 |
| SAN JOSE ST | 121 | -119.3 | 127 | -138.4 | -257.7 | 125 |
| RICE | 127 | -194.4 | 108 | -63.3 | -257.8 | 126 |
| BOWLING GREEN | 113 | -68.6 | 129 | -193.6 | -262.2 | 127 |
| Georgia Southern | 124 | -145.5 | 124 | -127.4 | -272.9 | 128 |
| KENT ST | 128 | -214.4 | 114 | -71.1 | -285.6 | 129 |
| UTEP | 129 | -219.8 | 118 | -75.5 | -295.3 | 130 |
