College football stop rate rankings: Michigan, Ohio State battling for nation’s No. 1 defense again

COLUMBUS, OHIO - NOVEMBER 26: Chip Trayanum #19 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs with the ball during the third quarter of a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium on November 26, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)
By Max Olson
Nov 22, 2023

Last year, Michigan was No. 1 in stop rate and Ohio State was No. 2 heading into The Game. We all remember how that one went.

Well, here we are yet again. Michigan’s defense remains No. 1 in this week’s updated standings with a stop rate of 83.5 percent. Ohio State is still in the No. 2 spot at 82 percent. It’s time to find out who truly has the best defense in college football.

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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. This simple metric can offer a more accurate reflection of a defense’s effectiveness in today’s faster-tempo college football than yards per game or points per game. We’re now in Year 7 of tracking this statistic (here are the final standings for 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017) along with every defense’s points per drive average.

Last year, a tight battle between the Big Ten’s best got blown wide open by Michigan’s explosive plays in a 45-23 triumph: a 69-yard touchdown pass to Cornelius Johnson, another 75-yard touchdown by Johnson, a 45-yard score from Colston Loveland and then a pair of Donovan Edwards touchdown runs for 75 and 85 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes gave up 349 yards and 35 points on just those five plays and held Michigan to 10 points and 181 yards on 3.3 yards per play over the rest of the game. The Buckeyes would end up finishing No. 10 in stop rate on the year. It was a nice improvement from 2021, when Ohio State finished 22nd under Kerry Coombs/Matt Barnes, but not quite up to defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ standard.

A year later, Knowles’ defense has been among the best in the country at preventing those big plays, ranking third in the FBS in fewest plays allowed of 20-plus yards (25) and 30-plus yards (8). Nobody has hit a play for 50 or more yards against them this season. The longest play allowed so far? A masterful trick play by Rutgers on fourth-and-1 for a 45-yard gain.

Ohio State (82.4 percent) actually has a tiny edge over Michigan (82.1 percent) in stop rate during Big Ten play. That’s how comparable these units are. They’re the two best in college football in scoring defense and pass defense and among the top five in yards per play. Neither team had allowed more than 17 points in a game all year until Maryland scored 24 on the Wolverines last week.

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These past two weeks have given us a chance to see what the Wolverines’ top-ranked defense can do when put into some pressure situations. Maryland had three chances in the fourth quarter to drive and take a lead on Michigan. The results of those three drives: 11 total plays for minus-11 yards with a punt, an interception and a safety. Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s crew aced that test.

Does this all mean that, in a year when The Game feels more consequential than ever, we’re in for a 17-14 kind of defensive brawl? That seems unlikely given how many offensive playmakers there are on both sides, but it’s not impossible. J.J. McCarthy and Kyle McCord have been two of the most efficient passers in the country. Which one will do the better job of withstanding pressure and converting tough third downs? Which one will capitalize on scoring opportunities and won’t settle for field goals? Based on everything they’ve shown over 11 games, these defenses aren’t going to make anything easy.

How are the rest of the defenses across the country performing in stop rate? Here are the full FBS-only stop rate standings entering Week 13.

Note: All data is courtesy of TruMedia and Pro Football Focus.

Rk
  
Defense
  
G
  
Drives
  
Stop Rate
  
Pts/Drive
  
1
11
115
83.5%
0.86
2
10
111
82%
0.86
3
10
114
79.8%
1.14
4
11
136
79.4%
0.95
5
10
111
75.7%
1.38
6
10
117
75.2%
1.31
7
10
107
74.8%
1.49
8
10
118
74.6%
1.41
9
10
110
74.5%
1.40
10
10
135
74.1%
1.53
11
10
118
73.7%
1.32
12
10
129
73.6%
1.52
13
10
117
73.5%
1.61
14
9
105
73.3%
1.69
14
10
120
73.3%
1.59
16
10
130
73.1%
1.55
17
11
128
72.7%
1.59
18
10
116
72.4%
1.56
19
10
112
72.3%
1.61
20
10
104
72.1%
1.48
21
11
131
71%
1.53
22
10
124
71%
1.68
23
10
110
70.9%
1.52
24
11
127
70.9%
1.56
25
10
113
70.8%
1.75
26
10
102
70.6%
1.71
27
11
133
69.9%
1.56
28
11
126
69.8%
1.79
29
10
105
69.5%
1.62
30
10
111
69.4%
1.72
31
10
104
69.2%
1.79
32
10
116
69%
1.76
33
10
113
68.1%
1.87
34
10
112
67.9%
1.92
34
11
112
67.9%
1.88
36
11
126
67.5%
2.06
37
10
119
67.2%
1.72
38
10
103
67%
1.84
39
10
121
66.9%
1.93
40
11
125
66.4%
2.04
41
11
130
66.2%
1.95
42
10
124
66.1%
2.01
43
11
121
66.1%
2.03
44
10
109
66.1%
1.98
45
10
106
66%
2.04
46
10
111
65.8%
1.84
47
10
119
65.5%
2.06
48
10
116
65.5%
1.84
49
10
110
65.5%
2.03
50
10
127
65.4%
2.14
51
10
106
65.1%
2.11
52
10
123
64.2%
2.17
53
10
119
63.9%
2.21
54
11
130
63.8%
2.06
55
10
113
63.7%
2.19
56
10
110
63.6%
1.99
57
10
126
63.5%
2.17
58
10
120
63.3%
2.05
59
11
117
63.2%
2.14
60
10
122
63.1%
2.23
61
10
119
63%
2.00
62
10
121
62.8%
2.09
63
10
126
62.7%
2.33
64
10
115
62.6%
2.19
65
10
120
62.5%
2.15
66
10
109
62.4%
2.06
67
10
116
62.1%
2.16
68
10
121
62%
2.31
69
10
117
61.5%
2.26
70
10
114
61.4%
2.28
71
10
119
61.3%
2.12
71
10
119
61.3%
2.28
73
10
116
61.2%
2.27
74
10
108
61.1%
2.18
75
10
115
60.9%
2.19
76
10
112
60.7%
2.46
77
10
111
60.4%
2.25
78
10
131
60.3%
2.24
79
11
120
60%
2.34
80
10
132
59.8%
2.50
81
10
109
59.6%
2.18
82
10
99
59.6%
2.64
83
10
116
59.5%
2.42
84
10
111
59.5%
2.53
85
10
118
59.3%
2.31
86
10
122
59%
2.57
87
11
136
58.8%
2.40
88
10
114
58.8%
2.34
89
11
128
58.6%
2.29
90
10
111
58.6%
2.40
91
9
94
58.5%
2.43
92
10
108
58.3%
2.58
93
11
136
58.1%
2.65
94
10
109
57.8%
2.42
95
10
108
57.4%
2.67
96
10
103
57.3%
2.38
97
10
131
57.3%
2.80
97
11
131
57.3%
2.60
99
10
121
57%
2.55
100
10
107
57%
2.74
101
10
109
56.9%
2.61
102
10
111
56.8%
2.50
102
10
111
56.8%
2.58
104
10
108
56.5%
2.52
105
10
117
56.4%
2.44
106
10
119
56.3%
2.62
107
10
112
56.3%
2.65
108
12
146
56.2%
2.73
109
10
116
56%
2.59
110
10
118
55.9%
3.04
111
10
127
55.9%
2.46
112
10
120
55.8%
2.40
113
10
113
55.8%
2.46
114
11
121
55.4%
2.79
115
10
112
55.4%
2.70
116
10
127
55.1%
2.79
117
10
115
54.8%
2.68
118
10
120
54.2%
2.65
119
11
124
54%
2.90
120
10
117
53.8%
2.91
121
10
123
53.7%
2.86
122
10
121
52.9%
3.02
123
10
108
52.8%
2.68
124
10
111
52.3%
2.67
125
10
121
52.1%
2.74
126
10
109
51.4%
3.10
127
10
111
50.5%
3.19
128
10
117
50.4%
2.95
129
11
118
50%
3.05
130
10
116
48.3%
3.10
131
10
114
48.2%
3.32
132
10
111
47.7%
3.31
133
10
101
40.6%
3.41

(Photo: Ben Jackson / Getty Images)

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Max Olson

Max Olson covers national college football for The Athletic. He previously covered the Big 12 and recruiting for ESPN.com. Follow Max on Twitter @max_olson