Drive Efficiency

Every team gets about a dozen possessions a game. This is what they do with them, and what they give up.

LeagueAll FBSACCAmerican AthleticBig 12Big TenConference USAFBS IndependentsMid-AmericanMountain WestPac-12SECSun Belt

Season2026202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014

Points per drive, both directions

Scoring across, points allowed up. Fast and slow teams compare fairly here, because it is per possession. Top right is best.

112 teams · dashed lines mark the league medianr = -0.33(r² = 0.11)

Sorted by Points per drive (offense). Every possession is an opportunity; this is what one is worth. Tap any column to re-sort.

#	Team	Conf	PPD	Start	Avail	Opp	PPO	3&out	Expl	TD	TO
1	Ohio State	Big Ten	3.02	own 29.3	61.0%	64.6%	4.81	19.2%	21.2%	41.4%	13.1%
2	Minnesota	Big Ten	2.60	own 25.0	53.8%	54.2%	4.97	22.2%	9.7%	36.1%	15.3%
3	Penn State	Big Ten	2.42	own 28.6	51.6%	54.6%	4.42	25.0%	6.5%	31.5%	22.2%
4	Iowa	Big Ten	2.35	own 33.1	48.5%	54.6%	4.30	32.0%	10.3%	27.8%	13.4%
5	Indiana	Big Ten	2.33	own 30.7	50.8%	50.0%	4.81	23.4%	13.8%	29.8%	13.8%
6	Michigan	Big Ten	2.33	own 29.1	49.6%	50.7%	4.59	26.9%	10.4%	31.3%	16.4%
7	Purdue	Big Ten	2.22	own 27.6	50.5%	51.5%	4.31	20.6%	10.3%	27.9%	17.6%
8	Northwestern	Big Ten	2.10	own 29.8	46.4%	46.2%	4.55	29.3%	8.5%	26.4%	19.8%
9	Nebraska	Big Ten	2.07	own 26.4	48.9%	48.9%	4.23	23.3%	6.7%	23.3%	20.0%
10	Rutgers	Big Ten	1.94	own 31.6	40.8%	42.0%	4.66	34.8%	10.7%	24.1%	19.6%
11	Wisconsin	Big Ten	1.89	own 34.6	47.2%	50.0%	3.95	23.8%	7.1%	26.2%	20.2%
12	Illinois	Big Ten	1.79	own 27.4	44.1%	47.8%	3.74	31.1%	8.9%	22.2%	17.8%
13	Maryland	Big Ten	1.74	own 28.2	42.6%	41.9%	4.23	30.6%	17.7%	22.6%	17.7%
14	Michigan State	Big Ten	0.93	own 25.4	33.6%	33.0%	3.71	34.0%	9.6%	13.8%	23.4%

What counts as a drive

210,509 possessions counted. A drive that starts with 24 seconds left and ends in a kneel is a real row in the data and a fake possession; left in, it drags every team’s points per drive down in proportion to how often their games were already decided. Excluded here:

end of half / game / quarter possessions
possessions starting inside 40s of a half
kickoff and uncategorised rows
FBS vs FCS games

CFBD spells the same outcome four ways across seasons — FG / FG GOOD / MADE FG, DOWNS / TURNOVER ON DOWNS / POSS. ON DOWNS — so every result is normalized once at build time rather than string-matched anywhere downstream.

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