College Football Defenses Ranked By Drive Outcomes

Burnt Orange Nation went about the task of ranking all 118 NCAA Division I-A defenses by how drives ended against them in 2011. The graphic is outstanding. You can think of this as a college football defense's batting average, charting all drives based on whether the opponent's drive resulted in a touchdown, field goal, a punt or a turnover on downs. Defenses are ranked by percentage of drives resulting in a score, with a higher weight given to touchdowns.

To the surprise of basically no one, Alabama and LSU ranked 1-2 in terms of stopping scores. Boston College was middle of the road at #51 overall. The offense has been dreadful the past few seasons, but it's the D that took a bigger step back in 2011. Though, relative to the rest of the conference, BC still finished in the top half of the league.

Here's how BC stacks up to the rest of the conference in 2011:

4. Florida St. Seminoles
16. Virginia Tech Hokies
46. Miami Hurricanes
51. Boston College Eagles
59. North Carolina Tar Heels
62. N.C. State Wolfpack
64. Clemson Tigers
65. Virginia Cavaliers
72. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
75. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
98. Duke Blue Devils
99. Maryland Terrapins

Note these defensive rankings don't account for opponent quality, so comparisons across conference won't be terribly accurate. Interesting analysis and a different take on ranking defenses. Thoughts?