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Saturday 2026-10-17 · time TBA · Gerald J. Ford Stadium
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The units, side by side

UVASMUbar = FBS percentile, longer is better · dotted tick = median teamOffence: points per play — offence8072Offence: points per play — defence9454Offence: success rate — offence6994Offence: success rate — defence8771Offence: explosiveness — offence4658Offence: explosiveness — defence9826Run game — offence5812Run game — defence7149Pass game — offence9196Pass game — defence9772Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — offence7840Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — defence4760Havoc (allowed vs created) — offence8774Havoc (allowed vs created) — defence1612

Percentile among the 138 FBS teams on each measure this season, offence and defence, both teams. Raw values, plays behind them and ranks are in the tables below.

What actually happens around a number like this

tiecardsUVA by 30SMU by 50

Each bar is how often a college game lands on that margin, from 7,877 FBS games 2015–2025, centred on our card line. The spread misses by 12.3 points on average (37% within a touchdown). SMU wins about 73% of the time at a number like ours.

UVA

Games4
Plays per game73.5
Drives per game12.0
SP+14.4 (21st, offence 29th, defence 20th)
Returning production10% (pass 1%, rush 21%, receiving 9%)

SMU

Games4
Plays per game70.5
Drives per game12.2
SP+13.0 (26th, offence 16th, defence 41st)
Returning production57% (pass 97%, rush 1%, receiving 37%)

What each side chooses to do

OffenceUVASMU
pass rate, all downs43%110th53%33rd
pass rate, standard downs37%105th43%58th
pass rate, 1st down42%82nd47%42nd
no-huddle share8%127th48%84th
pass rate, passing downs59%91st80%4th
pass rate, red zone37%77th41%54th
seconds per play (own drives)30.630th26.4116th

choices, from CFBD play-by-play; a choice repeats within a season, a result mostly does not Rank 1 = highest rate / fastest among FBS.

UVA offence

UVA offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.28429429 of 138
success rate0.47629444 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.21529475 of 138
rush: points added per play0.15029459 of 138
rush: success rate0.46729454 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.90829484 of 138
pass: points added per play0.53629414 of 138
pass: success rate0.52129420 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.58429461 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.55029427 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.257294111 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.37029431 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.13329432 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.87029410 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.65529427 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.10529419 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.07829448 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.02729410 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)67.400294117 of 138

SMU offence

SMU offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.25128240 of 138
success rate0.5182829 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.25028259 of 138
rush: points added per play-0.027282121 of 138
rush: success rate0.47028249 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.646282134 of 138
pass: points added per play0.6032827 of 138
pass: success rate0.5732827 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.71028233 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.55828221 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.40528215 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.03928283 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.16428262 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.652282109 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.90328271 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.12128237 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.07828247 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.04328246 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)67.600282112 of 138

UVA defence

UVA defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play-0.1442439 of 138
success rate0.33324319 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)0.9552434 of 138
rush: points added per play-0.04324341 of 138
rush: success rate0.37524351 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.65124310 of 138
pass: points added per play-0.1452435 of 138
pass: success rate0.30324310 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.39724332 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.39924329 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.22224321 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.89124374 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.18824360 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.69224356 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.14324356 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.198243116 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.09924369 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.099243133 of 138
opponent average starting field position73.20024394 of 138

SMU defence

SMU defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.02325564 of 138
success rate0.36125541 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.317255103 of 138
rush: points added per play0.03025571 of 138
rush: success rate0.42625589 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.065255109 of 138
pass: points added per play0.03825540 of 138
pass: success rate0.2992557 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.711255112 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.43425557 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.20025511 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.70225556 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.21325592 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.3892552 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.950255109 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.204255122 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.141255124 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.06325576 of 138
opponent average starting field position73.600255102 of 138

points added per play: CFBD predicted points added (their EPA); positive helps the offence · success rate: share of plays that gain 50% of needed yards on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th · explosiveness: average points added on the plays that succeeded - big-play size · havoc: tackles for loss, forced fumbles, interceptions and breakups as a share of plays · rank: 1 = best among FBS teams in the direction that helps that side · fei: bcftoys.com FEI: opponent-adjusted possession efficiency, offence/defence/special teams, with FBS rank - theirs · fplus: bcftoys.com F+: FEI and SP+ combined, in standard deviations above average - theirs