NC State · away
at
—
Saturday 2026-11-28 · time TBA · Kenan Stadium
North Carolina · home
GameNewsMismatchesTeamPersonnelBetting

The units, side by side

NCSUUNCbar = FBS percentile, longer is better · dotted tick = median teamOffence: points per play — offence6138Offence: points per play — defence3371Offence: success rate — offence7775Offence: success rate — defence4750Offence: explosiveness — offence453Offence: explosiveness — defence4195Run game — offence7449Run game — defence3942Pass game — offence5232Pass game — defence2774Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — offence7197Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — defence5336Havoc (allowed vs created) — offence3664Havoc (allowed vs created) — defence6172

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

tiecardsNCSU by 38UNC by 42

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). UNC wins about 53% of the time at a number like ours.

NCSU

Games4
Plays per game70.2
Drives per game12.2
SP+3.4 (58th, offence 37th, defence 84th)
Returning production60% (pass 93%, rush 101%, receiving 26%)

UNC

Games3
Plays per game60.7
Drives per game10.0
SP+3.0 (60th, offence 88th, defence 34th)
Returning production28% (pass 10%, rush 54%, receiving 33%)

What each side chooses to do

OffenceNCSUUNC
pass rate, all downs47%80th51%46th
pass rate, standard downs37%110th46%36th
pass rate, 1st down41%86th48%35th
no-huddle share44%87th16%115th
pass rate, passing downs71%32nd62%79th
pass rate, red zone39%66th44%41st
seconds per play (own drives)28.971st30.338th

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

NCSU offence

NCSU offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.22128154 of 138
success rate0.48828133 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.20928177 of 138
rush: points added per play0.21528136 of 138
rush: success rate0.49328130 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.03728141 of 138
pass: points added per play0.25728167 of 138
pass: success rate0.48428139 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.406281110 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.54828130 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.34128151 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.29528141 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.14928147 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.84028121 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.67928125 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.15728188 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.09328182 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.06428195 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)70.90028164 of 138

UNC offence

UNC offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.11818286 of 138
success rate0.48418235 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.038182134 of 138
rush: points added per play0.12418271 of 138
rush: success rate0.53418210 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.706182130 of 138
pass: points added per play0.14818294 of 138
pass: success rate0.42218284 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.45218299 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.53218238 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.37518230 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.8721825 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.12518220 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.77818251 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.00018265 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.13218251 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.08218256 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.04918262 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)70.00018280 of 138

NCSU defence

NCSU defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.12024393 of 138
success rate0.39924374 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.25024382 of 138
rush: points added per play0.06724384 of 138
rush: success rate0.446243106 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.96724386 of 138
pass: points added per play0.270243101 of 138
pass: success rate0.36624342 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.64324399 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.45624377 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.26424354 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.82124366 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.19024361 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.76224390 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.59124384 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.15224354 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.07024317 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.082243118 of 138
opponent average starting field position71.50024358 of 138

UNC defence

UNC defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play-0.01920641 of 138
success rate0.39320669 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.0242068 of 138
rush: points added per play0.05820680 of 138
rush: success rate0.42920690 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.82720632 of 138
pass: points added per play0.02720637 of 138
pass: success rate0.37620649 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.2422066 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.47120687 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.22720625 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.94020688 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.1222067 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.875206129 of 138
points per trip inside the 402.68820629 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.14120640 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.09720665 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.04420628 of 138
opponent average starting field position70.30020638 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