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Final ILL 19 – 42 OSU
Saturday 2026-09-26 12:00 · Ohio Stadium
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The units, side by side

ILLOSUbar = FBS percentile, longer is better · dotted tick = median teamOffence: points per play — offence8095Offence: points per play — defence1384Offence: success rate — offence9396Offence: success rate — defence1977Offence: explosiveness — offence6483Offence: explosiveness — defence3654Run game — offence8666Run game — defence2470Pass game — offence6499Pass game — defence2396Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — offence8258Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — defence5755Havoc (allowed vs created) — offence7883Havoc (allowed vs created) — defence809

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

tiecardsILL by 12OSU by 68

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). OSU wins about 96% of the time at a number like ours.

ILL

Games4
Plays per game61.5
Drives per game9.5
SP+8.5 (41st, offence 24th, defence 69th)
Returning production21% (pass 3%, rush 34%, receiving 31%)

OSU

Games4
Plays per game67.8
Drives per game11.5
SP+28.8 (2nd, offence 1st, defence 2nd)
Returning production68% (pass 94%, rush 55%, receiving 50%)

What each side chooses to do

OffenceILLOSU
pass rate, all downs52%37th51%44th
pass rate, standard downs44%46th43%59th
pass rate, 1st down44%58th44%64th
no-huddle share19%112th10%121st
pass rate, red zone61%4th39%64th
pass rate, passing downs75%18th79%7th
seconds per play (own drives)30.531st30.242nd

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

ILL offence

ILL offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.28424628 of 138
success rate0.51624611 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.27324651 of 138
rush: points added per play0.26124620 of 138
rush: success rate0.51824616 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.02224645 of 138
pass: points added per play0.32324651 of 138
pass: success rate0.52424618 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.47524690 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.56424615 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.38524624 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.45124626 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.11424611 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.667246103 of 138
points per trip inside the 404.03724663 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.11424631 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.0452467 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.069246109 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)71.60024648 of 138

OSU offence

OSU offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.3942718 of 138
success rate0.5242717 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.34227124 of 138
rush: points added per play0.17527148 of 138
rush: success rate0.45027168 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.02427144 of 138
pass: points added per play0.6632713 of 138
pass: success rate0.6072712 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.57927164 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.57227110 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.36527137 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.20127158 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.16827170 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.78327148 of 138
points per trip inside the 405.11127113 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.11127124 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.06327123 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.04827159 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)68.200271107 of 138

ILL defence

ILL defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.193274120 of 138
success rate0.445274112 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.26927488 of 138
rush: points added per play0.123274105 of 138
rush: success rate0.41427480 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.039274103 of 138
pass: points added per play0.279274107 of 138
pass: success rate0.489274127 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.47827452 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.490274102 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.329274111 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.76627460 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.20727483 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.783274103 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.864274105 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.13127428 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.06927415 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.06227470 of 138
opponent average starting field position71.60027459 of 138

OSU defence

OSU defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play-0.08126923 of 138
success rate0.35326933 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.21126964 of 138
rush: points added per play-0.04226942 of 138
rush: success rate0.435269100 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.94526980 of 138
pass: points added per play-0.1372697 of 138
pass: success rate0.2752692 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.58826983 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.39826928 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.28226971 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.79126962 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.19426969 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.66726949 of 138
points per trip inside the 402.77826933 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.208269125 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.10426978 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.104269135 of 138
opponent average starting field position75.700269128 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