The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| ILL pass rush | 1.1% 88135th | 6.5% 200116th | faces NEB | 3.2% 9333rd | 2.2% ~0.7 sacks |
| NEB pass rush | 7.2% 8332nd | 9.5% 16953rd | faces ILL | 3.2% 9431st | 5.2% ~1.7 sacks |
sacks from CFBD play-by-play; college has no charted pressure, and these rates are not opponent-adjusted Measured on 7,926 team-games 2022–25: a college line's sacks-allowed rate carries +0.27 into its next game and a defence's sack rate only +0.10 — the line is most of this. The pairing predicts the game's sack rate +0.27, yards per dropback −0.16 and points added per play −0.15. Heaviest quarter of pairings against lightest: 7.8% vs 4.2% sack rate, 6.1 vs 7.2 yards per dropback.
NEB with the ball
| NEB offence vs ILL defence | NEB offence | ILL defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.4146th | 0.193120th | +114 |
| success rate | 0.49825th | 0.445112th | +87 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.4398th | 1.26988th | +80 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.3445th | 0.123105th | +100 |
| rush: success rate | 0.49429th | 0.41480th | +51 |
| rush: explosiveness | 1.2595th | 1.039103rd | +98 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.49917th | 0.279107th | +90 |
| pass: success rate | 0.50031st | 0.489127th | +96 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.65845th | 1.47852nd | +7 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.51744th | 0.490102nd | +58 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.4494th | 0.329111th | +107 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.40828th | 2.76660th | +32 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.15251st | 0.20783rd | +32 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.72087th | 0.783103rd | +16 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 5.1929th | 3.864105th | +96 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.11023rd | 0.13128th | +5 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.07134th | 0.06915th | -19 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.03932nd | 0.06270th | +38 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 69.70087th | — | — |
ILL with the ball
| ILL offence vs NEB defence | ILL offence | NEB defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.28428th | -0.01843rd | +15 |
| success rate | 0.51611th | 0.36646th | +35 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.27351st | 1.24178th | +27 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.26120th | 0.00260th | +40 |
| rush: success rate | 0.51816th | 0.35537th | +21 |
| rush: explosiveness | 1.02245th | 1.050106th | +61 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.32351st | -0.10712th | -39 |
| pass: success rate | 0.52418th | 0.34926th | +8 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.47590th | 1.34220th | -70 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.56415th | 0.46482nd | +67 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.38524th | 0.1907th | -17 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.45126th | 2.89875th | +49 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.11411th | 0.18251st | +40 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.667103rd | 0.800108th | +5 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.03763rd | 2.61124th | -39 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.11431st | 0.204121st | +90 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.0457th | 0.136119th | +112 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.069109th | 0.06890th | -19 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 71.60048th | — | — |
Rank gap = the defence's FBS rank minus the offence's on the same measure: +60 means the offence ranks 60 places better than the defence it faces. Unit against unit only — college has no player charting to name a matchup by.