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Saturday 2026-11-21 · time TBA · Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)
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The units, side by side

IOWAILLbar = FBS percentile, longer is better · dotted tick = median teamOffence: points per play — offence5380Offence: points per play — defence9513Offence: success rate — offence4293Offence: success rate — defence9819Offence: explosiveness — offence6564Offence: explosiveness — defence9236Run game — offence7886Run game — defence9624Pass game — offence4064Pass game — defence6423Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — offence8582Line yards (O-line vs D-line) — defence6957Havoc (allowed vs created) — offence9178Havoc (allowed vs created) — defence4280

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

tiecardsIOWA by 31ILL by 49

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). ILL wins about 72% of the time at a number like ours.

IOWA

Games4
Plays per game65.8
Drives per game11.8
SP+14.8 (19th, offence 51st, defence 10th)
Returning production34% (pass 16%, rush 20%, receiving 56%)

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%)

What each side chooses to do

OffenceIOWAILL
pass rate, all downs50%52nd52%37th
pass rate, standard downs45%44th44%46th
pass rate, 1st down43%65th44%58th
no-huddle share4%133rd19%112th
pass rate, passing downs64%63rd75%18th
pass rate, red zone50%20th61%4th
seconds per play (own drives)29.265th30.531st

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

IOWA offence

IOWA offencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play0.17226365 of 138
success rate0.43026381 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.27926349 of 138
rush: points added per play0.23226331 of 138
rush: success rate0.42626389 of 138
rush: explosiveness1.3422633 of 138
pass: points added per play0.19426383 of 138
pass: success rate0.45026360 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.219263136 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.51126349 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.241263118 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)3.49526322 of 138
rushes stopped at or behind the line0.13226327 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.529263132 of 138
points per trip inside the 403.66726382 of 138
havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.09926314 of 138
havoc allowed by the front seven0.0462638 of 138
havoc allowed by the secondary0.05326367 of 138
average starting field position (yards from own goal)68.400263103 of 138

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

IOWA defence

IOWA defencevalueplaysFBS rank
points added per play-0.1452438 of 138
success rate0.3002434 of 138
explosiveness (points added on successful plays)1.03824312 of 138
rush: points added per play-0.2442436 of 138
rush: success rate0.31924319 of 138
rush: explosiveness0.3852432 of 138
pass: points added per play0.06824351 of 138
pass: success rate0.3012438 of 138
pass: explosiveness1.787243120 of 138
standard downs: success rate0.3552438 of 138
passing downs: success rate0.20924315 of 138
line yards per rush (the O-line)2.60424344 of 138
rushes stopped (by this defence) at or behind the line0.19324367 of 138
short-yardage conversion rate0.72724375 of 138
points per trip inside the 402.1672439 of 138
havoc created (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play)0.17324381 of 138
havoc created by the front seven0.08224340 of 138
havoc created by the secondary0.091243129 of 138
opponent average starting field position77.100243133 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

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