The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| NU pass rush | 4.9% 6174th | 7.0% 129109th | faces ILL | 3.2% 9431st | 4.1% ~1.3 sacks |
| ILL pass rush | 1.1% 88135th | 6.5% 200116th | faces NU | 8.9% 56121st | 5.0% ~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.
ILL with the ball
| ILL offence vs NU defence | ILL offence | NU defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.28428th | 0.08380th | +52 |
| success rate | 0.51611th | 0.441106th | +95 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.27351st | 1.12032nd | -19 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.26120th | 0.112100th | +80 |
| rush: success rate | 0.51816th | 0.472124th | +108 |
| rush: explosiveness | 1.02245th | 0.86846th | +1 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.32351st | 0.03538th | -13 |
| pass: success rate | 0.52418th | 0.40574th | +56 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.47590th | 1.40633rd | -57 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.56415th | 0.515123rd | +108 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.38524th | 0.22827th | +3 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.45126th | 3.429131st | +105 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.11411th | 0.14217th | +6 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.667103rd | 0.59122nd | -81 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.03763rd | 2.42117th | -46 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.11431st | 0.16272nd | +41 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.0457th | 0.0637th | 0 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.069109th | 0.099131st | +22 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 71.60048th | — | — |
NU with the ball
| NU offence vs ILL defence | NU offence | ILL defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.30421st | 0.193120th | +99 |
| success rate | 0.46349th | 0.445112th | +63 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.29445th | 1.26988th | +43 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.15654th | 0.123105th | +51 |
| rush: success rate | 0.41098th | 0.41480th | -18 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.97865th | 1.039103rd | +38 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.54013th | 0.279107th | +94 |
| pass: success rate | 0.53713th | 0.489127th | +114 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.64946th | 1.47852nd | +6 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.48578th | 0.490102nd | +24 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.41114th | 0.329111th | +97 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 2.835104th | 2.76660th | -44 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.19093rd | 0.20783rd | -10 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.81829th | 0.783103rd | +74 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 5.11112th | 3.864105th | +93 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.13356th | 0.13128th | -28 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.112117th | 0.06915th | -102 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.0214th | 0.06270th | +66 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 72.40041st | — | — |
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.