The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| NIU pass rush | 3.9% 10292nd | 9.6% 19848th | faces AF | 6.7% 3094th | 5.3% ~1.7 sacks |
| AF pass rush | 7.0% 5738th | 8.9% 12467th | faces NIU | 10.7% 122133rd | 8.8% ~2.9 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.
AF with the ball
| AF offence vs NIU defence | AF offence | NIU defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.29722nd | 0.159109th | +87 |
| success rate | 0.48932nd | 0.444111th | +79 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.083129th | 1.323106th | -23 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.3368th | 0.11098th | +90 |
| rush: success rate | 0.51120th | 0.41176th | +56 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.96670th | 1.076113th | +43 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.29059th | 0.26099th | +40 |
| pass: success rate | 0.41786th | 0.492128th | +42 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.8779th | 1.48955th | +46 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.55424th | 0.47892nd | +68 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.28695th | 0.372130th | +35 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.8366th | 2.90277th | +71 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.0681st | 0.20279th | +78 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.80833rd | 0.57919th | -14 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.31647th | 3.73196th | +49 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.0643rd | 0.12719th | +16 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.0212nd | 0.08647th | +45 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04343rd | 0.04119th | -24 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 73.30026th | — | — |
NIU with the ball
| NIU offence vs AF defence | NIU offence | AF defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | -0.121137th | 0.00453rd | -84 |
| success rate | 0.362127th | 0.34727th | -100 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.19090th | 1.430130th | +40 |
| rush: points added per play | -0.112134th | 0.125107th | -27 |
| rush: success rate | 0.381117th | 0.39865th | -52 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.87793rd | 1.118122nd | +29 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.007122nd | -0.06415th | -107 |
| pass: success rate | 0.366118th | 0.31214th | -104 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.414108th | 1.867131st | +23 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.442114th | 0.41137th | -77 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.215131st | 0.23029th | -102 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 2.560130th | 2.86671st | -59 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.210113th | 0.21695th | -18 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.76558th | 0.66744th | -14 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 1.545137th | 4.000111th | -26 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.177118th | 0.15049th | -69 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.132132nd | 0.07528th | -104 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04551st | 0.075101st | +50 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 72.30043rd | — | — |
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.