data dump
tempo
Not everyone meditates between snaps. [Bryan Fuller]

2022 FBS Tempo Data Comment Count

Seth February 10th, 2023 at 1:09 PM

This is just a data dump.

To include tempo information in my HTTV previews I needed to reproduce good adjusted tempo data from last year's play-by-play information. This meant a TON of cleanup on the drive data the schools report to the NCAA (and which gets republished by, e.g. ESPN, in the box scores). Special thank you to Fox Sports for producing some of their own drive data to check against, and several schools that went back and repaired mistakes. No thanks to teams like Virginia Tech and various barely-FBS Sun Belters who routinely screw up their data and cause people like me all kinds of extra work.

I've removed Garbage Drives, using Fremeau's definition, plus two-minute drill situations were excised. Punts are also removed, mostly (by the schools themselves). Hopefully the college football world finds this useful. Unsurprisingly you won't have to scroll far up from the bottom to find Michigan. I've also bolded Michigan and their 2023 opponents.

Big table of data after THE JUMP.

Team Conf Seconds Plays Plays/Min Nat Rk Percentile
Indiana Big Ten 14560 857 3.532 1 100%
Oklahoma Big 12 15726 909 3.468 2 96%
Oklahoma State Big 12 17609 989 3.370 3 89%
Tennessee SEC 14944 836 3.357 4 88%
Ole Miss SEC 16565 911 3.300 5 84%
Kent State MAC 13728 749 3.274 6 82%
Ball State MAC 14827 787 3.185 7 76%
Middle Tennessee ConfUSA 15974 838 3.148 8 73%
Texas Tech Big 12 19956 1043 3.136 9 72%
Georgia Southern Sun Belt 16730 873 3.131 10 72%
SMU AAC 18196 948 3.126 11 72%
Wake Forest ACC 17908 918 3.076 12 68%
Florida International ConfUSA 13780 702 3.057 13 67%
Utah State MtnWest 16764 854 3.057 14 67%
Florida Atlantic ConfUSA 13103 660 3.022 15 64%
Nevada MtnWest 15219 765 3.016 16 64%
Georgia State Sun Belt 15761 785 2.988 17 62%
Northwestern Big Ten 16723 832 2.985 18 62%
Texas Big 12 15287 754 2.959 19 60%
Arkansas SEC 18957 934 2.956 20 60%
North Texas ConfUSA 15828 779 2.953 21 60%
Western Kentucky ConfUSA 17910 876 2.935 22 58%
Nebraska Big Ten 15611 762 2.929 23 58%
Toledo MAC 18986 926 2.926 24 58%
Old Dominion ConfUSA 14252 695 2.926 25 58%
Hawaii MtnWest 15284 739 2.901 26 56%
Virginia ACC 13557 653 2.890 27 55%
Temple AAC 14245 682 2.873 28 54%
Arkansas State Sun Belt 15681 746 2.854 29 53%
UTSA ConfUSA 19254 912 2.842 30 52%
Washington State Pac-12 16352 774 2.840 31 52%
Marshall ConfUSA 16228 762 2.817 32 50%
Tulsa AAC 17553 824 2.817 33 50%
UCLA Pac-12 18137 849 2.809 34 49%
Boston College ACC 14539 676 2.790 35 48%
Central Michigan MAC 15387 715 2.788 36 48%
Akron MAC 12187 565 2.782 37 48%
Texas State Sun Belt 16463 761 2.773 38 47%
Cincinnati AAC 17089 789 2.770 39 47%
Virginia Tech ACC 15352 708 2.767 40 47%
UCF AAC 19450 892 2.752 41 45%
North Carolina ACC 21422 982 2.750 42 45%
UL-Lafayette Sun Belt 18828 862 2.747 43 45%
Stanford Pac-12 15498 705 2.729 44 44%
Georgia Tech ACC 17078 773 2.716 45 43%
Maryland Big Ten 18526 837 2.711 46 43%
Louisville ACC 18008 811 2.702 47 42%
Texas A&M SEC 17380 780 2.693 48 41%
Illinois Big Ten 20941 939 2.690 49 41%
California Pac-12 16953 759 2.686 50 41%
UNLV MtnWest 13106 586 2.683 51 41%
Liberty Ind (G5) 19283 862 2.682 52 41%
Memphis AAC 19066 851 2.678 53 40%
Bowling Green MAC 16804 749 2.674 54 40%
Penn State Big Ten 16756 745 2.668 55 40%
Alabama SEC 17574 781 2.666 56 39%
Mississippi State SEC 18970 843 2.666 57 39%
Rutgers Big Ten 14762 655 2.662 58 39%
San Jose State MtnWest 17160 761 2.661 59 39%
Colorado Pac-12 11695 518 2.658 60 39%
WMU MAC 18494 818 2.654 61 39%
Clemson ACC 21902 968 2.652 62 38%
Buffalo MAC 18778 829 2.649 63 38%
Southern Miss ConfUSA 18192 803 2.648 64 38%
Iowa Big Ten 18035 795 2.645 65 38%
West Virginia Big 12 18052 793 2.636 66 37%
Iowa State Big 12 19278 845 2.630 67 37%
Miami-OH MAC 15003 656 2.623 68 36%
James Madison Sun Belt 16897 738 2.621 69 36%
NC State ACC 20379 890 2.620 70 36%
Purdue Big Ten 20210 882 2.619 71 36%
Tulane AAC 19239 839 2.617 72 36%
Arizona Pac-12 16728 729 2.615 73 36%
Ohio State Big Ten 17966 782 2.612 74 36%
South Alabama Sun Belt 20576 895 2.610 75 36%
Oregon Pac-12 19205 835 2.609 76 35%
Michigan State Big Ten 15930 692 2.606 77 35%
TCU Big 12 23430 1015 2.599 78 35%
Washington Pac-12 20660 893 2.593 79 34%
Boise State MtnWest 18567 794 2.566 80 32%
LSU SEC 20056 856 2.561 81 32%
Syracuse ACC 16406 700 2.560 82 32%
South Carolina SEC 18082 771 2.558 83 32%
Missouri SEC 18426 783 2.550 84 31%
Appalachian State Sun Belt 17919 761 2.548 85 31%
Kansas State Big 12 21304 903 2.543 86 31%
Louisiana Tech ConfUSA 17808 751 2.530 87 30%
Fresno State MtnWest 20309 855 2.526 88 30%
NIU MAC 18244 765 2.516 89 29%
Miami ACC 18219 763 2.513 90 29%
Wisconsin Big Ten 16537 692 2.511 91 29%
New Mexico MtnWest 15503 648 2.508 92 28%
Houston AAC 19586 818 2.506 93 28%
Wyoming MtnWest 19231 803 2.505 94 28%
UL-Monroe Sun Belt 16688 696 2.502 95 28%
Florida SEC 19032 792 2.497 96 28%
Eastern Michigan MAC 17498 727 2.493 97 27%
Florida State ACC 18612 769 2.479 98 26%
Auburn SEC 18284 754 2.474 99 26%
South Florida AAC 15533 640 2.472 100 26%
BYU Ind (G5) 16701 685 2.461 101 25%
Arizona State Pac-12 15580 638 2.457 102 25%
Ohio MAC 20896 848 2.435 103 23%
Charlotte ConfUSA 15207 616 2.430 104 23%
Troy Sun Belt 20978 849 2.428 105 23%
East Carolina AAC 18023 728 2.424 106 22%
Colorado State MtnWest 16869 681 2.422 107 22%
Vanderbilt SEC 17794 718 2.421 108 22%
UConn AAC 17335 695 2.406 109 21%
New Mexico State Ind (G5) 15299 613 2.404 110 21%
Pittsburgh ACC 23117 926 2.403 111 21%
San Diego State MtnWest 18766 751 2.401 112 21%
UTEP ConfUSA 19881 795 2.399 113 21%
Georgia SEC 23438 931 2.383 114 20%
Baylor Big 12 21403 850 2.383 115 20%
Notre Dame Ind (P5) 21613 856 2.376 116 19%
USC Pac-12 22898 906 2.374 117 19%
Michigan Big Ten 22501 884 2.357 118 18%
Massachusetts Ind (G5) 16706 655 2.352 119 18%
Kansas Big 12 19570 765 2.345 120 17%
Duke ACC 20672 807 2.342 121 17%
Utah Pac-12 21946 855 2.338 122 16%
Oregon State Pac-12 20061 777 2.324 123 16%
Coastal Carolina Sun Belt 19642 752 2.297 124 14%
UAB ConfUSA 19176 727 2.275 125 12%
Rice ConfUSA 19984 735 2.207 126 7%
Navy AAC 17414 638 2.198 127 7%
Minnesota Big Ten 20683 756 2.193 128 6%
Army Ind (G5) 19446 704 2.172 129 5%
Kentucky SEC 21580 780 2.169 130 5%
Air Force MtnWest 20380 714 2.102 131 0%

Comments

Bo Schemheckler

February 10th, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^

I find it very interesting that there are no top teams in the bottom 50ish except for a very tight grouping of Michigan, USC, Georgia, and Notre Dame. Something about running between 2.357-2.383 plays per minute seems to correlate to success.

Joined: 09/04/2013

MGoPoints: 37413

Bo Schemheckler

February 10th, 2023 at 3:01 PM ^

I am not saying slower tempo correlates to more wins, in fact, it seems like most teams with slower tempo are not good. I was just noting that small pocket of success amid the garbage and that very tiny range seems to have a correlation with winning while anything slower or better than that by 20-30 spots has low success

Joined: 09/04/2013

MGoPoints: 37413

ST3

February 10th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^

This is very interesting data. It does seem to tilt towards passing teams. If I'm understanding this correctly, it's plays per minute of game clock time. So if my team throws an incompletion, the clock stops and I can get more plays in per minute. I suppose running out of bounds and running for a first down also skews things a little. Still, overall, it matches up with the eye test.

Joined: 09/11/2010

MGoPoints: 52559

Seth

February 10th, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^

The clock only stops on OOB plays to reset the ball so the pass/run thing doesn't matter as much anymore. I tried messing around with it, but it was going to have to get super granular.

I do have passing plays broken out. 

There wasn't a huge relationship (r-squared was 7.3%) between percent of all plays that were incompletes and Tempo. 

 

If I make a 7.33% adjustment it does change some rankings: Cal falls to 64th (from 50th), Miss State falls to 70th (from 57th). But it's not a huge change.

Rk Team Conf Seconds Plays Plays/Min Nat Rk Incomplete % Adj Tempo Rk Change
1 Indiana Big Ten 14560 857 3.532 1 31% 3.506 1 0
2 Oklahoma Big 12 15726 909 3.468 2 25% 3.467 2 0
3 Oklahoma State Big 12 17609 989 3.370 3 30% 3.347 3 0
4 Tennessee SEC 14944 836 3.357 4 30% 3.332 4 0
5 Ole Miss SEC 16565 911 3.300 5 24% 3.298 5 0
6 Kent State MAC 13728 749 3.274 6 21% 3.285 6 0
7 Ball State MAC 14827 787 3.185 7 28% 3.168 7 0
8 Texas Tech Big 12 19956 1043 3.136 9 33% 3.101 8 -1
9 Middle Tennessee ConfUSA 15974 838 3.148 8 36% 3.099 9 1
10 SMU AAC 18196 948 3.126 11 31% 3.099 10 -1
11 Georgia Southern Sun Belt 16730 873 3.131 10 35% 3.089 11 1
12 Utah State MtnWest 16764 854 3.057 14 23% 3.062 12 -2
13 Wake Forest ACC 17908 918 3.076 12 34% 3.037 13 1
14 Florida International ConfUSA 13780 702 3.057 13 31% 3.028 14 1
15 Florida Atlantic ConfUSA 13103 660 3.022 15 23% 3.028 15 0
16 Nevada MtnWest 15219 765 3.016 16 26% 3.010 16 0
17 Georgia State Sun Belt 15761 785 2.988 17 21% 3.001 17 0
18 Northwestern Big Ten 16723 832 2.985 18 26% 2.976 18 0
19 Arkansas SEC 18957 934 2.956 20 24% 2.955 19 -1
20 North Texas ConfUSA 15828 779 2.953 21 25% 2.950 20 -1
21 Texas Big 12 15287 754 2.959 19 27% 2.947 21 2
22 Toledo MAC 18986 926 2.926 24 25% 2.924 22 -2
23 Nebraska Big Ten 15611 762 2.929 23 28% 2.912 23 0
24 Old Dominion ConfUSA 14252 695 2.926 25 30% 2.902 24 -1
25 Western Kentucky ConfUSA 17910 876 2.935 22 35% 2.890 25 3
26 Hawaii MtnWest 15284 739 2.901 26 29% 2.880 26 0
27 Virginia ACC 13557 653 2.890 27 27% 2.878 27 0
28 Temple AAC 14245 682 2.873 28 35% 2.830 28 0
29 Marshall ConfUSA 16228 762 2.817 32 22% 2.828 29 -3
30 Arkansas State Sun Belt 15681 746 2.854 29 32% 2.824 30 1
31 UTSA ConfUSA 19254 912 2.842 30 32% 2.812 31 1
32 Tulsa AAC 17553 824 2.817 33 29% 2.799 32 -1
33 UCLA Pac-12 18137 849 2.809 34 31% 2.780 33 -1
34 Central Michigan MAC 15387 715 2.788 36 26% 2.780 34 -2
35 Washington State Pac-12 16352 774 2.840 31 40% 2.776 35 4
36 Virginia Tech ACC 15352 708 2.767 40 26% 2.758 36 -4
37 Boston College ACC 14539 676 2.790 35 33% 2.754 37 2
38 Texas State Sun Belt 16463 761 2.773 38 30% 2.751 38 0
39 Cincinnati AAC 17089 789 2.770 39 30% 2.748 39 0
40 Akron MAC 12187 565 2.782 37 33% 2.746 40 3
41 UCF AAC 19450 892 2.752 41 26% 2.742 41 0
42 UL-Lafayette Sun Belt 18828 862 2.747 43 26% 2.740 42 -1
43 North Carolina ACC 21422 982 2.750 42 32% 2.718 43 1
44 Georgia Tech ACC 17078 773 2.716 45 27% 2.705 44 -1
45 Louisville ACC 18008 811 2.702 47 25% 2.700 45 -2
46 Stanford Pac-12 15498 705 2.729 44 33% 2.695 46 2
47 Texas A&M SEC 17380 780 2.693 48 27% 2.680 47 -1
48 Maryland Big Ten 18526 837 2.711 46 32% 2.678 48 2
49 Illinois Big Ten 20941 939 2.690 49 29% 2.671 49 0
50 Colorado Pac-12 11695 518 2.658 60 21% 2.671 50 -10
51 Rutgers Big Ten 14762 655 2.662 58 22% 2.670 51 -7
52 Liberty Ind (G5) 19283 862 2.682 52 29% 2.665 52 0
53 UNLV MtnWest 13106 586 2.683 51 29% 2.662 53 2
54 WMU MAC 18494 818 2.654 61 22% 2.662 54 -7
55 Southern Miss ConfUSA 18192 803 2.648 64 23% 2.653 55 -9
56 Penn State Big Ten 16756 745 2.668 55 28% 2.652 56 1
57 Memphis AAC 19066 851 2.678 53 31% 2.649 57 4
58 Bowling Green MAC 16804 749 2.674 54 31% 2.647 58 4
59 Buffalo MAC 18778 829 2.649 63 25% 2.646 59 -4
60 Clemson ACC 21902 968 2.652 62 26% 2.643 60 -2
61 Miami-OH MAC 15003 656 2.623 68 21% 2.638 61 -7
62 Alabama SEC 17574 781 2.666 56 31% 2.637 62 6
63 Iowa Big Ten 18035 795 2.645 65 26% 2.636 63 -2
64 California Pac-12 16953 759 2.686 50 37% 2.636 64 14
65 West Virginia Big 12 18052 793 2.636 66 27% 2.625 65 -1
66 San Jose State MtnWest 17160 761 2.661 59 35% 2.618 66 7
67 James Madison Sun Belt 16897 738 2.621 69 26% 2.613 67 -2
68 Tulane AAC 19239 839 2.617 72 27% 2.604 68 -4
69 NC State ACC 20379 890 2.620 70 30% 2.597 69 -1
70 Mississippi State SEC 18970 843 2.666 57 43% 2.593 70 13
71 Oregon Pac-12 19205 835 2.609 76 29% 2.588 71 -5
72 South Alabama Sun Belt 20576 895 2.610 75 30% 2.588 72 -3
73 TCU Big 12 23430 1015 2.599 78 27% 2.587 73 -5
74 Ohio State Big Ten 17966 782 2.612 74 31% 2.586 74 0
75 Iowa State Big 12 19278 845 2.630 67 36% 2.584 75 8
76 Michigan State Big Ten 15930 692 2.606 77 30% 2.583 76 -1
77 Arizona Pac-12 16728 729 2.615 73 34% 2.576 77 4
78 Purdue Big Ten 20210 882 2.619 71 35% 2.576 78 7
79 Boise State MtnWest 18567 794 2.566 80 22% 2.573 79 -1
80 Washington Pac-12 20660 893 2.593 79 36% 2.545 80 1
81 Kansas State Big 12 21304 903 2.543 86 25% 2.538 81 -5
82 Appalachian State Sun Belt 17919 761 2.548 85 27% 2.538 82 -3
83 Missouri SEC 18426 783 2.550 84 28% 2.535 83 -1
84 NIU MAC 18244 765 2.516 89 20% 2.532 84 -5
85 Syracuse ACC 16406 700 2.560 82 32% 2.528 85 3
86 New Mexico MtnWest 15503 648 2.508 92 20% 2.523 86 -6
87 Wisconsin Big Ten 16537 692 2.511 91 21% 2.522 87 -4
88 Wyoming MtnWest 19231 803 2.505 94 20% 2.522 88 -6
89 LSU SEC 20056 856 2.561 81 34% 2.521 89 8
90 South Carolina SEC 18082 771 2.558 83 34% 2.519 90 7
91 Florida SEC 19032 792 2.497 96 24% 2.498 91 -5
92 Louisiana Tech ConfUSA 17808 751 2.530 87 33% 2.493 92 5
93 Auburn SEC 18284 754 2.474 99 20% 2.492 93 -6
94 Miami ACC 18219 763 2.513 90 31% 2.487 94 4
95 UL-Monroe Sun Belt 16688 696 2.502 95 29% 2.483 95 0
96 Fresno State MtnWest 20309 855 2.526 88 36% 2.477 96 8
97 South Florida AAC 15533 640 2.472 100 23% 2.477 97 -3
98 Eastern Michigan MAC 17498 727 2.493 97 30% 2.470 98 1
99 Florida State ACC 18612 769 2.479 98 28% 2.464 99 1
100 Houston AAC 19586 818 2.506 93 38% 2.452 100 7
101 BYU Ind (G5) 16701 685 2.461 101 30% 2.439 101 0
102 Vanderbilt SEC 17794 718 2.421 108 22% 2.428 102 -6
103 UConn AAC 17335 695 2.406 109 19% 2.424 103 -6
104 Arizona State Pac-12 15580 638 2.457 102 33% 2.421 104 2
105 New Mexico State Ind (G5) 15299 613 2.404 110 21% 2.418 105 -5
106 Ohio MAC 20896 848 2.435 103 30% 2.410 106 3
107 Pittsburgh ACC 23117 926 2.403 111 23% 2.410 107 -4
108 Troy Sun Belt 20978 849 2.428 105 29% 2.408 108 3
109 UTEP ConfUSA 19881 795 2.399 113 22% 2.406 109 -4
110 San Diego State MtnWest 18766 751 2.401 112 26% 2.395 110 -2
111 Colorado State MtnWest 16869 681 2.422 107 32% 2.392 111 4
112 Charlotte ConfUSA 15207 616 2.430 104 35% 2.389 112 8
113 East Carolina AAC 18023 728 2.424 106 33% 2.387 113 7
114 Baylor Big 12 21403 850 2.383 115 24% 2.382 114 -1
115 Notre Dame Ind (P5) 21613 856 2.376 116 23% 2.380 115 -1
116 Massachusetts Ind (G5) 16706 655 2.352 119 19% 2.374 116 -3
117 Georgia SEC 23438 931 2.383 114 30% 2.361 117 3
118 Michigan Big Ten 22501 884 2.357 118 24% 2.360 118 0
119 Kansas Big 12 19570 765 2.345 120 26% 2.338 119 -1
120 USC Pac-12 22898 906 2.374 117 35% 2.330 120 3
121 Duke ACC 20672 807 2.342 121 28% 2.326 121 0
122 Oregon State Pac-12 20061 777 2.324 123 24% 2.325 122 -1
123 Utah Pac-12 21946 855 2.338 122 28% 2.322 123 1
124 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt 19642 752 2.297 124 28% 2.280 124 0
125 UAB ConfUSA 19176 727 2.275 125 24% 2.274 125 0
126 Navy AAC 17414 638 2.198 127 7% 2.268 126 -1
127 Army Ind (G5) 19446 704 2.172 129 6% 2.246 127 -2
128 Minnesota Big Ten 20683 756 2.193 128 20% 2.209 128 0
129 Rice ConfUSA 19984 735 2.207 126 30% 2.185 129 3
130 Air Force MtnWest 20380 714 2.102 131 6% 2.172 130 -1
131 Kentucky SEC 21580 780 2.169 130 29% 2.150 131 1

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149219

Seth

February 10th, 2023 at 3:17 PM ^

To add to this: I don't think incompletions alone are the story here, because it doesn't capture how teams in the middle really use tempo. Penn State actually moves pretty leisurely, but they like to pull out tempo after 1st downs or controversial plays, when they figure the defense might have lost focus. The different between the 50th and 75th team could be nil--they could be deploying the same tempo strategy but just getting fewer opportunities.

It's a curve, so the outliers are the only ones I really care about.

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149219

Gabranto

February 10th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^

Great data. Very interesting. One comment, the percentile data is not actually the percentile team. For example the 65th team is Iowa and would be 50th percentile in terms of 130 teams. That led me to question what is the calculation you used to calculate percentile...

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 273

Venom7541

February 10th, 2023 at 2:49 PM ^

Looking at the top teams as far as tempo, it seems like tempo might be more of a gimmick than sustainable against top teams. Look at Tennessee when tempo didn't work for them. Georgia was barely above Michigan.

Joined: 10/06/2016

MGoPoints: 3706

Blue Middle

February 10th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^

I thought this was going to be about the overall pace of games, which is pathetic.  NFL games are typically 30 minutes shorter due to shorter commercial breaks.  That's ridiculous.

Please change, NCAA.

Joined: 01/07/2019

MGoPoints: 5242