2023 College Football Defense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats

Updated Jan. 9, 2024 12:14 p.m. ET

Data Skrive

Want to know where the top FBS squads stack up following Week 19 of college football, in terms of their overall defensive stats? Multiple rankings are available here.

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NCAA FBS Team Defense Rankings through Week 19

Total Defense

#	Team	Defense Yards Avg.
1	Michigan (1)	247
2	Penn State (10)	247.6
3	Ohio State (7)	265.5
4	Ohio	272.8
5	Notre Dame (15)	275.8
6	Air Force	277.7
7	Iowa (20)	281.9
8	Clemson	288.2
9	Georgia (6)	289.1
10	UCLA	301.5
11	Nebraska	303.5
12	SMU (17)	304.1
13	Utah	307.2
14	Troy	308.3
15	South Alabama	312.8
16	Rutgers	314
17	Alabama (5)	316
18	Ball State	316.1
19	Texas A&M	316.2
20	Virginia Tech	316.8
21	Louisville (16)	317
22	Oregon (8)	318.4
23	Northern Illinois	320.3
24	Miami (FL)	321.6
25	Bowling Green	326.1

Passing Defense

#	Team	Pass Yards Allowed Avg.	Pass TD Allowed
1	Ohio State (7)	146	9
2	Michigan (1)	157	8
3	Notre Dame (15)	157.3	8
4	Virginia Tech	168.8	16
5	Iowa (20)	170.7	11
6	Northern Illinois	170.8	13
7	Penn State (10)	173.3	10
8	Clemson	173.6	13
9	Georgia (6)	175.4	13
10	Rutgers	176.3	16
11	Florida State (4)	179.8	12
11	Bowling Green	179.8	21
13	SMU (17)	182.2	17
14	Ohio	182.4	14
15	Northwestern	182.9	15
16	San Jose State	183	19
17	Toledo	183.4	12
18	UTEP	184.7	16
19	Louisiana Tech	185.3	18
20	Air Force	186.2	18
21	Buffalo	186.9	18
22	Akron	187.3	19
23	Army	189.9	16
24	Alabama (5)	191.1	17
25	Boston College	196.2	19

Rushing Defense

CFP Championship: J.J. McCarthy, Michigan roll past Michael Penix Jr., Washington | No. 1 CFB Show

RJ Young sits down to analyze the Michigan Wolverines' victory over the Washington Huskies to claim the CFP Championship. What did J.J. McCarthy and the Wolverines do to pull away against the Huskies? How impressive was Blake Corum in the win? What went wrong for Michael Penix Jr.? Check out everything Young said here!

#	Team	Rush Yards Allowed Avg.	Rush TD Allowed
1	Penn State (10)	74.3	10
2	UCLA	80.8	5
3	Texas (3)	82.6	9
4	Utah	82.8	13
5	James Madison (24)	85.4	13
6	Michigan (1)	90	9
7	Ohio	90.5	9
8	Air Force	91.5	11
9	Nebraska	92.9	9
10	Louisville (16)	99.7	13
11	Oregon (8)	102.6	10
12	Miami (FL)	105.6	18
13	Troy	106.4	12
14	Texas A&M	108.8	9
15	Iowa (20)	111.2	7
16	Jacksonville State	111.7	14
17	Ball State	111.8	15
18	Kentucky	113	19
19	Tulane (23)	113.4	14
20	Georgia (6)	113.6	13
21	South Alabama	113.7	11
21	Tennessee (25)	113.7	13
23	Oregon State (21)	114.1	13
24	Clemson	114.6	16
25	NC State (19)	116.5	13

Scoring Defense

#	Team	Points Allowed Avg.
1	Michigan (1)	10.4
2	Ohio State (7)	11.2
3	Penn State (10)	13.5
4	Iowa (20)	14.8
5	Georgia (6)	15.6
6	Ohio	15.8
7	Notre Dame (15)	15.9
7	Miami (OH)	15.9
9	Oregon (8)	16.5
10	Troy	17.1
11	SMU (17)	17.8
12	Air Force	18.2
13	Nebraska	18.3
14	UCLA	18.4
15	Texas (3)	18.9
16	Alabama (5)	19
16	Duke	19
18	Utah	19.3
18	Florida State (4)	19.3
20	James Madison (24)	19.5
21	Wisconsin	20.2
22	Tennessee (25)	20.3
22	Toledo	20.3
24	Tulane (23)	20.5
25	Missouri (9)	20.8

Red Zone Defense

#	Team	Defense Red Zone Score Rate
1	Louisville (16)	67.6%
2	Notre Dame (15)	70.6%
3	Navy	71.9%
4	Michigan (1)	72%
5	Miami (OH)	72.1%
6	New Mexico State	72.6%
7	Iowa State	73.2%
8	Texas (3)	73.8%
9	Marshall	74%
10	Pittsburgh	74.4%
10	Duke	74.4%
12	Rice	75%
12	Ohio	75%
12	Ohio State (7)	75%
15	Rutgers	75.6%
16	SMU (17)	75.7%
17	Iowa (20)	75.8%
18	Arizona (14)	76%
18	Syracuse	76%
20	East Carolina	76.2%
21	Army	76.5%
22	Wake Forest	76.9%
23	South Alabama	77.4%
24	Coastal Carolina	77.6%
25	Colorado	77.8%

Third Down Defense

#	Team	Defense Third Down Rate
1	Georgia (6)	25.7%
2	Texas (3)	26%
3	NC State (19)	27.8%
4	SMU (17)	28.1%
5	Ohio State (7)	28.3%
6	Florida State (4)	28.5%
7	Michigan (1)	29.1%
8	Louisville (16)	29.7%
9	Utah	29.9%
10	Miami (OH)	30.2%
10	Kansas State	30.2%
12	Penn State (10)	30.6%
13	Ohio	30.9%
14	Oklahoma (12)	31%
15	Iowa (20)	31.3%
16	Auburn	31.7%
17	Clemson	32.1%
18	Texas A&M	32.2%
19	Marshall	32.4%
20	Navy	32.5%
20	Jacksonville State	32.5%
22	South Florida	32.6%
23	Alabama (5)	33%
23	Troy	33%
25	Buffalo	33.3%