No BYU player or coach has his name said in vain more than Ilaisa Tuiaki. Watching the games I've been torn by my own biases. I hate how seemingly teams can march between the 20s at will. I like how few teams make it into the endzone. I'm losing my hair over the number of 3rd down conversions, yet in many of these cases it is due to a missed tackle or assignment not the scheme. Players seem to like playing for Tuiaki, and the overall caliber of new and incoming recruits are some of the best ever.
With all that said I was curious how good or bad BYU's defense really is. There are countless stats and analytics one could look at. Certainly wins would be the single most important, but it also is the most multifactorial. After a little research I decided to go with Football Outsiders DFEI rankings. The rankings are pretty close to the more traditional "total defense", but do a better job of filtering out the junk stats (like beating up on no FBS schools)
DFEI ranking for BYU since Tuiaki has been the DC
With all that said I was curious how good or bad BYU's defense really is. There are countless stats and analytics one could look at. Certainly wins would be the single most important, but it also is the most multifactorial. After a little research I decided to go with Football Outsiders DFEI rankings. The rankings are pretty close to the more traditional "total defense", but do a better job of filtering out the junk stats (like beating up on no FBS schools)
Defense Fremeau Efficiency Index ratings (DFEI) represent the per-possession scoring advantage each defense would be expected to have on a neutral field against an average opponent. Defensive drive efficiency (DDE) is scoring value gained or lost per opponent offensive drive. Defensive points per drive (DPD) is total net points scored per opponent offensive drive. Defensive available yards percentage (DAY) is opponent drive yards gained divided by drive yards available based on starting field position. Defensive yards per play (DPP) is drive yards gained per opponent offensive play. Touchdown rate (DTD) is the percentage of opponent offensive drives that result in a touchdown. Value drive rate (DVD) is the percentage of opponent offensive drives that conclude with a drive end value greater than the drive start value based on field position. First down rate (DFD) is the percentage of opponent offensive drives that earn at least one first down. Busted drive rate (DBD) is the percentage of opponent offensive drives that gain zero or negative yards. Turnover rate (DTO) is the percentage of opponent offensive drives that end with an interception or fumble.
Ratings and supporting data are calculated from the results of non-garbage possessions in FBS vs. FBS games.
Ratings and supporting data are calculated from the results of non-garbage possessions in FBS vs. FBS games.
- 2021: 62
- 2020: 9 - COVID season
- 2019: 66
- 2018: 63
- 2017: 72
- 2016: 31
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