Statistical Review: North Carolina State #63

The per play statistics for the NC State defense are not overwhelming: 4.1 yards per rush, 7.1 yards per pass. But they made up ground by being elite on 3rd downs, especially against the pass. The Wolfpack did not sack the quarterback at an exceptionally high rate, but the data suggests they brought effective pressure on 3rd downs - the benefit of long, athletic linebackers.

Now to Mike Glennon. The NC State run game was abysmal (3.1 yards per carry), so a lot of pressure fell on Glennon to keep the ball moving. In this he was not overly successful. He completed less than 60% of his passes. His .208 EPA per pass was worse than Bo Wallace, Braxton Miller, and Matt McGloin to name a few. Against Virginia he scored an Expected Points Added of -19.8, one of the ten worst performances by a college football player in 2012; to put that in perspective, David Piland's five interception, 47% completion game against UCLA added up to an EPA of -22. Rubbing salt in the wound, Glennon's three very good performances against FBS opponents were all in losing efforts - Miami, North Carolina and Clemson.

The Statistical Review breaks down teams along a number of performance categories, everything from red zone scoring to field goal percentage, and compares that performance against the rest of the FBS. All 124 teams will be reviewed from 124 to 1 by the hybrid rankings. You can find short descriptions of the stats used in the table below.