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College Football: Did a Fast Offense Mean an Effective Offense in 2014?

As always, poring over stats so you don't have to...

By John Cassillo
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Last week on the mothership, Peter Berkes took a look at college football offensive pace in 2014. Baylor revealed itself (unsurprisingly) as the nation's quickest offense in terms of raw seconds-per-play (18), and stayed at the top even after plugging in "adjusted pace" stats.

Now the part you're probably curious about: Syracuse ranked 41st overall, with a raw 22.5 seconds-per-play, and an adjusted 23.5. The fairly balanced pass-to-run ratio last year (don't even get me started again...) led to the slight change in the adjusted stats, versus the larger ones for other teams that ran or passed more often.

Given how bad the Orange offense was last fall (again, not even going to link to it), the next question is probably around the correlation between scoring and pace. The answer? Close to none (though maybe not entirely none). Of the top 10 in terms of pace rank, all scored at least 30 points per game and the quickest team (Baylor) was also the highest-scoring one too. Alternatively, however, five different teams at the bottom of the pace rankings scored over 25 points per game -- while three also scored under 20 per game.

At the bottom, you'll find the full table (transposed from Football Study Hall and the original SB Nation post), with an addition made for points per game scored by every team. One inference you might be able to make from the numbers: while pace helps scoring, it's no guarantee of scoring. These seconds-per-play stats also fail to factor in how you actually execute on said plays... so obviously three plays run at 20 seconds per clip are much more effective if they earn four yards per instead of two per.

Spot anything else below? Shout it out in the comments. There's plenty to dissect, I'm sure.

Team Seconds/play Run % Expected seconds/play Pace rank Points Per Game
Baylor 18 52.30% 23.8 1 48.2
Arizona 18.3 47.10% 23.2 2 34.5
Bowling Green 18.6 47.80% 23.3 3 30
Oregon 19.5 55.10% 24.2 4 45.4
BYU 19.3 50.70% 23.7 5 37.1
North Carolina 18.8 46.60% 23.2 6 33.2
West Virginia 19.5 48.60% 23.4 7 33.5
Air Force 23.1 78.20% 27 8 31.5
Memphis 20.6 57.20% 24.5 9 36.2
Northern Illinois 21.9 63.80% 25.2 10 31.5
Arkansas State 20.8 53.40% 24 11 36.7
UAB 21.9 62.20% 25 12 33.2
Texas State 21.2 55.90% 24.3 13 33.8
Mississippi State 21.3 55.40% 24.2 14 36.9
Marshall 21 52.10% 23.8 15 45.6
New Mexico State 20.8 49.80% 23.6 16 24.5
TCU 20.7 47.30% 23.2 17 46.5
Fresno State 21 48.10% 23.3 18 26.5
Texas Tech 19.8 37.40% 22 19 30.5
Washington 22.4 57.70% 24.5 20 30.2
Indiana 22.7 60.20% 24.8 21 25.1
Arizona State 21.3 48.30% 23.4 22 36.9
UCLA 21.8 52.20% 23.8 23 33.5
Western Kentucky 20.6 41.60% 22.6 24 44.4
California 20.7 42.40% 22.6 25 38.3
UNLV 21 44.40% 22.9 26 21.9
Texas A&M 20.8 42.40% 22.7 27 35.2
Auburn 23.4 63% 25.2 28 35.5
East Carolina 20.3 37.40% 22 29 35.8
Northwestern 21.6 48% 23.3 30 23
Massachusetts 20.8 40.80% 22.5 31 27.3
Hawaii 21.8 48.60% 23.4 32 20.9
Utah 22.8 56.60% 24.4 33 31.3
Duke 22.2 49.90% 23.6 34 32.4
Nebraska 23.4 59.70% 24.8 35 37.8
Tennessee 22.2 49.40% 23.5 36 28.9
Middle Tennessee 23.3 57.90% 24.5 37 31.6
Oklahoma State 22.6 51.40% 23.7 38 27.6
Cincinnati 22 46.20% 23.1 39 34
Georgia 23.9 61.50% 25 40 41.3
Syracuse 22.5 49.60% 23.5 41 17.1
Florida 23.8 59.50% 24.7 42 30.3
Kentucky 22.5 48.20% 23.4 43 29.2
Iowa State 21.6 40.70% 22.4 44 23.2
Toledo 23.7 57.50% 24.5 45 36.6
Ole Miss 22.7 49% 23.4 46 28.3
Houston 22.7 48.90% 23.4 47 29.8
Idaho 22.3 45.30% 23 48 25
Navy 26.8 82.40% 27.5 49 31.8
Appalachian State 24.1 60.10% 24.8 50 35.7
Clemson 23.1 51.90% 23.8 51 30.8
Oklahoma 23.9 58.20% 24.6 52 36.4
Ohio State 24.2 60.20% 24.8 53 44.8
USC 23 50% 23.6 54 35.8
South Alabama 23.5 53.30% 24 55 22.5
Boise State 23.7 54.80% 24.2 56 39.7
Colorado 22.3 43.10% 22.7 57 28.5
Tulsa 22.8 47.20% 23.2 58 24.7
Ball State 23.5 51% 23.7 59 27.7
Nevada 24.2 56% 24.3 60 29.2
NC State 24 54.20% 24.1 61 30.2
Missouri 24 54.10% 24.1 62 27.8
Notre Dame 23.3 48.20% 23.3 63 32.8
Maryland 23.1 46.20% 23.1 64 28.5
Eastern Michigan 24.1 54.40% 24.1 65 15.2
Old Dominion 22.5 40.90% 22.5 66 32.7
Temple 23.2 45.30% 23 67 23.1
Troy 24.4 53.50% 24 68 21.8
Akron 22.6 38.20% 22.1 69 22.6
Ohio 24.4 52.90% 23.9 70 20.5
Georgia Tech 27.5 78.40% 27 71 37.9
North Texas 24.8 56% 24.3 72 27.2
San Jose State 23.8 47.60% 23.3 73 19.3
Georgia Southern 27.8 80% 27.2 74 39.1
Virginia Tech 24.1 49.40% 23.5 75 24.1
Georgia State 23.4 43.10% 22.7 76 22.7
Florida State 23.6 44.40% 22.9 77 33.7
Louisiana Tech 24.3 49.60% 23.5 78 37.4
Kansas 24.6 52.10% 23.8 79 17.8
South Carolina 24.1 47.70% 23.3 80 32.6
Alabama 24.9 54.10% 24.1 81 36.9
ULM 22.7 35.80% 21.8 82 20.1
Virginia 24.4 49.30% 23.5 83 25.8
Illinois 23.6 42.60% 22.7 84 25.9
Florida Atlantic 24.9 52.20% 23.8 85 24
Iowa 25 51.70% 23.8 86 28.2
Florida International 25.5 55.50% 24.2 87 23
Army 29 84.30% 27.7 88 24.9
Colorado State 24.4 46.30% 23.1 89 33.9
Central Florida 25.2 52.90% 23.9 90 28.1
Penn State 24 42.90% 22.7 91 20.6
Southern Miss 23.7 39.80% 22.3 92 19
Texas 25 50.20% 23.6 93 21.4
Michigan State 26.1 58.70% 24.6 94 43
UL Lafayette 25.9 57% 24.4 95 29.5
Buffalo 25.5 52.70% 23.9 96 32.3
Washington State 21.6 20.40% 20 97 31.8
New Mexico 28.6 78% 27 98 27.7
LSU 27.2 66.40% 25.6 99 27.6
Tulane 24.7 45.70% 23.1 100 16
Minnesota 27.4 67.90% 25.7 101 28.4
UTSA 25.5 51.60% 23.8 102 17.1
Utah State 25.9 53.70% 24 103 26.9
Wisconsin 27.4 65.60% 25.5 104 34.6
Purdue 25 45.20% 23 105 23.8
Miami (Ohio) 24.2 38.10% 22.1 106 22.3
Boston College 28.2 69.90% 26 107 26.2
Rutgers 26.5 55.90% 24.3 108 26.7
San Diego State 26.7 57.20% 24.3 109 25
Louisville 25.9 50.10% 23.6 110 31.2
Miami 26 50.80% 23.7 111 29.2
Pittsburgh 27.8 64.20% 25.3 112 31.8
Rice 27.2 58.80% 24.6 113 28.8
Wake Forest 25.4 43.70% 22.8 114 14.8
SMU 25.1 40.10% 22.4 115 11.1
Arkansas 27.8 59.40% 24.7 116 31.8
Kansas State 26.7 50.10% 23.6 117 35.8
Connecticut 26.7 49.70% 23.5 118 15.5
Oregon State 25.7 40.10% 22.4 119 25.7
Kent State 25.3 36.40% 21.9 120 16.4
South Florida 26.7 47.90% 23.3 121 17.2
Western Michigan 27.8 54.90% 24.2 122 33.8
Stanford 27.8 53.20% 24 123 27.2
Central Michigan 27.9 53.70% 24 124 26.9
Wyoming 27.5 49.50% 23.5 125 21.1
Michigan 28.7 53.10% 24 126 20.6
Vanderbilt 28.3 49.10% 23.5 127 17.2
UTEP 30.5 65% 25.4 128 26.6

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