VN: Let's Look at the Ball Carriers

November 14, 2014, 2:09 pm ET

Photo: USA Today Sports Images

by Bill Connelly

For a while now, I've been meaning to get more college football data posted here; the requests are becoming more frequent, which suggests a higher level of interest, and I'm trying to be accomodating. For now, I've added a second data table to the Offensive S&P+ and Defensive S&P+ pages, which adds a layer of both raw stats (unadjusted for opponent) and what I like to call personality stats, measures that are descriptive and informative if not directly correlated to quality -- things like run-pass ratios, defensive Havoc Rate, etc.

I've also put together a page for offensive line and defensive line stats. The definitions don't match up perfectly with those on FO's NFL side, and I'll try to get that all aligned in the offseason, but in all, this is an excellent start, I think.

One thing I haven't posted this year, however, is a set of detailed rushing stats. For starters, it's simply a behemoth: 1,369 FBS players have carried the football at least once this season, and 508 have carried at least 25 times. Figuring out which set to include or not include isn't easy.

While I work to establish a rushing page for the future (followed by a receiving page), though, I do figure it's about time we dive into these numbers a bit.

Below are two tables -- one for quarterbacks, one for running backs -- listing general rushing stats and a couple of advanced categories. At this point, I have taken to evaluating running backs' styles and successes with two measures: Opportunity Rate and Highlight Yards Per Opportunity.

Opportunity Rate is defined on the offensive line page:

It is the percentage of carries (when 5 yards are available) that gain at least 5 yards, i.e., the percentage of carries in which the line does its job, so to speak.

I'm using Opp. Rate for a couple of different purposes right now. In all, it gives you a pretty good idea for how the line is blocking, but it also gives you an idea for how well a running back is hitting his holes. A future system of running back ratings might in some way compare a running back's Opp. Rate to his teammates', or something to that degree.

Highlight Yards were defined in a Varsity Numbers column back in 2010:

A few months ago, FO introduced the idea of "Second Level Yards" and "Open Field Yards" for NFL running backs. These were the remaining yards that were left after each break in the baselines for Adjusted Line Yards. I've done the same thing here for college backs, with two differences. First, we're adding together both "Second Level" Yards (5 to 10 past the line) and "Open Field" Yards (11-plus past the line). Second, we're counting only half the Second Level Yards, just as the line gets half credit for these yards. We'll call this stat "Highlight Yards," because these longer runs are the ones that show up on the highlight shows. A 3-yard run gets zero Highlight Yards. A 70-yard run gets 63 Highlight Yards. The more Highlight Yards, the more explosive the runner was, and the less his overall yardage and POE totals were due to the offensive line blocking for him.

Highlight Yards per Opportunity, then, is defined by dividing the runner's Highlight Yards by the number of highlight opportunities, i.e. carries that go at least 5 yards (when 5 yards are available).

(Note: I'm also including the team's Opportunity Rate alongside each player's rate. For now, that number includes quarterback rushes. At the NFL level, that wouldn't be the case, but since rushing quarterbacks are such a large part of college football, I haven't decided on the best way to handle that yet.)

One thing you won't notice below: Adj. POE or any sort of overriding rusher measurement. Adj. POE wasn't incredibly predictive or evaluative enough for my tastes; it wasn't consistent from year to year (backs themselves aren't that consistent, but I felt they were still more consistent than this measure suggested), and I decided to scrap it and figure out something better.

(I haven't figured out something better yet. But I will! Probably!)

Anyway, below are tables for the 100 FBS running backs with at least 100 carries and the 45 quarterbacks with at least 60 carries.

Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Western Michigan	Jarvion Franklin	FR	RB	6'0	220	243	1330	518.7	89	5.8	36.6%	40.9%
UAB	Jordan Howard	SO	RB	6'1	228	232	1157	401.2	91	4.4	39.2%	39.5%
Boise State	Jay Ajayi	JR	RB	6'0	216	229	1146	460.1	77	6.0	33.6%	39.2%
Minnesota	David Cobb	SR	RB	5'11	220	227	1205	438.6	88	5.0	38.8%	39.3%
Pittsburgh	James Conner	SO	RB	6'2	250	220	1342	520.5	102	5.1	46.4%	48.5%
Buffalo	Anthone Taylor	JR	RB	5'10	207	214	988	366.4	74	5.0	34.6%	35.0%
Auburn	Cameron Artis-Payne	SR	RB	5'11	210	208	1190	454.3	88	5.2	42.3%	47.3%
Utah	Devontae Booker	JR	RB	5'11	203	201	1055	393.1	77	5.1	38.3%	39.4%
Ball State	Jahwan Edwards	SR	RB	5'10	219	199	920	304.3	75	4.1	37.7%	35.8%
Wisconsin	Melvin Gordon	JR	RB	6'1	213	198	1501	815.0	87	9.4	43.9%	48.1%
USC	Javorius Allen	JR	TB	6'1	220	196	1124	480.1	80	6.0	40.8%	39.1%
UCLA	Paul Perkins	SO	RB	5'11	198	190	1172	502.6	82	6.1	43.2%	46.3%
Central Michigan	Thomas Rawls	SR	RB	5'10	217	188	1011	365.1	79	4.6	42.0%	37.7%
Air Force	Jacobi Owens	SO	RB	5'11	190	188	988	338.7	69	4.9	36.7%	35.6%
Nebraska	Ameer Abdullah	SR	RB	5'9	195	186	1250	586.1	82	7.1	44.1%	43.2%
Vanderbilt	Ralph Webb	FR	RB	5'10	196	185	838	244.3	79	3.1	42.7%	40.4%
San Diego State	Donnel Pumphrey	SO	RB	5'9	170	183	1216	525.4	77	6.8	42.1%	40.7%
Indiana	Tevin Coleman	JR	RB	6'1	210	182	1371	727.4	78	9.3	42.9%	42.3%
Louisiana Tech	Kenneth Dixon	JR	RB	5'10	212	180	837	366.7	63	5.8	35.0%	34.7%
Rice	Jowan Davis	SO	RB	5'7	200	180	748	247.8	65	3.8	36.1%	39.4%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Western Kentucky	Leon Allen	JR	RB	6'0	235	179	840	260.6	69	3.8	38.5%	36.9%
Michigan State	Jeremy Langford	SR	RB	6'1	208	178	978	396.6	71	5.6	39.9%	42.6%
Baylor	Shock Linwood	SO	RB	5'9	200	177	864	264.2	69	3.8	39.0%	41.6%
Northwestern	Justin Jackson	FR	RB	5'11	180	175	761	192.9	63	3.1	36.0%	33.2%
Oregon	Royce Freeman	FR	RB	6'0	229	170	945	323.5	74	4.4	43.5%	45.6%
Fresno State	Marteze Waller	JR	RB	5'11	209	165	1086	501.8	73	6.9	44.2%	40.9%
Virginia	Kevin Parks	SR	TB	5'8	200	165	669	175.0	52	3.4	31.5%	34.7%
UTEP	Aaron Jones	SO	RB	5'10	185	164	893	368.3	66	5.6	40.2%	39.3%
Boston College	Jon Hilliman	FR	RB	6'0	215	160	620	196.5	44	4.5	27.5%	42.0%
Hawaii	Steven Lakalaka	SO	RB	5'10	215	159	646	179.6	50	3.6	31.4%	35.6%
Miami	Duke Johnson	JR	RB	5'9	206	158	1213	600.6	76	7.9	48.1%	45.2%
South Florida	Marlon Mack	FR	RB	6'0	195	158	828	386.5	54	7.2	34.2%	35.6%
Tulsa	Zack Langer	JR	RB	6'0	215	158	646	170.6	49	3.5	31.0%	36.1%
South Carolina	Mike Davis	JR	TB	5'9	223	158	819	275.5	65	4.2	41.1%	45.0%
Appalachian State	Marcus Cox	SO	RB	5'10	200	155	913	386.8	64	6.0	41.3%	41.8%
Oklahoma	Samaje Perine	FR	RB	5'11	243	155	788	255.9	57	4.5	36.8%	44.0%
LSU	Leonard Fournette	FR	RB	6'1	230	152	736	228.8	60	3.8	39.5%	42.0%
Nevada	Don Jackson	JR	RB	5'10	210	151	649	206.5	43	4.8	28.5%	36.2%
Texas	Malcolm Brown	SR	RB	5'11	222	151	623	189.8	46	4.1	30.5%	35.5%
Ohio State	Ezekiel Elliott	SO	RB	6'0	225	149	863	293.7	74	4.0	49.7%	52.8%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
California	Daniel Lasco	JR	RB	6'0	210	147	796	290.3	68	4.3	46.3%	41.7%
Iowa	Mark Weisman	SR	RB	6'0	240	147	542	136.9	48	2.9	32.7%	38.1%
Mississippi State	Josh Robinson	JR	RB	5'9	215	146	984	448.7	69	6.5	47.3%	46.4%
UAB	D.J. Vinson	SR	RB	5'10	194	146	564	160.6	53	3.0	36.3%	39.5%
Colorado State	Dee Hart	SR	RB	5'9	190	144	909	403.9	67	6.0	46.5%	43.9%
Arizona State	D.J. Foster	JR	RB	5'11	205	143	821	387.7	56	6.9	39.2%	40.1%
Texas Tech	DeAndre Washington	JR	RB	5'8	201	141	796	298.0	62	4.8	44.0%	41.2%
Army	Larry Dixon	SR	RB	5'11	239	140	739	301.2	48	6.3	34.3%	40.2%
Florida International	Alex Gardner	FR	RB	5'9	192	139	562	218.0	45	4.8	32.4%	34.1%
Marshall	Devon Johnson	JR	RB	6'1	243	137	1203	657.5	71	9.3	51.8%	47.4%
Arkansas	Jonathan Williams	JR	RB	6'0	223	137	877	366.0	66	5.5	48.2%	47.2%
Central Florida	William Stanback	SO	RB	6'1	225	137	505	166.1	40	4.2	29.2%	31.9%
Georgia Southern	Matt Breida	SO	RB	5'10	185	135	1224	673.1	67	10.0	49.6%	50.1%
Alabama	T.J. Yeldon	JR	RB	6'2	221	135	686	224.6	64	3.5	47.4%	47.4%
Arkansas	Alex Collins	SO	RB	5'11	215	134	840	376.3	64	5.9	47.8%	47.2%
Tennessee	Jalen Hurd	FR	RB	6'3	227	134	598	186.0	49	3.8	36.6%	39.7%
Georgia	Nick Chubb	FR	RB	5'10	228	133	895	434.0	65	6.7	48.9%	46.4%
Purdue	Akeem Hunt	SR	RB	5'10	183	133	721	336.5	46	7.3	34.6%	35.7%
Oklahoma State	Desmond Roland	SR	RB	6'2	210	131	512	130.2	42	3.1	32.1%	37.2%
Arizona	Nick Wilson	FR	RB	5'10	199	130	763	330.4	39	8.5	30.0%	35.6%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
New Mexico State	Larry Rose III	FR	RB	5'11	180	130	736	315.5	53	6.0	40.8%	37.0%
Florida	Matt Jones	JR	RB	6'2	235	130	698	257.5	52	5.0	40.0%	39.4%
Bowling Green	Travis Greene	JR	RB	5'10	183	128	644	223.7	53	4.2	41.4%	39.2%
West Virginia	Wendell Smallwood	SO	RB	5'11	200	128	585	152.0	52	2.9	40.6%	39.7%
UL-Monroe	Centarius Donald	SR	RB	6'1	223	128	540	144.1	41	3.5	32.0%	34.8%
West Virginia	Rushel Shell	SO	RB	5'10	215	127	560	159.3	46	3.5	36.2%	39.7%
Georgia Southern	Alfred Ramsby	FR	RB	5'11	210	126	611	183.7	53	3.5	42.1%	50.1%
Kansas	Corey Avery	FR	RB	5'10	195	124	538	155.3	39	4.0	31.5%	34.0%
Missouri	Russell Hansbrough	JR	TB	5'9	190	122	591	242.2	45	5.4	36.9%	42.0%
Texas State	Robert Lowe	JR	RB	5'10	195	120	633	203.7	53	3.8	44.2%	47.3%
Florida State	Karlos Williams	SR	RB	6'1	225	120	520	158.5	39	4.1	32.5%	36.5%
Georgia Tech	Zach Laskey	SR	RB	6'1	218	120	595	123.9	48	2.6	40.0%	48.6%
Virginia Tech	Marshawn Williams	FR	TB	5'11	229	120	490	200.4	31	6.5	25.8%	34.2%
Memphis	Brandon Hayes	SR	RB	5'8	198	118	606	226.3	43	5.3	36.4%	40.5%
Northern Illinois	Cameron Stingily	SR	TB	6'1	235	118	625	185.9	52	3.6	44.1%	44.8%
Ohio	A.J. Ouellette	FR	RB	5'10	195	117	562	230.1	28	8.2	23.9%	38.7%
New Mexico	Teriyon Gipson	SO	RB	5'8	176	116	631	264.3	46	5.7	39.7%	41.8%
Syracuse	Prince-Tyson Gulley	SR	RB	5'8	193	116	568	244.6	38	6.4	32.8%	36.6%
UL-Lafayette	Alonzo Harris	SR	RB	6'1	238	116	458	94.2	36	2.6	31.0%	41.9%
UL-Lafayette	Elijah McGuire	SO	RB	5'11	198	114	912	476.3	56	8.5	49.1%	41.9%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Wisconsin	Corey Clement	SO	RB	5'11	217	114	720	316.1	51	6.2	44.7%	48.1%
Oregon State	Terron Ward	SR	RB	5'7	201	114	548	193.5	39	5.0	34.2%	39.9%
Rutgers	Desmon Peoples	SO	RB	5'8	175	114	450	118.8	39	3.0	34.2%	39.4%
Wyoming	Shaun Wick	JR	RB	5'10	212	113	705	366.1	37	9.9	32.7%	30.4%
Texas	Johnathan Gray	JR	RB	5'11	215	113	546	230.6	40	5.8	35.4%	35.5%
Southern Miss	Ito Smith	FR	RB	5'9	182	112	454	173.7	32	5.4	28.6%	32.6%
Notre Dame	Tarean Folston	SO	RB	5'9	209	112	562	163.6	48	3.4	42.9%	42.8%
BYU	Jamaal Williams	JR	RB	6'0	206	112	517	143.6	41	3.5	36.6%	45.8%
Alabama	Derrick Henry	SO	RB	6'3	241	111	554	159.0	47	3.4	42.3%	47.4%
Nevada	James Butler	FR	RB	5'9	200	110	468	145.4	34	4.3	30.9%	36.2%
Illinois	Josh Ferguson	JR	RB	5'10	195	109	558	276.1	38	7.3	34.9%	35.6%
Rice	Darik Dillard	SO	RB	5'10	205	109	575	188.6	44	4.3	40.4%	39.4%
Missouri	Marcus Murphy	SR	TB	5'9	195	108	519	174.0	44	4.0	40.7%	42.0%
Houston	Kenneth Farrow	JR	RB	5'10	218	106	570	240.9	40	6.0	37.7%	38.7%
North Texas	Antoinne Jimmerson	JR	RB	5'9	222	106	535	207.3	40	5.2	37.7%	37.6%
UTSA	David Glasco II	SR	RB	5'10	205	106	333	62.3	33	1.9	31.1%	31.5%
Washington	Lavon Coleman	FR	TB	5'11	217	106	438	124.9	36	3.5	34.0%	41.5%
Middle Tennessee	Jordan Parker	JR	RB	6'1	218	105	475	159.3	35	4.6	33.3%	39.5%
New Mexico State	Xavier Hall	SO	RB	5'8	182	105	342	69.2	27	2.6	25.7%	37.0%
Idaho	Elijhaa Penny	JR	RB	6'2	254	104	459	106.8	36	3.0	34.6%	39.4%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
North Texas	Reggie Pegram	SR	RB	5'9	230	104	398	102.3	35	2.9	33.7%	37.6%
Toledo	Kareem Hunt	SO	RB	5'11	215	103	866	415.7	55	7.6	53.4%	48.5%
N.C. State	Shadrach Thornton	JR	RB	6'1	206	103	540	166.9	50	3.3	48.5%	48.6%
Idaho	Jerrel Brown	SR	RB	6'0	219	102	487	154.2	36	4.3	35.3%	39.4%
Arkansas State	Michael Gordon	JR	RB	5'9	187	100	757	450.9	38	11.9	38.0%	39.1%
Kent State	Nick Holley	SO	RB	5'10	191	100	400	147.5	32	4.6	32.0%	32.9%

Some quick thoughts:

If you simply multiply a player's Highlight Yards Per Opportunity (explosiveness) by his Opportunity Rate (efficiency), you get a pretty decent list of what we have perceived to be the top backs in the country.

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Top Power Conference RBs by Hlt/Opp * Opp Rate
Rank	Name	Team	(Hlt/Opp) * (Opp Rate)
1	Melvin Gordon	Wisconsin	4.1
2	Tevin Coleman	Indiana	4.0
3	Duke Johnson	Miami	3.8
4	Nick Chubb	Georgia	3.3
5	Ameer Abdullah	Nebraska	3.2
6	Josh Robinson	Mississippi State	3.1
7	Alex Collins	Arkansas	2.8
8	Corey Clement	Wisconsin	2.8
9	D.J. Foster	Arizona State	2.7
10	Jonathan Williams	Arkansas	2.7

I mean ... that's a really good list, just from the eye test. I figure that will be the starting point for any future running back rating I establish, though I will also move to adjust for strength of schedule and strength of offensive line (since, at the very least, the line has a huge role to play in Opportunity Rate).

Fun, random factoid: only 12 of the 106 running backs with 100-plus carries weigh under 190 pounds, and only three of those 12 play in power conferences. Makes sense, huh?

Now, to quarterbacks.

Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Navy	Keenan Reynolds	JR	QB	5'11	195	150	789	344.0	62	5.5	41.3%	47.3%
Georgia Southern	Kevin Ellison	SO	QB	6'0	190	139	950	478.8	71	6.7	51.1%	50.1%
Army	Angel Santiago	SR	QB	5'11	201	137	721	319.8	57	5.6	41.6%	40.2%
Georgia Tech	Justin Thomas	SO	QB	5'11	189	136	812	387.0	61	6.3	44.9%	48.6%
Mississippi State	Dak Prescott	JR	QB	6'2	230	129	861	364.8	63	5.8	48.8%	46.4%
Arkansas State	Fredi Knighten	JR	QB	5'11	189	128	705	342.5	56	6.1	43.8%	39.1%
Boston College	Tyler Murphy	SR	QB	6'2	213	127	1117	641.6	70	9.2	55.1%	42.0%
Air Force	Kale Pearson	SR	QB	5'9	175	119	538	213.1	44	4.8	37.0%	35.6%
UCLA	Brett Hundley	JR	QB	6'3	226	107	725	267.5	69	3.9	64.5%	46.3%
Texas State	Tyler Jones	SO	QB	6'2	205	106	535	180.2	50	3.6	47.2%	47.3%
Auburn	Nick Marshall	SR	QB	6'1	210	105	746	347.8	55	6.3	52.4%	47.3%
Nevada	Cody Fajardo	SR	QB	6'2	215	105	687	287.9	54	5.3	51.4%	36.2%
North Carolina	Marquise Williams	JR	QB	6'2	220	103	640	283.1	52	5.4	50.5%	39.7%
Ohio State	J.T. Barrett	FR	QB	6'1	225	100	720	322.2	59	5.5	59.0%	52.8%
TCU	Trevone Boykin	JR	QB	6'2	205	99	624	246.5	49	5.0	49.5%	45.5%
UNLV	Blake Decker	JR	QB	6'2	205	97	489	134.2	47	2.9	48.5%	35.3%
Miami (Ohio)	Andrew Hendrix	SR	QB	6'2	221	95	533	187.4	47	4.0	49.5%	39.1%
Boise State	Grant Hedrick	SR	QB	6'0	198	92	547	219.1	43	5.1	46.7%	39.2%
Kentucky	Patrick Towles	SO	QB	6'5	238	90	459	175.9	37	4.8	41.1%	38.5%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Maryland	C.J. Brown	SR	QB	6'3	218	87	519	253.5	38	6.7	43.7%	38.4%
Florida Atlantic	Jaquez Johnson	JR	QB	6'1	225	87	463	169.4	35	4.8	40.2%	37.6%
Northern Illinois	Drew Hare	SO	QB	6'1	215	84	623	287.6	45	6.4	53.6%	44.8%
Kansas State	Jake Waters	SR	QB	6'1	210	83	512	241.5	36	6.7	43.4%	40.6%
Nebraska	Tommy Armstrong Jr.	SO	QB	6'1	220	82	600	288.1	39	7.4	47.6%	43.2%
UL-Lafayette	Terrance Broadway	SR	QB	6'2	221	79	518	185.7	43	4.3	54.4%	41.9%
Iowa State	Sam Richardson	JR	QB	6'2	221	78	467	175.9	42	4.2	53.8%	35.9%
Notre Dame	Everett Golson	SR	QB	N/A	200	73	400	149.7	34	4.4	46.6%	42.8%
Eastern Michigan	Reginald Bell Jr	FR	QB	6'3	184	73	513	263.0	34	7.7	46.6%	36.1%
Middle Tennessee	Austin Grammer	SO	QB	6'2	204	72	404	147.8	32	4.6	44.4%	39.5%
BYU	Taysom Hill	JR	QB	6'2	232	72	535	195.9	49	4.0	68.1%	45.8%
Washington	Cyler Miles	SO	QB	6'4	225	71	360	114.9	36	3.2	50.7%	41.5%
Arizona	Anu Solomon	FR	QB	6'2	205	70	444	203.3	33	6.2	47.1%	35.6%
Ole Miss	Bo Wallace	SR	QB	6'4	217	70	331	125.0	24	5.2	34.3%	37.2%
New Mexico	Lamar Jordan	FR	QB	5'10	183	70	411	191.6	34	5.6	48.6%	41.8%
Troy	Brandon Silvers	FR	QB	6'2	208	69	290	103.4	29	3.6	42.0%	39.4%
N.C. State	Jacoby Brissett	JR	QB	6'4	231	69	467	182.7	42	4.4	60.9%	48.6%
Pittsburgh	Chad Voytik	SO	QB	6'1	205	66	477	229.1	38	6.0	57.6%	48.5%
Rice	Driphus Jackson	JR	QB	6'0	210	66	414	181.7	32	5.7	48.5%	39.4%
Oregon	Marcus Mariota	JR	QB	6'4	219	66	666	333.4	47	7.1	71.2%	45.6%
Offense	Name	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Rushes	Yards	Hlt Yds	Hlt Opps	Hlt Yds/Opp	Opp. Rate	Team Opp. Rate
Memphis	Paxton Lynch	SO	QB	6'7	230	65	256	68.2	23	3.0	35.4%	40.5%
Texas	Tyrone Swoopes	SO	QB	6'4	243	64	346	125.4	30	4.2	46.9%	35.5%
Missouri	Maty Mauk	SO	QB	6'0	200	62	398	167.9	34	4.9	54.8%	42.0%
South Alabama	Brandon Bridge	SR	QB	6'5	235	61	393	217.5	28	7.8	45.9%	42.5%
Utah	Travis Wilson	JR	QB	6'7	233	61	249	89.5	21	4.3	34.4%	39.4%
Oklahoma	Trevor Knight	SO	QB	6'1	201	61	400	166.8	37	4.5	60.7%	44.0%

Top Power Conference QBs by Hlt/Opp * Opp Rate
Rank	Name	Team	(Hlt/Opp) * (Opp Rate)
1	Marcus Mariota	Oregon	5.1
2	Tyler Murphy	Boston College	5.1
3	Tommy Armstrong Jr.	Nebraska	3.5
4	Chad Voytik	Pittsburgh	3.5
5	Nick Marshall	Auburn	3.3
6	J.T. Barrett	Ohio State	3.2

Again, a list that passes the eyeball test, at the very least.

One last note: Here's a link to all FBS rushing data in spreadsheet form. There are three tabs: quarterbacks, running backs, and other. The positions were culled from preseason rosters, so there's a chance that some of them are outdated based on last-second position changes.

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Comments

3 comments, Last at 16 Nov 2014, 10:49am

#1 by Bill Connelly // Nov 15, 2014 - 8:45am

By the way, via request I looked at Todd Gurley's numbers. He's only at 94 carries thanks to the suspension, and multiplying his Hlt/Opp * Opp Rate gives you 4.19 ... or what would have been #1 on this list.