Big 12 Defenses by the Numbers: Week 9

Posted on November 2, 2021

NCAA Basketball: Big 12 Basketball Tipoff

Two of the Big 12’s best defenses got shoved around in Morgantown last Saturday in a down to the wire game that was stunning for more than just the controversial officiating. Otherwise, Week 9 brought us lopsided affairs, including one that had consequences that will echo through the history of TCU football.

K-State DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah earned National Player of the Week honors after netting four sacks and two forced fumbles against TCU. At first, it appeared that he had tied the NCAA record with six sacks, but of his two forced fumbles, which happened in the process of sacking the QB behind the line of scrimmage, went forward before being recovered by the defense resulting in the NCAA counting the forward fumbles as rushes for positive yards.

Unfortunately, it seems that Anudike-Uzomah was too effective to take his place in the NCAA record books. C’est la vie.

Here are the defensive numbers after Week 9. As always, caveat lector: stats can be deceiving.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4 + 2, 5, 6, 7, 10 . . .

0 Third-down conversions allowed by Oklahoma State on 13 Kansas attempts

1 Pick-six by Iowa State’s Jake Hummel against West Virginia

2 Third-down conversions allowed by West Virginia on 12 Iowa State attempts

3 Third-down conversions allowed by Baylor on 14 Texas attempts

4 Sacks by Anudike-Uzomah + 2 sacks causing fumbles recovered by the defense beyond the line of scrimmage against TCU

5 Tackles for loss by TCU, Texas, and West Virginia

6 Tackles for loss by Iowa State

7 Tackles for loss by Oklahoma State

10 Tackles for loss by Kansas State

FEWEST MISSED TACKLES PER GAME

1. West Virginia – 8.88 per game, 71 total

2. Iowa State – 9.88 per game, 79 total

3. Oklahoma State – 10.5 per game, 84 total

4. Baylor – 10.75 per game, 86 total

5. Oklahoma – 11.22 per game, 101 total

6. Texas Tech – 11.56 per game, 104 total

7. Kansas – 11.63 per game, 93 total

8. Texas – 11.75 per game, 94 total

9. Kansas State – 12.00 per game, 96 total

10. TCU – 12.38 per game, 99 total

NOTE: West Virginia has led the league in fewest missed tackles for nearly the entire season.

TEAM SACKS PER GAME

1. Kansas State – 2.75 per game, 22 total

2. Oklahoma State – 2.62 per game, 21 total

3. West Virginia – 2.50 per game, 20 total

4. Baylor – 2.38 per game, 19 total

5. Oklahoma –2.33 per game, 21 total

6. Iowa State – 2.12 per game, 17 total

7. Texas – 1.75 per game, 14 total

8. Texas Tech – 1.56 per game, 14 total

9. TCU – 1.38 per game, 11 total

10. Kansas – 1.0 per game, 8 total

NOTE: Kansas State’s total is effectively 24, but because two Felix Anudike-Uzomah sacks against TCU caused forward fumbles, the official count is 22.

SCORING DEFENSE

1. Oklahoma State – 18.00 points per game, 144 total

2. Baylor – 19.38 points per game, 155 total

3. Iowa State – 19.62 points per game, 157 total

4. West Virginia – 22.88 points per game, 183 total

5. Kansas State – 23.00 points per game, 184 total

6. Oklahoma – 24.62 points per game, 197 total

7. Texas – 29.57 points per game, 207 total

8. Texas Tech – 30.62 points per game, 245 total

9. TCU – 31.75 points per game, 221 total

10. Kansas – 42.14 points per game, 295 total

NOTE: I’m using the NCAA’s official totals, which are flawed because the NCAA counts points scored by opposing defenses, such as safeties, pick-sixes, and scoop-and-scores as if they were scored by the opposing offense against the defense. It’s dumb, but convenient.

TOTAL DEFENSE

1. Iowa State – 292.1 yards per game; 2,337 yards total

2. Oklahoma State – 295.0 yards per game; 2,360 yards total

3. Baylor – 339.6 yards per game; 2,717 yards total

4. Kansas State – 348.6 yards per game; 2,789 yards total

5. West Virginia – 364.8 yards per game; 2,918 yards total

6. Oklahoma – 381.1 yards per game; 3,430 yards total

7. Texas Tech – 402.6 yards per game; 3,623 yards total

8. Texas – 432.4 yards per game; 3,459 yards total

9. TCU – 443.2 yards per game; 3,546 yards total

10. Kansas – 479.6 yards per game; 3,837 total

Note: Iowa State fell from third in the nation in total defense to fifth. Oklahoma State is 8^th; Baylor is 35^th; K-State is 45^th. No other Big 12 defenses rank in the Top 50 in total defense. Texas ranks 108^th; TCU is 112^th; Kansas is 127^th – only FIU, UMass, and Arkansas State are statistically worse than Kansas, although KU has by far played a tougher schedule.

RUSHING DEFENSE

1. Oklahoma State – 94.9 yards per game; 2.88 yards per carry; 759 yards total

2. Iowa State – 101.9 yards per game; 3.05 yards per carry; 815 yards total

3. Oklahoma – 108.2 yards per game; 3.34 yards per carry; 974 yards total

4. Kansas State – 121.0 yards per game; 3.55 yards per carry; 968 yards total

5. West Virginia – 124.8 yards per game; 3.64 yards per carry; 998 yards total

6. Baylor – 130.6 yards per game; 3.60 yards per carry; 1,045 yards total

7. Texas Tech – 141.7 yards per game; 4.22 yards per carry; 1,275 yards total

8. TCU – 204.4 yards per game; 5.31 per carry; 1,635 yards total

9. Texas – 205.0 yards per game; 5.18 yards per carry; 1,640 yards total

10. Kansas – 251.0 yards per game; 5.99 per carry; 2,008 yards total

Note: OSU is 9^th nationally; ISU is 14^th; OU is 17^th; KSU is 26^th; WVU is 31^st; TTU is 57^th; TCU is 117^th; UT is 118^th; KU is 128^th.

PASSING EFFICIENCY DEFENSE

PER = Pass Efficiency Rating

The formula is for pass efficiency is: { (8.4 x yards) + (330 x TDs) – (200 x INTs) + (100 x completions) } / attempts

1. Oklahoma State – 116.10 PER; 1,601 yards; 6 TDs; 7 INTs; 143 completions; 244 attempts

2. Baylor – 121.01 PER; 1,672 yards; 8 TDs; 9 INTs; 144 completions; 242 attempts

3. Iowa State – 134.19 PER; 1,522 yards; 12 TDs; 7 INTs; 127 completions; 209 attempts

4. Texas – 135.00 PER; 1,819 yards; 9 TDs; 7 INTs; 169 completions; 250 attempts

5. Kansas State – 139.94 PER; 1,821 yards; 7 TDs; 6 INTs; 162 completions; 233 attempts

6. Texas Tech – 144.02 PER; 1,869 yards; 15 TDs; 7 INTs; 169 completions; 251 attempts

7. West Virginia – 143.98 PER; 1,920 yards; 12 TDs; 4 INTs; 157 completions; 243 attempts

8. Oklahoma – 151.99 PER; 2,456 yards; 19 TDs; 5 INTs; 200 completions; 302 attempts

9. TCU – 152.77 PER; 1,911 yards; 12 TDs; 7 INTs; 124 completions; 203 attempts

10. Kansas – 170.22 PER; 1,829 yards; 16 TDs; 3 INTs; 140 completions; 200 attempts

Note: Kansas can’t stop the run or the pass. Texas struggles mightily against the run but is much better at stopping the pass. Oklahoma has already defended 302 pass attempts – a sign that its offense is putting teams in the hole early.

INDIVIDUAL SACKS

1. Felix Anudike-Uzomah (KSU) – 10 sacks, 1.25 per game

2. Will McDonald IV (ISU) – 7.5 sacks, 1.07 per game

3. Dante Stills (WVU) – 6 sacks, 0.75 per game

4. Isaiah Thomas (OU) – 5.5 sacks, 0.61 per game

5. Eyioma Uwazurike (ISU) – 5 sacks, 0.62 per game

T6. Nik Bonito (OU) – 5 sacks, 0.56 per game

T6. Tyree Wilson (TTU) – 5 sacks, 0.56 per game

8. Collin Oliver (OSU) – 4.5 sacks, 0.56 per game

9. Perrion Winfrey (OU) – 4.5 sacks, 0.50 per game

T10. Taijh Alston (WVU) – 4 sacks, 0.50 per game

T10. Oshaun Mathis (TCU) – 4 sacks, 0.50 per game

12. Siaki Ika (BU) – 3.5 sacks, 0.50 per game

13. Kyron Johnson (KU) – 3.5 sacks, 0.44 per game

Note: Ika has only played in 7 of Baylor’s 8 games. Anudike-Uzomah leads the nation in total sacks. McDonald is tied for 9^th; Stills is tied for 21^st. Anudike-Uzomah and Stills are tied for 11^th nationally in tackles for loss with 10.5 each.