Max Olson of ESPN released his final “stop rate” figures for 2025, and Texas Tech rests atop all of FBS in defensive stops and points prevented.
Olson defines his measurement as the “Basic measurement of success,” or drives resulting in a punt, turnover or turnover on downs. He’s taking the core wins of any defensive drive and calculating the best at doing all three.
The Red Raiders, against 13 FBS opponents, lead the country with an 83.5% stop rate, allowing 0.92 points per drive in 2025. Texas Tech’s defense led the Big 12 in fewest yards allowed (258.3), and finished fifth nationally.
The next-best Big 12 defense came from Utah, ranked 14th with a 71.3% stop rate and allowing 1.74 points per drive by Olson’s metric.
Among the Power 4, the Big 12 finished fourth with an average of 364.5 yards allowed per game across 16 member schools. Most schools fell into the top 30-60 range nationally; West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Colorado filled out the Big 12’s bottom three defenses in 2025.
Big 12 rankings for “Stop Rate”
| FBS rank | School | Stop Rate | Pts/Drive |
| 1st | Texas Tech | 83.5% | 0.92 |
| 14th | Utah | 71.3% | 1.74 |
| 24th | Arizona | 69.1% | 1.73 |
| 35th | Iowa State | 66.1% | 1.93 |
| 43rd | Arizona State | 65% | 2.09 |
| T-47th | BYU | 64.7% | 1.93 |
| T-47th | Houston | 64.7% | 1.99 |
| 58th | TCU | 63.4% | 2.07 |
| 66th | Kansas State | 62.4% | 2.15 |
| 72nd | UCF | 60.3% | 2.17 |
| 101st | Kansas | 56.5% | 2.59 |
| 104th | West Virginia | 55.6% | 2.67 |
| 107th | Colorado | 55.3% | 2.57 |
| 108th | Cincinnati | 55% | 2.66 |
| 121st | Baylor | 51.6% | 2.94 |
| 122nd | Oklahoma State | 51.2% | 2.91 |
