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Big 12 stat crunch: All about getting stops

We need better metrics for judging Big 12 defenses. Total points and total yards don’t tell you much. Last week, we looked at points per drive. This week, I wanted to take a different approach.

The ultimate goal of every defense, on every drive, is getting a stop. Success is measured in points, not yards. So why not assess a defense by how frequently they get stops: forcing punts, turnovers and turnover on downs.

So I went through the stat books of every single game played in the Big 12 this season and came up with a simple system.