Texas Tech, led by quarterback Graham Harrell in a pass-heavy system, ranks as the top-gaining passing offense in college football when adjusted for opponents' pass defenses.
As with the rushing offense total, the sheer amount of passing attempts a team averages has a lot to do with its total passing yardage output. We can see that the two top teams—who are ahead of the rest of the field by almost 100 yards per game—have the #118 and #120 ranked rushing attack. Clearly the top teams got there not only from effectiveness but also from the design of their offense.
Unlike the rushing list, many of the top passing teams didn't finish with very good records. Without a rushing game to control the clock, or with a defense that gets tired from being on the field a lot, a passing-oriented offense doesn't guarantee success. New Mexico State, Washington State, Nebraska, Arizona, Kansas State, North Texas, and Rice all finished with losing records. Still, Hawaii, Tulsa, Boston College, Missouri, BYU, Boise State, Kansas, and Tennessee all finished with 10 or more wins, compared to only six of the top 25 rushing teams. But only two of the top rushing teams had losing records.
Here are the top 25 teams in average rushing yards, with their unadjusted rank, passing rank, and principal ground gainer(s) [click here for full list]:
# Team rec yds. raw rush rnk starting quarterback
1. Texas Tech 9-4 460.9 1 118 Graham Harrell
2. Hawaii 12-1 449.6 2 120 Colt Brennan
3. Tulsa 10-4 360.1 3 63 Paul Smith
4. New Mexico St 4-9 358.6 5 117 Chase Holbrook
5. Louisville 6-6 350.1 4 73 Brian Brohm
6. Boston College 11-3 339.6 6 101 Matt Ryan
7. Washington St 5-7 325.4 8 67 Alex Brink
8. Nebraska 5-7 325.4 7 47 Sam Keller
9. Missouri 12-2 323.5 9 32 Chase Daniel
10. Brigham Young 11-2 322.7 14 58 Max Hall
11. Arizona 5-7 318.9 10 94 Willie Tuitama
12. Northwestern 6-6 307.4 11 92 CJ Bacher
13. Cincinnati 10-3 293.2 20 82 Ben Mauk
14. Kansas St 5-7 292.7 21 81 Josh Freeman
15. Purdue 8-5 291.3 12 86 Curtis Painter
16. Boise St 10-3 290.2 23 66 Taylor Tharp
17. North Texas 2-10 288.6 18 107 Giovanni Vizza
18. Memphis 7-6 288.6 13 96 Martin Hankins
19. Rice 3-9 287.8 15 113 Chase Clement
20. Kentucky 8-5 287.1 19 48 Andre Woodson
21. Kansas 12-1 284.7 17 41 Todd Reesing
22. Tennessee 10-4 279.3 35 54 Eric Ainge
23. Florida Atlantic 8-5 278.6 16 100 Rusty Smith
24. Florida 9-4 274.2 38 17 Tim Tebow
25. South Carolina 6-6 274.1 37 89 C. Smelley, B. Mitchell
It's also hard to tell whether a team's passing success is due to the quarterback or a good corps of receivers. Texas Tech and Hawaii both have multiple receivers in the top 100, Tech with two and Hawaii with four. How much did having Michael Crabtree to throw to improve Harrell's stats? It's hard to say; his completion percentage went up 5 points from last season and he had 10 more touchdowns. A year's improvement or a great receiver joins the team? Or does Crabtree look better than he is because he has Harrell throwing to him? Without changing players in and out, the numbers alone can't tell the whole story.
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