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College Football Number of Plays Trend (2009-2019)

Running plays is, well, something that every team does each season. And as fans, sometimes we don’t think of exactly what it means if a team runs more plays than other. However, it can be quite revealing.

It’s simple, more plays means more possessions. More chances to score. More opportunities! A team that gets more possession gets more scores, more field goals, more points and (not always, but usually) more wins. Here are some examples:

LSU has been in talks ever since winning the 2019 National Championship. However, their championship run hasn’t been the most statistically pleasing. Nevertheless, their plays trend is on caliber for the play they had last year. Leading D1 NCAA with 1080 plays, LSU got the chance to get on the field and score more than any team last year. And they took full advantage! 

However, you don’t have to run a bunch of plays to be successful. While the first 3 teams in plays run happen coincide with the first 3 ranked teams in the 2019 final AP Poll, other schools like Oklahoma and Georgia found success at sub-1000 play counts.

Team Avg Trend 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
Clemson 1047.36 1075 1076 1048 1220 1207 990 1037 1062 1055 865 886
Texas Tech 1009.82 935 972 1000 1042 1084 914 1135 993 991 1054 988
Baylor 1002.18 948 988 876 1108 1103 1138 1075 1072 1000 939 777
Oklahoma 998.18 946 928 979 957 1013 943 942 1005 1052 1211 1004
Houston 987.27 780 1010 857 1084 1101 945 953 984 1102 894 1150
Oregon 981.91 956 947 939 892 993 1118 973 1059 1015 1024 885
Texas A&M 981.82 881 980 955 953 987 935 954 1025 1043 1034 1053
Tulsa 979.45 947 899 884 1114 1083 958 912 1160 942 1006 869
Boise State 975.82 993 979 981 899 1077 1060 1029 872 969 909 966
Northern Illinois 969.73 824 998 963 949 1047 1073 1073 1023 1003 910 804
Oklahoma State 967.64 924 1011 1008 956 977 907 987 1014 987 982 891
Ohio State 966.73 1069 1131 1029 992 892 1099 1003 837 807 896 879
East Carolina 964.18 900 995 939 958 877 1070 1028 947 921 990 981
Northwestern 961.45 842 1046 998 984 952 941 889 964 984 942 1034
Arizona 954.64 873 881 908 815 992 1139 1030 1082 908 959 914
Texas 949.73 950 1045 1006 999 781 892 1005 891 947 878 1053
BYU 949.27 933 856 822 956 917 1050 1111 1003 958 947 889
Virginia Tech 946.91 883 949 996 1087 939 963 925 944 995 913 822
Arizona State 946.18 842 899 981 900 1070 975 1102 1012 950 877 800
Nevada 946.00 946 929 813 830 887 966 974 1080 1037 1044 900
North Carolina State 942.73 881 979 981 942 953 889 945 1040 914 1006 840
TCU 940.64 905 904 963 991 1078 1038 822 914 882 929 921
West Virginia 940.36 788 870 941 983 1051 1097 891 1001 959 908 855
Duke 939.45 873 956 1016 917 1033 963 1016 990 858 872 840
Arkansas State 938.45 925 980 975 919 973 1024 947 951 1016 855 758
Alabama 938.36 842 1009 944 1056 1088 1018 826 898 865 829 947
Washington State 931.82 920 958 1016 1026 1032 1014 999 876 882 801 726
Michigan State 931.55 932 962 971 841 992 994 999 957 940 817 842
Wisconsin 930.00 963 875 954 981 931 970 912 926 937 860 921
Air Force 928.55 881 882 908 977 987 1002 811 955 927 916 968
Marshall 927.27 887 908 898 834 967 1032 1093 1087 853 766 875
Louisiana Tech 927.09 933 915 915 960 910 957 858 1054 987 890 819
Bowling Green 925.73 839 822 847 952 1136 1103 983 895 830 820 956
Missouri 924.09 852 1004 916 948 770 954 1042 867 972 929 911
Fresno State 922.00 767 941 952 845 826 1096 1088 1006 887 858 876
UCLA 919.27 916 854 932 839 969 992 958 1095 898 802 857
Indiana 918.00 940 909 951 990 1053 852 928 935 870 861 809
Southern Mississippi 917.91 872 788 937 1022 1033 858 820 791 1042 1030 904
Hawai'i 917.18 1056 963 843 915 847 993 947 837 901 926 861
Nebraska 916.64 867 868 827 923 954 946 962 1040 904 916 876
Toledo 915.73 856 927 981 935 903 973 843 962 980 860 853
Middle Tennessee 914.18 771 992 900 973 1004 873 929 812 938 909 955
California 914.09 841 910 892 1035 989 975 1046 817 924 761 865
USC 912.64 905 794 1034 969 990 984 924 853 839 930 817
Cincinnati 912.36 993 974 805 850 1059 945 985 863 892 837 833
Auburn 911.73 947 894 1024 934 892 939 1014 695 828 948 914
Utah State 910.00 965 945 920 793 884 901 1072 893 913 852 872
UCF 909.73 1016 986 924 975 781 942 875 939 812 898 859
Western Michigan 906.45 916 962 856 1012 930 875 827 915 945 860 873
Colorado 904.27 847 872 909 1104 1008 996 832 829 851 847 852
Georgia 903.55 940 923 975 919 813 877 945 924 1016 814 793
Troy 903.45 893 857 872 977 799 817 920 966 867 997 973
Ohio 903.36 861 867 875 1004 950 845 887 998 1026 768 856
SMU 903.27 1037 869 973 934 869 792 945 916 831 920 850
Mississippi State 902.73 844 837 987 943 927 1001 956 848 862 907 818
Syracuse 901.55 909 1063 1027 971 751 807 959 1029 814 812 775
Washington 900.73 872 969 821 937 873 1007 1023 904 858 857 787
Memphis 898.27 992 1028 941 964 1029 1012 799 772 786 718 840
Iowa State 897.91 896 829 904 856 909 912 903 923 1021 828 896
Penn State 897.36 885 900 909 931 829 948 910 931 891 873 864
Utah 895.82 912 971 953 969 923 943 864 797 806 826 890
Western Kentucky 892.18 900 870 968 958 1019 986 875 841 845 795 757
Notre Dame 891.27 889 954 912 826 864 947 869 894 906 895 848
Ball State 890.82 909 924 902 955 896 857 959 1035 859 754 749
Florida State 888.91 909 847 808 939 844 967 947 941 820 897 859
Virginia 888.91 962 857 908 871 837 883 995 891 939 862 773
North Carolina 888.64 959 817 834 860 936 1005 943 898 813 865 845
Mississippi 888.55 891 860 804 905 952 904 1018 962 773 826 879
Louisiana-Lafayette 887.73 987 901 828 929 837 918 883 873 893 850 866
Wake Forest 884.64 1055 1067 963 886 834 768 801 829 921 761 846
San Diego State 882.82 933 831 827 892 927 866 972 887 935 865 776
Louisville 882.64 870 797 959 961 900 939 894 918 847 835 789
Rice 882.00 753 858 732 895 906 923 1046 1026 851 854 858
Navy 880.73 877 859 924 900 870 857 921 872 829 849 930
Louisiana-Monroe 880.09 868 801 863 876 902 892 860 989 939 874 817
Buffalo 877.91 937 1004 828 823 880 810 965 866 858 850 836
Purdue 876.82 862 909 938 918 921 836 745 957 926 796 837
North Texas 876.55 849 966 1037 875 843 803 951 853 827 805 833
Central Michigan 876.45 999 809 923 878 915 886 756 828 791 860 996
Pittsburgh 875.18 954 887 822 866 852 918 853 884 944 830 817
Michigan 872.55 905 896 875 944 906 751 893 820 844 941 823
Stanford 872.36 790 808 843 827 928 858 895 948 935 914 850
New Mexico State 871.64 832 891 998 914 896 921 851 791 897 825 772
South Carolina 871.00 862 887 802 877 774 947 920 856 870 911 875
Florida Atlantic 870.91 1053 930 1026 838 890 808 852 826 738 741 878
Georgia Tech 869.18 717 871 751 771 775 993 916 1002 884 921 960
LSU 867.45 1080 950 863 757 783 897 849 883 870 839 771
Colorado State 867.45 841 894 977 900 926 882 1050 750 797 785 740
Iowa 867.00 864 896 836 812 937 951 931 793 865 806 846
UNLV 862.09 831 892 827 815 865 964 990 919 769 805 806
Tulane 856.55 948 904 816 849 800 862 870 816 890 899 768
Temple 856.18 951 937 914 967 956 772 840 689 834 727 831
San Jose State 855.64 806 805 898 851 922 904 928 914 842 788 754
Oregon State 852.27 830 915 773 795 789 848 980 947 821 759 918
South Florida 850.91 773 948 1001 928 893 740 715 836 911 810 805
Boston College 849.27 964 895 985 862 751 878 791 818 761 814 823
Arkansas 847.64 783 810 802 923 886 916 775 826 883 886 834
Tennessee 847.27 821 716 732 896 988 977 804 890 792 827 877
Florida International 847.00 877 859 890 830 825 812 738 858 867 906 855
Florida 845.18 865 890 712 862 915 841 793 827 789 884 919
Wyoming 845.18 831 771 794 1006 786 823 922 852 915 691 906
Kansas 845.09 773 815 851 870 897 842 825 871 844 823 885
Kansas State 844.36 841 797 789 881 876 891 828 841 896 846 802
Miami (Florida) 843.64 844 835 840 861 873 837 820 818 737 936 879
Army 843.00 869 922 850 913 724 770 847 921 837 866 754
Miami (Ohio) 838.27 870 818 831 842 802 826 737 834 834 941 886
Illinois 837.27 857 822 725 711 907 883 866 797 912 903 827
Minnesota 836.91 883 869 758 886 873 853 853 847 744 825 815
Connecticut 830.91 810 851 907 798 819 736 826 807 825 858 903
Kentucky 830.18 830 832 818 872 816 849 774 790 764 910 877
Eastern Michigan 825.64 883 880 857 999 830 779 781 756 777 793 747
Vanderbilt 820.73 744 850 751 891 871 740 880 874 843 781 803
Akron 819.82 725 764 906 776 905 891 837 948 789 742 735
Maryland 813.00 767 728 754 875 829 846 890 776 855 822 801
Rutgers 811.55 735 772 711 821 806 846 897 823 936 769 811
Kent State 811.36 905 914 754 765 790 719 797 942 780 773 786
New Mexico 808.91 832 793 784 867 868 735 781 842 760 805 831
UTEP 796.00 768 751 676 736 834 860 825 831 809 844 822
Georgia State #N/A #N/A 981 815 852 755 903 836 794 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Liberty #N/A #N/A 887 935 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Appalachian State #N/A #N/A 969 859 886 912 902 877 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Charlotte #N/A #N/A 848 830 740 900 937 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Coastal Carolina #N/A #N/A 854 780 750 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
UAB #N/A #N/A 896 963 871 #N/A #N/A 941 808 895 842 882 754
UTSA #N/A #N/A 819 758 754 907 870 796 838 680 #N/A #N/A #N/A
South Alabama #N/A #N/A 791 810 786 884 833 949 882 938 #N/A #N/A #N/A
Georgia Southern #N/A #N/A 821 760 839 870 865 796 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Texas State #N/A #N/A 768 778 854 841 901 920 771 774 #N/A #N/A #N/A
Massachusetts #N/A #N/A 822 821 865 802 887 879 787 854 #N/A #N/A #N/A
Old Dominion #N/A #N/A 810 905 811 874 834 823 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A
Team Avg Trend

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