Passing Efficiency

A complicated formula but a measure of success
by: AFM Editorial Staff
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10 IMPACT STATS TO BUILD A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM #7

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Pittsburgh Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a quarterback rating of 158.3 – the highest attainable by NFL standards – in the Steelers opening game of the season. He passed for 253 yards with 9 of 11 completions and without throwing an interception. The NFL’s formula for rating quarterbacks combines pass attempts and completions, percentages of completions and those intercepted as well as touchdown passes and – possibly the most important statistic in the formula – average number of yards per attempt. A rating of 100 is considered outstanding.

The NCAA has a similar formula for teams in what is called Passing Efficiency. The following categories are included to determine a team’s PE:

1. Pass attempts
2. Pass completions
3. Percentage of completions
4. Interceptions
5. Percentge of interceptions
6. Total passing yards
7. Yards per attempt
8. Passing touchdowns
9. Percentage of touchdowns per passing attempt

The formula works and is an accurate measure of just that: passing efficiency. A team can have an outstanding rushing attack and limit their pass attempts but be very effective in doing so. A perfect example would be Georgia Southern, the Division I-AA power who traditionally is among the leaders in rushing with their triple option offense. Last fall Georgia Southern led all I-AA teams in rushing offense averaging nearly 370 yards on the ground per game. They finished 106th in total passing, averaging only 118 yards per game.

But in terms of Passing Efficiency, the Eagles ranked #1. Why? They led all 117 colleges in both yards per pass attempt and yards per completion. While they didn’t pass much, they were certainly effective when they did. Among other leaders last fall in this category were Louisville, Colorado Mines, and Linfield.

“Passing efficiency is an important statistic to us because it has lots of relevance to our triple option offense,” says Georgia Southern Head Coach Mike Sewak. “It makes us four dimensional. If we feel the defense is playing well, we can go to a play action pass, especially if we find the secondary is primarily playing the run. We want to do what we can to take the emotion out of the defense and have them think rather than react to a situation.”

Linfield College, last fall’s Division III national champions, led all colleges in D-III competition in passing efficiency. “The most important statistics, by far, are points you’re scoring and how many you’re allowing,” says Linfield head coach Jay Locey. “Turnovers are an important stat as well as percentage of scoring in the red zone. But, indirectly, passing efficiency is also important. It points to whether you’re productive or not and passing efficiency measures production. You can get a lot of yards but not end up with a lot of points.”

One of the perennial leaders in passing offense is Texas Tech. This fall the Red Raiders are among the leaders in passing efficiency, as well. “The NFL formula and the NCAA formula for passing efficiency are hard to figure out but there are certain parts of it more important than others,” says Tech head Coach Mike Leach.

“What I care most about are total yards and more TD’s than interceptions. Our distribution as a passing offense is also important. Many times a quarterback having a higher efficiency rating when he throws 8 times a game – as opposed to 50 throws a game – can be misinterpreted.

“What’s important is controlling the ball, the number of first downs, third down conversions and having more plays on offense that our opponent. Total yards and completion percentage are equally important as well as TD passes. But total yards is a good measurement of success.”

Next month AFM continues it’s 10-part series by breaking down each of the top 10 statistical categories in building a championship team. December’s subject: Passes Intercepted. To view the original article on ‘10 Impact Stats to Build a Championship Team’ that appeared in the July issue of AFM, log onto www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com.

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