This week's picks

Most explosive offenses: 2026 Leaders

College Football Charts
Data updatedOct 31, 2026

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Most explosive offenses

Top 25 of 138 teams. 2026 season, games through Oct 24, 2026.

From the play-by-play. Hover or tap a bar for the details.

What this shows

Every team in the group, ranked by explosive play rate. The share of offensive plays that are runs of 12+ yards or completions of 16+.

No. 1: Northwestern at 17.8%, 0.1 points ahead of No. 2, Louisville (17.7%).

The top 25 average 15.9%; the middle of all 138 in the group is 12.2%.

By conference: ACC and Big 12 5 each, Big Ten 4, American 3, SEC 2, out of the top 25.

Where the data comes from. Play-by-play from CollegeFootballData.com (the public cfbfastR files), games through Oct 24, 2026. Every stat here is computed from those plays.

Next up

  1. Miami (OH) 14.5%
  2. Florida State 14.5%
  3. SMU 14.4%
  4. Middle Tennessee 14.3%
  5. James Madison 14.2%
  6. Missouri 14.2%

Most in the top 25

  1. ACC 5 of 25
  2. Big 12 5 of 25
  3. Big Ten 4 of 25
  4. American Athletic 3 of 25
  5. SEC 2 of 25
  6. Conference USA 1 of 25

About the stats on this chart

What is explosive play rate?

The share of offensive plays that are runs of 12+ yards or completions of 16+.

Why does explosive play rate matter?

Big plays are how bad teams pull upsets and good teams turn wins into blowouts. They swing more week to week than efficiency, so don't overreact to one game.

Where does the explosive play rate data come from?

From play-by-play from CollegeFootballData.com (the public cfbfastR files), games through Oct 24, 2026.