Bud from Tomahawk Nation and Bird of From the Rumble Seat recently calculated the per drive statistics in ACC play last year. Interestingly enough, the Hokies led the conference in both offensive points per drive and defensive points per drive.
Tech averaged 2.82 points per drive while giving up 1.33 in its eight league games in 2009. Its one of the reasons Football Outsiders and other college football stat heads are in love with the Hokies heading into this season. But on further review of these stats, the offense and the defense a little worse than advertised.
I took the idea of points per drive and applied one of the rules Football Outsiders uses when calculating its per drive stats. FO throws out any drive during which one team is ahead by more than 24 points in the first quarter, more than 21 points in the second quarter or more than 16 points in the second half.
I also looked at the percentage of yards gained or allowed by Tech using those same perimeters. What this means is how many yards the offense gained before giving up the ball compared to how many yards were available to it. If the offense scores a touchdown, it gets credit for 100 percent of the yards available to it that drive. If it goes three-and-out and gains no yards, it gets credit for zero percent.
Here's a look at how Virginia Tech did in 2009 in ACC play:
Opp - Opponent; YD% - Percentage of yards gained or allowed; PPD - Points Per Drive
| Opp | YD% | PPD |
| Miami | 53.0 | 2.43 |
| Duke | 69.6 | 3.78 |
| Boston College | 94.7 | 6.00 |
| Georgia Tech | 43.9 | 2.18 |
| North Carolina | 36.4 | 1.55 |
| Maryland | 80.9 | 5.60 |
| NC State | 69.5 | 4.43 |
| Virginia | 65.2 | 3.50 |
| Total | 59.3 | 3.28 |
| Bowl Teams | 49.7 | 2.48 |
| Non-Bowl | 70.1 | 4.13 |
| Opp | YD% | PPD |
| Miami | 13.8 | 0.00 |
| Duke | 51.7 | 2.60 |
| Boston College | -0.07 | 0.00 |
| Georgia Tech | 47.2 | 2.80 |
| North Carolina | 38.6 | 1.82 |
| Maryland | 22.2 | 0.75 |
| NC State | 27.2 | 1.67 |
| Virginia | 36.4 | 1.44 |
| Total | 33.8 | 1.64 |
| Bowl Teams | 29.9 | 1.50 |
| Non-Bowl | 37.9 | 1.79 |
The offense improved its points per drive significantly after eliminating drives when games were out of hand. However, it did so at the expense of the four worst ACC teams on the schedule. The defense meanwhile saw its points per drive climb, but it actually did better against the four ACC teams on the schedule that went to Bowl games.
I don't have the Hokies' rankings in conference after taking out garbage time drives because I didn't calculate them for the whole league. That means you guys get to decide what you want to take from these numbers. What do you think? Virginia Tech leading the league in raw offensive and defense points per drive is pretty impressive, but what do you think the adjusted numbers and their splits tell you about last year's team?
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