College Football Stat Leaders

2023 College Football Defensive PPA Leaders

Predicted points added allowed per defensive play.

Seasons Covered

2003-2025

Current Leader

Penn State (-0.014)

Best Season

BYU 2003 (-0.277)

Scope

All Conferences • 2023

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per Game Passing Yards Per Game Rushing Yards Per Game Points Per Game Offensive PPA Defensive PPA Turnover Margin Havoc Rate

Season Selector

All-Time 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Conference Selector

All Conferences ACC American Big 12 Big Ten Conference USA MAC Mountain West Pac-12 SEC Sun Belt

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Defensive PPA Reads

Defensive PPA is a prevention metric, so lower numbers are better because elite defenses consistently erase scoring value and force opponents into less efficient possessions. On this 2023 leaderboard, the visible range runs -0.014 to 0.006, with Penn State setting the pace.

Conference Context

Big Ten Conference places 4 of the current top 5 teams, while Mid-American Conference owns the most recent yearly winner slot in the trend table.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Penn State to No. 5 Ohio State is 0.019, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from -0.010 in 2024 to -0.078 in 2025, a swing of 0.067. Penn State's current mark of -0.014 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.012 held by Alabama.

Leaderboard

Top 25 rows for the current route scope.


1	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	2023	-0.014
2	Michigan	Big Ten Conference	2023	-0.009
3	Notre Dame	NCAA Division I FBS independent schools	2023	-0.006
4	Iowa	Big Ten Conference	2023	0.003
5	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	2023	0.006
6	SMU	American Athletic Conference	2023	0.009
7	Troy	Sun Belt Conference	2023	0.013
8	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	2023	0.025
9	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	2023	0.046
10	Clemson	Atlantic Coast Conference	2023	0.049
11	James Madison	Sun Belt Conference	2023	0.060
12	UCLA	Pac-12 Conference	2023	0.062
13	Oregon	Pac-12 Conference	2023	0.064
14	Florida State	Atlantic Coast Conference	2023	0.072
15	Georgia	Southeastern Conference	2023	0.073
16	Louisville	Atlantic Coast Conference	2023	0.074
17	Oklahoma	Big 12 Conference	2023	0.079
18	Texas A&M	Southeastern Conference	2023	0.081
19	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	2023	0.082
20	Nebraska	Big Ten Conference	2023	0.084
21	NC State	Atlantic Coast Conference	2023	0.089
22	Tennessee	Southeastern Conference	2023	0.092
23	Texas	Big 12 Conference	2023	0.092
24	Kennesaw State	NCAA Division I FCS independent schools	2023	0.094
25	Miami (OH)	Mid-American Conference	2023	0.096

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

Season	Team	Conference	Value
2025	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	-0.078
2024	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.010
2023	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	-0.014
2022	Marshall	Sun Belt Conference	-0.043
2021	Georgia	Southeastern Conference	-0.046
2020	San Diego State	Mountain West Conference	0.001
2019	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	-0.011
2018	Mississippi State	Southeastern Conference	-0.053
2017	James Madison	Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference	-0.069
2016	Alabama	Southeastern Conference	-0.102
2015	Boston College	Atlantic Coast Conference	-0.086
2014	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	-0.045
2013	Georgia Southern	Southern Conference	-0.086
2012	Michigan State	Big Ten Conference	-0.080
2011	Alabama	Southeastern Conference	-0.137
2010	Georgia Southern	Southern Conference	-0.080
2009	Texas	Big 12 Conference	-0.099
2008	USC	Pacific-10 Conference	-0.106
2007	Oregon State	Pac-12 Conference	-0.113
2006	Western Kentucky	Missouri Valley Football Conference	-0.168
2005	UL Monroe	Sun Belt Conference	-0.184
2004	Texas State	Southland Conference	-0.213
2003	BYU	Mountain West Conference	-0.277

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

Rank	Team	Seasons	Average	Best Season
1	Alabama	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	-0.012	2004 (-0.177)
2	Clemson	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.007	2003 (-0.087)
3	Ohio State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.011	2003 (-0.143)
4	Iowa	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.026	2004 (-0.134)
5	Georgia	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.029	2003 (-0.133)
6	Penn State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.030	2014 (-0.045)
7	Michigan	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.031	2004 (-0.146)
8	Wisconsin	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.034	2006 (-0.095)
9	LSU	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.044	2003 (-0.197)
10	TCU	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.046	2008 (-0.097)
11	Utah	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.047	2004 (-0.106)
12	Boise State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.048	2004 (-0.139)
13	Florida State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.049	2003 (-0.151)
14	Miami	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.050	2003 (-0.207)
15	Notre Dame	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.055	2003 (-0.084)
16	Florida	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.055	2003 (-0.060)
17	Virginia Tech	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.055	2004 (-0.186)
18	Oregon	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.056	2004 (-0.077)
19	Oklahoma	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.056	2003 (-0.181)
20	San Diego State	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.058	2003 (-0.138)
21	Texas	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.059	2003 (-0.099)
22	BYU	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.062	2003 (-0.277)
23	Auburn	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.063	2004 (-0.117)
24	Boston College	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.064	2008 (-0.095)
25	Pittsburgh	2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003	0.068	2004 (-0.081)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads college football in defensive ppa in 2023?

Penn State ranks first at -0.014 in 2023.

Why does the 2023 defensive ppa season stand out?

The top of the 2023 leaderboard is separated by 0.019 from No. 1 to No. 5, which shows whether this season had a runaway leader or a tightly packed race.

How does the 2023 leader compare with the all-time average benchmark?

Penn State's 2023 mark of -0.014 clears the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.012 held by Alabama.