College Football Stat Leaders

2024 College Football Defensive PPA Leaders

Predicted points added allowed per defensive play.

Seasons Covered

2003-2025

Current Leader

Ohio State (-0.010)

Best Season

BYU 2003 (-0.277)

Scope

All Conferences • 2024

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

Summary

This page captures down-to-down defensive suppression rather than flashy single-game outcomes, which is why the best programs here often stay near the top through multiple seasons and coordinators.

Defensive PPA pages track college football teams in 2024 using a shared leaderboard template with season winners, all-time context, and trend lines across 2003 through 2025.

Ohio State sits atop the current leaderboard at -0.010, giving the page an immediate answer for fans comparing the top teams in this metric.

Alabama owns the strongest average across 23 seasons at -0.012, while Toledo anchors the recent year-by-year trend view.

Ohio State currently headlines this route, while Toledo supplies the most recent yearly-winner checkpoint in 2025, giving the page both snapshot and trend context.

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 2024 leaderboard, the visible range runs -0.010 to 0.026, with Ohio State setting the pace.

Conference Context

Southeastern Conference places 2 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 Ohio State to No. 5 SMU is 0.036, 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. Ohio State's current mark of -0.010 sits below the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.012 held by Alabama.

Leaderboard

Top 25 rows for the current route scope.


1	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference	2024	-0.010
2	Ole Miss	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.012
3	Notre Dame	NCAA Division I FBS independent schools	2024	0.014
4	Texas	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.018
5	SMU	Atlantic Coast Conference	2024	0.026
6	Alabama	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.027
7	James Madison	Sun Belt Conference	2024	0.033
8	Indiana	Big Ten Conference	2024	0.035
9	Utah	Big 12 Conference	2024	0.042
10	Penn State	Big Ten Conference	2024	0.045
11	Minnesota	Big Ten Conference	2024	0.047
12	Tennessee	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.050
13	Tulane	American Athletic Conference	2024	0.055
14	Oklahoma	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.058
15	Northern Illinois	Mid-American Conference	2024	0.062
16	South Carolina	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.065
17	Colorado	Big 12 Conference	2024	0.076
18	Auburn	Southeastern Conference	2024	0.080
19	UConn	NCAA Division I FBS independent schools	2024	0.084
20	Fresno State	Mountain West	2024	0.086
21	Kansas State	Big 12 Conference	2024	0.089
22	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	2024	0.089
23	Duke	Atlantic Coast Conference	2024	0.090
24	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	2024	0.091
25	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	2024	0.092

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 2024?

Ohio State ranks first at -0.010 in 2024.

Why does the 2024 defensive ppa season stand out?

The top of the 2024 leaderboard is separated by 0.036 from No. 1 to No. 5, which shows whether this season had a runaway leader or a tightly packed race.

How does the 2024 leader compare with the all-time average benchmark?

Ohio State's 2024 mark of -0.010 trails the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.012 held by Alabama.