Yahoo Sports Which Husker defense was ranked as one of the greatest of all-time
A new list by Bill Connelly of ESPN* attempted to rank the Top 50 defenses in college football history. Here are the questions he asks and the criteria he uses to create his verbatim.
What’s more impressive …
A. Allowing 1.3 points per game in 1939, as Tennessee did under Bob Neyland during one of college football’s lowest scoring ebbs?
B. Allowing 5.2 points per game in 1972, as Michigan did under Bo Schembechler?
C. Allowing 13.0 points per game in 2016, as Alabama did under Nick Saban during maybe the most offense-friendly season ever?
Below are my attempts at answering exactly that. Adjusting for opponents, tempo (where applicable) and my own personal whims, here are what I view as the 50 best defenses in the history of top-division college football.
I’m going to be a completely honest, dear reader. I disagree with almost every entry on this list. If you create a list of the greatest defenses in the sports history, I don’t care what criteria you use; the 2001 Miami Hurricanes must be included, not just in the Top 25 but at the top of the whole darn list. The 2001 Canes defeated five ranked teams and gave up an average of 9.75 PPG with three shutouts. The Caines also had nine players from that defense drafted in the first round over multiple drafts.
Below is the Top 25 as listed by Bill Connelly of ESPN*. Scroll down to see which Husker defense made the list and where they rank among some of the greatest of all-time.
1957 Auburn
Scoring defense: 2.8 PPG
Record: 10-0
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
1953 Maryland
Scoring defense: 3.5 PPG
Record: 10-1
Maryland Helmet (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)
1966 Ole Miss
Scoring defense: 5.9 PPG
Record: 8-3
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
2006 Virginia Tech
Scoring defense: 11 PPG
Record: 10-3
Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
1946 Notre Dame
Scoring defense: 2.7 PPG
Record: 8-0-1
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
2019 Georgia
Scoring defense: 12.6 PPG
Record: 12-2
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
2020 Georgia
Scoring defense: 20.4
Record: 8-2
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
2021 Georgia
Scoring defense: 10.2 PPG
Record: 14-1
Syndication: Online Athens
2009 Nebraska
Scoring defense: 10.4 PPG
Record: 10-4
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
1992 Alabama
Scoring defense: 9.4 PPG
Record: 13-0
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
1997 Michigan
Scoring defense: 9.5 PPG
Record: 12-0
Photo By USA TODAY Sports
1945 Navy
Scoring defense: 7.2 PPG
Record: 7-1-1
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
1932 USC
Scoring defense: 1.3 PPG
Record: 10-0
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
1991 Miami
Scoring defense: 8.3 PPG
Record: 12-0
Miami Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
1986 Oklahoma
Scoring defense: 6.8 PPG
Record: 11-1
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
1972 Michigan
Scoring defense: 5.2 PPG
Record: 10-1
Michigan Wolverines football helmet (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)s
2011 LSU
Scoring defense: 11.3 PPG
Record: 13-1
Syndication: Montgomery
2011 LSU
Scoring defense: 8.2 PPG
Record: 12-1
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
1939 Tennessee
Scoring defense: 1.3 PPG
Record: 10-1
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
1965 Michigan State
Scoring defense: 6.9 PPG
Record: 10-1
Michigan Wolverines football helmet (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
1959 LSU
Scoring defense: 4.5 PPG
Record: 9-2
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
1959 Ole Miss
Scoring defense: 1.9 PPG
Record: 10-1
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
2016 Alabama
Scoring defense: 13.0 PPG
Record: 14-1
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
2017 Alabama
Scoring defense: 11.9 PPG
Record: 13-1
Syndication: Montgomery
