Scoring Defense

[WorkHorse]

When you look at the past 15 national champions in the BCS era...one stat that sticks out is scoring defense. With the exception of a few teams, the final champs have been stingy with points allowed and yards given up.

1998 Tennessee (Defense held 9 of 13 opponents to 18 points or less)
1999 Florida State (Led ACC in total defense with 302.6 ypg)
2000 Oklahoma (No. 8 nationally in total defense at 278.9 ypg)
2001 Miami (No. 1 in scoring defense at 9.8 ppg)
2002 Ohio State (No. 2 in scoring defense 13.1 ppg)
2003 LSU (No. 1 in total defense 252.1 ypg)
2004 USC (No. 3 in scoring defense 13.0 ppg)
2005 Texas (Averaged 50 points per game)
2006 Florida (Held Ohio State to 82 total yards in title game)
2007 LSU (Only two loss national champions)
2008 Florida (No. 2 in scoring defense 12.9 ppg)
2009 Alabama (No. 2 in total defense 244.1 ypg)
2010 Auburn (Cam Newton 4,327 yards of offense)
2011 Alabama (No. 1 scoring defense 8.2 ppg)
2012 Alabama (No. 1 scoring defense 10.93 ppg)

What's the old saying? DEFENSE wins championships!

[WorkHorse]

2012 Scoring Defense Leaders

Team..............Points Per Game.............W/L Record
1. Alabama................10.9............. ..........13-1
2. Notre Dame............12.7.................... ...12-1
3. BYU.......................14.0.......... ..............8-5
4. Rutgers..................14.5........... .............9-4
5. Florida...................14.4.......... .............11-2
6. Florida St...............14.7................... ....12-2
7. Utah St..................15.3................ .......11-2
8. Boise St.................15.7................. ......11-2
9. Michigan St.............16.3..................... ...7-6
10. Bowling Green.......16.7........................ 8-5
11. Stanford................17.2............ ..........12-2
12. LSU......................17.5........... ............10-3
13. S. Carolina............18.2................ .......11-2
14. Cincinnati..............18.4............ ..........10-3
15. Vanderbilt.............18.6............. ..........9-4

154 wins and 44 losses (82%)

[WorkHorse]

2012 Total Defense Leaders

1. Alabama.................250 ypg.........13-1 record
2. Florida St................254...............12-2
3. BYU.......................266........... ......8-5
4. Michigan St.............274.................7-6
5. Florida....................287.......... ......11-2
6. Bowling Green.........296.................8-4
7. Notre Dame............305.................12-1
8. LSU.......................307........... ......10-3
9. UConn...................309............. .....5-7
10. Rutgers................311.............. ....9-4

95 wins and 35 losses (73%)

[WorkHorse]

Talk about Scoring Defense......

Bear Bryant came to Alabama in 1958 from Texas A&M. During 1961, he won his first of six national championships with the Tide. That '61' squad outscored its opponents by a margin of 297-25. Not a misprint...the defense held eleven opponents to a total of 25 points...average of 2.2 ppg. Only five of Bama's eleven opponents scored against what I consider the greatest defense in Alabama history.

If there is a team who has recorded a better "Scoring Defense" in a season than the 1961 Alabama team...I'd certainly like to know who.

1961 Schedule, 11-0, SEC Champs, National Champs
Georgia 32-6, Tulane 9-0, Vanderbilt 35-6, North Carolina St. 26-7, Tennessee 34-3, Houston 17-0, Mississippi State 24-0, Richmond 66-0, Georgia Tech 10-0, Auburn 34-0, and Sugar Bowl Arkansas 10-0.