What's the ultimate goal of a spread offense? To get the ball to playmakers in space, right? Whether by run or pass, by running back, wide receiver, tight end or quarterback, the stated goal of a spread attack is to put the ball in a place where the defense is not.
Now, what's the best way to measure that? According to SB Nation's Bill Connelly, it's solo tackles.
On the surface, that makes sense. If only one defender is around to make a tackle it means the other 10 are somewhere else. The metric has some problems, namely that solo tackles rely on the honesty of the home team's official scorer.
But it's still a useful statistic to keep in mind. And which team created more solo tackles than any in college football last year? Kansas State. Which team incited the most solo stops in 2013? Kansas State.
How do K-State co-offensive coordinators Dana Dimel and Del Miller do it? Multiplicity. "I think the diversity of our system is key," Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder told SBNation. "We can be five receivers or two tight ends and a back. All of those people have the capacity of lining up and performing at a variety of positions. A lot of people are doing that; we're not alone. But how we utilize our guys is very diverse."
Here's the top 10 true "spread" offenses, as represented by percentage of plays that end in solo tackles:
1. Kansas State - 88.5%
2. Syracuse - 85.8%
3. Hawaii - 85.7%
4. South Florida - 85.4%
5. Texas Tech - 85.3%
6. Arkansas State - 85.1%
Arizona State - 85.1%
8. Arizona - 83.9%
9. Florida International - 83.6%
10. Memphis - 83.2%
And the 10 least likely offense to induce a solo tackle:
1. LSU - 51.5%
2. Ball State - 58%
3. UTEP - 59.6%
4. Eastern Michigan - 61.8%
5. Arkansas - 63.0%
6. Vanderbilt - 64.2%
7. Duke - 65.1%
8. Marshall - 65.4%
9. Virginia - 65.7%
10. Massachusetts - 65.9%