This offseason, Texas Tech set out to assemble one of the best defenses in college football. Five games in, the Red Raiders have officially moved into the No. 1 spot in our updated stop rate standings.

What is stop rate? It's a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Defensive coordinators have the same goal regardless of their scheme, opponent or conference: prevent points and get off the field. Stop rate is a simple metric but can offer a good reflection of a defense's effectiveness on a per-drive basis in today's faster-tempo game.

Stop rate does not include games against FCS foes. It is not an advanced stat and is no substitute for Bill Connelly's SP+ , FPI or other more comprehensive metrics. It's mere

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