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In 1993, the Maryland Terrapins allowed 6,083 yards in 11 games for an average of 553.0 yards per game. According to the NCAA, that is the single worst season in college football history. Full statistics for that season are not available from anywhere I can find, but the Terps ended 1993 2-9 with losses to three top-25 teams.
| G | Date | Day | School | Opponent | Conf | Pts | Opp | W | L | T | Streak | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 4, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | Virginia | ACC | L | 29 | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | L 1 | ||
| 2 | Sep 11, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | (14) North Carolina | ACC | L | 42 | 59 | 0 | 2 | 0 | L 2 | |
| 3 | Sep 18, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | West Virginia | Big East | L | 37 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | L 3 | ||
| 4 | Sep 25, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | Virginia Tech | Big East | L | 28 | 55 | 0 | 4 | 0 | L 4 | |
| 5 | Oct 2, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | (9) Penn State | Big Ten | L | 7 | 70 | 0 | 5 | 0 | L 5 | ||
| 6 | Oct 9, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | Georgia Tech | ACC | L | 0 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | L 6 | |
| 7 | Oct 16, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | Duke | ACC | W | 26 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 0 | W 1 | ||
| 8 | Oct 30, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | Clemson | ACC | L | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7 | 0 | L 1 | |
| 9 | Nov 6, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | (1) Florida State | ACC | L | 20 | 49 | 1 | 8 | 0 | L 2 | ||
| 10 | Nov 13, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | North Carolina State | ACC | L | 21 | 44 | 1 | 9 | 0 | L 3 | |
| 11 | Nov 20, 1993 | Sat | Maryland | @ | Wake Forest | ACC | W | 33 | 32 | 2 | 9 | 0 | W 1 |
I have bad news for you. Through 7 games, Baylor's 2012 defense has allowed 3876 yards, for an average of ... 553.71. Rounding up and assuming that current results hold means Baylor breaks the 19-year-old record and has officially the worst defense in NCAA history in terms of yards allowed per game. In 12 games, we will have given up 6645 yards, probably also a record.
One opportunity for improvement comes this weekend, when Baylor faces off against the owners of the 90th-ranked offense in the country by FEI and S&P+ in the Kansas Jayhawks. Of course, I said the same thing last week about Iowa State, who was actually ranked below Kansas in both measures, and they lit us up. After that its gets significantly tougher with Kansas State (6th in FEI, 7th in S&P+), Oklahoma (5th and 21st), Oklahoma State (4th and 19th), and Texas Tech (15th and 13th) as our remaining games. Suffice to say, I think this record will be ours.
I say that knowing that offenses on the whole have changed considerably even since 1993. Teams are playing at a higher pace and racking up more yards than ever before. The fact that the record stood so long, however, in the face of such offensive innovation, is still sobering. You know how much I despise absolute stats, but in this case, I think we're seeing reality reflected here. Baylor's defense is one of the worst of all time.