As we approach the latter half of the college football season, defenses have all but shown their colors by now. We know who’s good, who isn’t, and who’s propped up by games against inferior opponents. This week is no different, with four drastically different Big Ten teams leading the rankings.
10) Oregon State Beavers
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 82.9 (B-)
The first (but not the last!) of the Oregon schools to crack our rankings is the Oregon State Beavers. Despite being down 13-10 at half, the Beavers were able to rally. Lafayette had just 65 total yards in the second half and even had a big-man interception from Jojo Johnson.
9) UCF Knights
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 83 (B)
The UFC Knights have been one of the better defenses this season, ranking 21st in 2025 in our Impact scores. UCF held the West Virginia offense to -25.2 EPA (expected points added) in this game, per TruMedia. This was their worst offensive performance since TruMedia began tracking data in 2019.
8) Toledo Rockets
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 83.2 (B)
While the Toledo Rockets fall firmly under the umbrella of teams being propped up statistically by playing an awful team like Kent State, this isn’t a fluke for PFSN’s 22nd-ranked FBS defense. The Rockets have allowed a third-best 3.8 yards per play this season, and the game against the Golden Flashes was no different.
7) Buffalo Bulls
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 83.9 (B)
Buffalo ranks 26th this season in pressure rate despite their largely unaggressive approach, boasting the 117th-highest blitz rate. The funniest part of that statement is that Buffalo ranks second in the nation in pressure percentage while blitzing. Sample size aside, perhaps the Bulls could benefit from sending Dion Crawford towards the quarterback more often. He has three sacks and 14 pressures on the season.
6) Pittsburgh Panthers
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 84.2 (B)
Like Buffalo, the Pittsburgh Panthers’ defense thrives on getting pressure on the quarterback, ranking sixth in pressure rate. While the Panthers were able to notch two sacks on Syracuse this week, their three interceptions on the day came on plays where the quarterback was not pressured. This looks promising, even if it came against the Syracuse backup.
5) Oklahoma Sooners
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 84.9 (B)
PFSN’s top-ranked defense on the season graces the top five yet again. After the unit did everything it could to prevent Texas from winning, it was much more successful against the South Carolina Gamecocks. LaNorris Sellers had just 124 yards passing and was sacked six times. The defense dominated enough to spark conversations about Sellers transferring to a team with a better offensive line.
Our offensive line impact scores agree, with the Gamecocks’ offensive line ranking 106th this season. This is definitely not why the Sooners dominated in pass rush, though. They also defeated Michigan and Auburn (6th and 31st, respectively) with immense pressure on the quarterback.
4) Oregon Ducks
Week 7 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 84.9 (B)
The Oregon Ducks bounced back emphatically after a tough loss to the Indiana Hoosiers. In the 56-7 win over Rutgers, the Ducks continued proving decent on defense this year. As weak as their opponents have been, it’s a solid sign that Oregon can take care of business despite adversity and high expectations.
3) Minnesota Golden Gophers
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 86.3 (B+)
Minnesota finishes third in our defensive rankings and third in our Big Ten defensive rankings after putting Nebraska’s offense to shame. Because of their stout history, the Cornhuskers are no strangers to being embarrassed by constant, high expectations. Yet, the Golden Gophers were able to take this to new highs after what had been an excellent season for Nebraska.
Only the 2022 Michigan Wolverines have held Nebraska to fewer points in a game since 2019. Ironically enough, of the seven teams since 2019 to hold them to single-digit points, Minnesota ties Michigan with two of those performances.
2) Northwestern Wildcats
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 88.4 (B+)
Northwestern is definitely not the team you would expect to be at the top of these rankings, and yet, its second-place finish is relatively equal in shock factor to the Western Michigan Broncos’ first-place finish last week. Northwestern shut out a Purdue offense that had shown some signs of life this season in a 19-0 victory last week.
Purdue ranks 40th in our offensive impact rankings, but had their worst performance of the season against the Wildcats (even worse than it did against Notre Dame). While part of this is due to a Ryan Browne injury that resulted in 20 passing attempts from the backup, the Wildcats can still hang their hats on holding the Boilermakers to just 3.3 yards per carry.
1) Ohio State Buckeyes
Week 8 PFSN College DEFi Grade: 93.7 (A)
The No. 1 team on this week’s rankings should come as a shock to absolutely no one. After a 34-0 shutout over the Wisconsin Badgers, the Ohio State Buckeyes’ points per game allowed had dropped to just 5.9. This ranks first in the PFSN era (since 2019) by a wide margin and first since 2000. The closest defense is the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide, who finished the season allowing just 8.2 points per game.
The caveat is that many tough games are to be played, especially in the playoffs. That said, if Ohio State keeps this up, we could be talking about an all-time great level of defense here.
