College Football Stat Leaders

2021 Sacks Per Game Leaders

Average defensive sacks recorded per game.

Seasons Covered

2016-2025

Current Leader

Oklahoma State (4.07)

Best Season

Wisconsin 2019 (5.57)

Scope

All Conferences • 2021

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per GamePassing Yards Per GameRushing Yards Per GamePoints Per GameYards Allowed Per GameSacks Per GameTackles For Loss Per GameThird Down Conversion RatePoints Per OpportunityOffensive PPADefensive PPATurnover MarginHavoc Rate

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Sacks Per Game Reads

Sacks per game captures pass-rush production and the ability to end opponent drives with negative plays, though it should be read with opponent pass volume and game script. On this 2021 leaderboard, the visible range runs 4.07 to 3.31, with Oklahoma State setting the pace.

Conference Context

Atlantic Coast Conference places 1 of the current top 5 teams, while Southeastern Conference owns the most recent yearly winner slot in the trend table.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Oklahoma State to No. 5 Western Michigan is 0.76, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark slipped from 4.08 in 2024 to 3.46 in 2025, a swing of 0.62. Oklahoma State's current mark of 4.07 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of 3.23 held by Clemson.

Leaderboard

Top 25 rows for the current route scope.

1Oklahoma StateBig 12 Conference20214.07
2PittsburghAtlantic Coast Conference20213.86
3AlabamaSoutheastern Conference20213.80
4Michigan StateBig Ten Conference20213.31
5Western MichiganMid-American Conference20213.31
6GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference20213.27
7Colorado StateMountain West Conference20213.25
8Texas A&MSoutheastern Conference20213.25
9HoustonAmerican Athletic Conference20213.21
10TroySun Belt Conference20213.17
11ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference20213.15
12NevadaMountain West Conference20213.15
13Notre DameNCAA Division I FBS independent schools20213.15
14BaylorBig 12 Conference20213.14
15BuffaloMid-American Conference20213.08
16SyracuseAtlantic Coast Conference20213.08
17MarshallConference USA20213.08
18Ole MissSoutheastern Conference20213.00
19UtahPac-12 Conference20213.00
20WisconsinBig Ten Conference20213.00
21San Diego StateMountain West Conference20212.93
22LSUSoutheastern Conference20212.92
23Miami (OH)Mid-American Conference20212.92
24North TexasConference USA20212.92
25ToledoMid-American Conference20212.92

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Line chart. Line chart with 1 data series: Sacks Per Game. Categories include 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 6 more.

Yearly Winners

SeasonTeamConference at timeValue
2025OklahomaSoutheastern Conference3.46
2024Ole MissSoutheastern Conference4.08
2023Penn StateBig Ten Conference3.85
2022LouisvilleAtlantic Coast Conference3.69
2021Oklahoma StateBig 12 Conference4.07
2020Miami (OH)Mid-American Conference4.33
2019WisconsinBig Ten Conference5.57
2018Penn StateBig Ten Conference3.69
2017New Mexico StateSun Belt Conference3.38
2016Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference3.77

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

RankTeamSeasonsAverageBest Season
1Clemson2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20163.232019 (4.80)
2Pittsburgh2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20163.142019 (4.62)
3James Madison2025, 2024, 2023, 20223.122022 (3.45)
4Penn State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20163.112019 (4.85)
5Miami2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20163.012019 (4.23)
6Ohio State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.902019 (4.71)
7SMU2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.822019 (5.46)
8Alabama2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.802021 (3.80)
9Texas A&M2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.792025 (3.31)
10Troy2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.772019 (3.75)
11Boise State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.762024 (3.93)
12Michigan2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.722019 (3.77)
13Marshall2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.712019 (3.62)
14Florida2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.642019 (4.85)
15Ole Miss2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.642019 (4.33)
16Florida State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.612016 (3.77)
17Miami (OH)2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.592020 (4.33)
18Wisconsin2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.562019 (5.57)
19Western Michigan2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.562019 (4.15)
20LSU2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.552017 (3.00)
21Utah2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.532016 (3.31)
22App State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.502019 (3.29)
23NC State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.492019 (3.50)
24Virginia Tech2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.482019 (3.54)
25Notre Dame2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20162.482019 (3.62)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads college football in sacks per game in 2021?

Oklahoma State ranks first at 4.07 in 2021.

Why does the 2021 sacks per game season stand out?

The top of the 2021 leaderboard is separated by 0.76 from No. 1 to No. 5, which shows whether this season had a runaway leader or a tightly packed race.

How does the 2021 leader compare with the all-time average benchmark?

Oklahoma State's 2021 mark of 4.07 clears the all-time average leader benchmark of 3.23 held by Clemson.