2015 VT Football Penalty Stats

With all the discussion on various threads, I took a look at the penalty information for 2015, and compiled a spreadsheet on some interesting numbers. As a note, I included declined and offsetting flags and counted plays that were nullified by penalty.

Total Plays: 2,087
Penalty flags thrown: 201, (102 VT, 99 Opponents)
180 Accepted, 15 Declined, 6 Offsetting
Per Game Range 12-24, ACC Range 12-19

VT Offensive Plays: 884
Flags, Offensive Plays: 35
% of VT Offensive Plays, Penalty Flag Thrown against VT: 3.96%
14 of the Penalties were pre-snap, with 12 of them being false starts.
7 Holding calls against the OL

VT Defensive Plays: 820
Flags, Defensive Plays: 50
% of VT Defensive Plays, Penalty Flag Thrown against VT: 6.10%
18 of the penalties were defensive offsides.
17 for Pass Interference / Defensive Holding
6 Personal Fouls
4 Unsportsmanlike Conduct

VT Special Teams Plays: 383
Flags, ST Plays: 17
% of ST Plays, Penalty Flag Thrown: 4.44%
* Note, I didn't separate out Delay of Game on Punts where it might have been the intent to draw the penalty.

Interestingly, the VT Offense and Opponent Defense were penalized at a very similar rate (3.96% and 3.39%, respectively). The VT Defense and Opponent Offense were penalized at a higher, but slightly less similar rate as well (6.10% and 7.44%, respectively). Given the same number of special teams plays, VT was penalized at nearly double the rate of the opponent (4.44% versus 2.09%).

Two big questions I'm sorting through center around penalties that have a direct impact on the game, and how the officiating crews correlate to the penalties called.

Cheers! If anyone is a stats geek and wants to play with the data set, just give me a shout!

Go Hokies!