Putting Up Numbers· college football

Ball State’s pass attempts with Jalen Bonds and without Jalen Bonds

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Ball State was 3.1 pass attempts under with Jalen Bonds and 7.8 pass attempts over without Jalen Bonds in 2026, 4 games against 2. The plain averages are 28.0 and 41.0, a difference of 13.0. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Jalen Bonds. All 4 first-half games were with Jalen Bonds.

Jalen Bonds, running back: 224 rushing yards, 47 carries and 10 receptions in 6 games this season.

2 games without Jalen Bonds is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

pass attempts a game over expected

A −10.9 difference in pass attempts over expected with Jalen Bonds vs without Jalen Bonds is about what you’d expect.

A −13.0 difference in pass attempts with Jalen Bonds vs without Jalen Bonds is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Jalen Bondswithout Jalen Bonds
Ball State’s games, 2026, each marked with Jalen Bonds or without Jalen Bonds
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Sep 5, 2026@Ohio StateL3730.6
Sep 12, 2026vsSStony BrookW32—
Sep 19, 2026@LibertyL2131.0
Sep 26, 2026@Kent StateL2732.1
Oct 3, 2026vsToledoL3536.0
Oct 10, 2026@NorthwesternL4730.4
Oct 17, 2026@Bowling GreenW2427.7
Oct 24, 2026vsSSacramento StateW27—

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every 2026 game between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, minus 0.1 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 60% of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Stony Brook, Sacramento State have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.