Putting Up Numbers· college football

Buffalo’s total yards in a conference game and in a nonconference game

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Buffalo was 29.0 yards over in a conference game and 74.3 yards under in a nonconference game over its last 25 games, 16 games against 7. The plain averages are 391.9 and 292.2, a difference of 99.7. Both opponents outside the major colleges were in a nonconference game.

Buffalo’s +103.4 in a conference game vs in a nonconference game over expected ranks 3rd of the 132 teams with 4 games on each side over their last 25 games through Sep 19, 2026.

total yards a game over expected

A +103.4 difference in total yards over expected in a conference game vs in a nonconference game is rare: shuffle which games were in a conference game and it comes up less than once in 100.

A +99.7 difference in total yards in a conference game vs in a nonconference game is unusual: shuffle which games were in a conference game and it comes up 4 times in 100.

The games

in a conference gamein a nonconference game
Buffalo’s games, last 25 games, each marked in a conference game or in a nonconference game
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Sep 21, 2024@Northern IllinoisW186289.8
Sep 28, 2024@UConnL198333.2
Oct 12, 2024vsToledoW369345.1
Oct 19, 2024vsWestern MichiganL551379.1
Oct 26, 2024@OhioL381283.1
Nov 2, 2024@AkronW393379.4
Nov 12, 2024vsBall StateW472422.7
Nov 20, 2024@Eastern MichiganW398380.8
Nov 26, 2024vsKent StateW446468.8
Jan 4, 2025vsLiberty (neutral)W347358.3
Aug 28, 2025@MinnesotaL151303.7
Sep 6, 2025vsSSt. Francis (PA)W503—
Sep 13, 2025@Kent StateW457377.8
Sep 20, 2025vsTroyL278338.9
Sep 27, 2025vsUConnL329400.2
Oct 4, 2025vsEastern MichiganW387394.5
Oct 18, 2025@UMassW475388.5
Oct 25, 2025vsAkronL357401.3
Nov 1, 2025@Bowling GreenW282327.6
Nov 12, 2025@Central MichiganL398321.8
Nov 19, 2025vsMiami (OH)L349326.1
Nov 28, 2025vsOhioL370319.8
Sep 3, 2026vsUUAlbanyW343—
Sep 12, 2026@Florida InternationalL308291.4
Sep 19, 2026@Penn StateL173278.6

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 6.1 in 2024, plus 7.7 in 2025, plus 12.1 in 2026 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 79% in 2024, 79% in 2025, 67% in 2026 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.
  • St. Francis (PA), UAlbany have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Read against the season’s ratings as of Oct 31, 2026; the games are the ones through Sep 19.