Putting Up Numbers· college football

Central Michigan’s pass attempts with Brock Townsend and without Brock Townsend

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Central Michigan was 3.2 pass attempts under with Brock Townsend and 2.6 pass attempts under without Brock Townsend over its last 25 games, 19 games against 3. The plain averages are 20.3 and 23.0, a difference of 2.7. Both ranked opponents were with Brock Townsend. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Brock Townsend. All 9 nonconference games were with Brock Townsend.

Brock Townsend, running back: 499 rushing yards, 97 carries and 21 receptions in 20 of those 25 games.

3 games without Brock Townsend 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 −0.6 difference in pass attempts over expected with Brock Townsend vs without Brock Townsend is about what you’d expect.

A −2.7 difference in pass attempts with Brock Townsend vs without Brock Townsend is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Brock Townsendwithout Brock Townsend
Central Michigan’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Brock Townsend or without Brock Townsend
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Nov 12, 2024@ToledoL2727.9
Nov 19, 2024vsWestern MichiganW1724.3
Nov 30, 2024@Northern IllinoisL2524.7
Aug 29, 2025@San Jose StateW1324.0
Sep 6, 2025@PittsburghL2625.6
Sep 13, 2025@MichiganL2024.6
Sep 20, 2025vsWWagnerW18—
Sep 27, 2025vsEastern MichiganW1821.3
Oct 4, 2025@AkronL2422.7
Oct 18, 2025@Bowling GreenW522.1
Oct 25, 2025vsUMassW1320.5
Nov 1, 2025@Western MichiganL1223.1
Nov 12, 2025vsBuffaloW2520.0
Nov 19, 2025@Kent StateW2225.7
Nov 29, 2025vsToledoL3021.8
Dec 26, 2025vsNorthwestern (neutral)L2619.0
Sep 5, 2026@New MexicoL1620.6
Sep 12, 2026vsColgateW21—
Sep 19, 2026vsWyomingW728.6
Sep 26, 2026@Miami (FL)L2628.4
Oct 3, 2026vsAkronW1723.6
Oct 10, 2026@OhioL2422.7
Oct 17, 2026vsWestern MichiganL3223.1
Oct 24, 2026vsMiami (OH)L3130.5
Nov 4, 2026vsEastern Michigan (neutral)W——

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, minus 0.4 in 2024, minus 0.3 in 2025, minus 0.1 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 73% in 2024, 73% in 2025, 60% in 2026 of the difference the model predicts.
  • The two sides are the games before and after one date, so the shuffle moves any game between them.
  • Wagner, Colgate, Eastern Michigan 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 for 21 of these 25 games; in the other 4 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.