Putting Up Numbers· college football

Colorado’s carries with Micah Welch and without Micah Welch

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Colorado was 1.4 carries under with Micah Welch and 3.4 carries under without Micah Welch over its last 25 games, 20 games against 4. The plain averages are 33.1 and 29.5, a difference of 3.6. Both neutral-site games were with Micah Welch. All 5 ranked opponents were with Micah Welch. All 7 nonconference games were with Micah Welch.

Micah Welch, running back: 669 rushing yards, 158 carries and 18 receptions in 21 of those 25 games, 23% of Colorado’s carries in those games.

carries a game over expected

A +2.0 difference in carries over expected with Micah Welch vs without Micah Welch is about what you’d expect.

A +3.6 difference in carries with Micah Welch vs without Micah Welch is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Micah Welchwithout Micah Welch
Colorado’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Micah Welch or without Micah Welch
SideDateGameResultcarriesExpected
Nov 9, 2024@Texas TechW2628.5
Nov 16, 2024vsUtahW2028.5
Nov 23, 2024vsKansas (neutral)L1229.2
Nov 29, 2024vsOklahoma StateW2933.4
Dec 28, 2024vsBYU (neutral)L1928.2
Aug 29, 2025vsGeorgia TechL3135.7
Sep 6, 2025vsDelawareW3635.0
Sep 12, 2025@HoustonL2336.5
Sep 20, 2025vsWyomingW3136.7
Sep 27, 2025vsBYUL3732.1
Oct 4, 2025@TCUL3534.5
Oct 11, 2025vsIowa StateW3633.1
Oct 25, 2025@UtahL3837.5
Nov 1, 2025vsArizonaL4236.8
Nov 8, 2025@West VirginiaL3836.6
Nov 22, 2025vsArizona StateL3032.9
Nov 29, 2025@Kansas StateL4736.4
Sep 3, 2026@Georgia TechW4738.6
Sep 12, 2026vsWWeber StateW37—
Sep 19, 2026@NorthwesternL3333.2
Sep 26, 2026@BaylorL3934.9
Oct 3, 2026vsTexas TechL3234.4
Oct 17, 2026vsUtahL2430.8
Oct 24, 2026@Oklahoma StateL3038.6
Oct 31, 2026vsKansas StateW4235.8

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 0.1 in 2024, plus 0.3 in 2025, plus 0.6 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, 74% in 2025, 61% 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.
  • Weber State has no other game in the table, so that game has no expected number and sits out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 20 of these 25 games; in the other 5 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.