Putting Up Numbers· college football

Kansas’ pass attempts with Cole Ballard and without Cole Ballard

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Kansas was 6.9 pass attempts over with Cole Ballard and 1.3 pass attempts under without Cole Ballard over its last 25 games, 1 game against 22. The plain averages are 35.0 and 27.9, a difference of 7.1. All 11 home games were without Cole Ballard. All 3 neutral-site games were without Cole Ballard. All 4 night games were without Cole Ballard.

Cole Ballard, quarterback: 489 passing yards, 65 pass attempts and 35 completions in 12 of those 25 games, 18% of Kansas’s pass attempts in those games.

One game with Cole Ballard is one game, not a sample, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

pass attempts a game over expected

The games

with Cole Ballardwithout Cole Ballard
Kansas’ games, last 25 games, each marked with Cole Ballard or without Cole Ballard
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Oct 26, 2024@Kansas StateL3128.8
Nov 9, 2024vsIowa State (neutral)W2423.7
Nov 16, 2024@BYUW1928.0
Nov 23, 2024vsColorado (neutral)W2126.0
Nov 30, 2024@BaylorL2327.8
Aug 23, 2025vsFresno StateW2027.0
Aug 29, 2025vsWWagnerW34—
Sep 6, 2025@MissouriL3028.0
Sep 20, 2025vsWest VirginiaW2631.3
Sep 27, 2025vsCincinnatiL2829.6
Oct 4, 2025@UCFW2629.1
Oct 11, 2025@Texas TechL3931.7
Oct 25, 2025vsKansas StateL3728.7
Nov 1, 2025vsOklahoma StateW1927.4
Nov 8, 2025@ArizonaL2927.3
Nov 22, 2025@Iowa StateL2930.5
Nov 28, 2025vsUtahL2727.4
Sep 4, 2026vsLLong Island UniversityW25—
Sep 11, 2026vsMissouriL3133.7
Sep 19, 2026vsArizona State (neutral)L3331.8
Oct 3, 2026vsMiddle TennesseeW2526.2
Oct 10, 2026@UtahL3734.5
Oct 17, 2026@Kansas StateL2625.7
Oct 24, 2026vsBaylorW3035.6
Oct 31, 2026@TCUL3528.1

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.
  • Wagner, Long Island University 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 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.
  • With him means he was the team’s quarterback that game, at least half of its pass attempts; a game he left early or came into late reads as without him.