Kansas’ passing yards with Cole Ballard and without Cole Ballard
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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Kansas was 119.6 yards over with Cole Ballard and 16.8 yards under without Cole Ballard in 2026, 1 game against 6. The plain averages are 285.0 and 238.1, a difference of 46.9. Expected was 73.2 yards lower with Cole Ballard than without Cole Ballard. All 4 home games were without Cole Ballard. Both ranked opponents were without Cole Ballard. All 3 nonconference games were without Cole Ballard.
Cole Ballard, quarterback: 381 passing yards, 43 pass attempts and 25 completions in 4 games this season, 38% of Kansas’s passing yards in those games.
One game with Cole Ballard is one game, not a sample, but maybe you can find something if you squint.
passing yards a game over expected
with Cole Ballard
+119.6
without Cole Ballard
−16.8
0100
plain
285.0
238.1
200250300
The games
with Cole Ballardwithout Cole Ballard
| Side | Date | Game | Result | passing yards | Expected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2026 | vsLLong Island University | W | 336 | — | |
| Sep 11, 2026 | vs Missouri | L | 174 | 258.0 | |
| Sep 19, 2026 | vs Arizona State (neutral) | L | 235 | 238.4 | |
| Oct 3, 2026 | vs Middle Tennessee | W | 226 | 231.9 | |
| Oct 10, 2026 | @ Utah | L | 333 | 233.9 | |
| Oct 17, 2026 | @ Kansas State | L | 151 | 209.4 | |
| Oct 24, 2026 | vs Baylor | W | 212 | 260.0 | |
| Oct 31, 2026 | @ TCU | L | 285 | 165.4 |
Method
- 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, plus 4.1 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 59% of the difference the model predicts.
- Long Island University 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, which name every player who entered the game.
- 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.