Putting Up Numbers· college football

Kansas’ third-down conversion rate with Isaiah Marshall and without Isaiah Marshall

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Kansas was 4.1 percentage points under with Isaiah Marshall and 0.2 percentage points under without Isaiah Marshall over its last 25 games, 6 games against 12. The plain averages are 37.4% and 38.4%, a difference of 1.1%. All 3 night games were without Isaiah Marshall.

Isaiah Marshall, quarterback: 1,534 passing yards, 199 pass attempts and 108 completions in 15 of those 25 games.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A −3.9% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected with Isaiah Marshall vs without Isaiah Marshall is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Isaiah Marshall and it comes up 12 times in 100.

A −1.1% difference in third-down conversion rate with Isaiah Marshall vs without Isaiah Marshall is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Isaiah Marshallwithout Isaiah Marshall
Kansas’ games, last 25 games, each marked with Isaiah Marshall or without Isaiah Marshall
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Oct 26, 2024@Kansas StateL61.5%40.6%
Nov 9, 2024vsIowa State (neutral)W53.8%41.3%
Nov 16, 2024@BYUW33.3%46.6%
Nov 23, 2024vsColorado (neutral)W64.3%41.5%
Nov 30, 2024@BaylorL45.5%42.5%
Aug 23, 2025vsFresno StateW20.0%43.1%
Aug 29, 2025vsWWagnerW40.0%—
Sep 6, 2025@MissouriL27.3%37.1%
Sep 20, 2025vsWest VirginiaW35.7%39.8%
Sep 27, 2025vsCincinnatiL37.5%43.0%
Oct 4, 2025@UCFW27.3%40.4%
Oct 11, 2025@Texas TechL35.3%33.8%
Oct 25, 2025vsKansas StateL37.5%39.3%
Nov 1, 2025vsOklahoma StateW60.0%40.5%
Nov 8, 2025@ArizonaL35.3%37.1%
Nov 22, 2025@Iowa StateL55.6%37.7%
Nov 28, 2025vsUtahL53.3%35.7%
Sep 4, 2026vsLLong Island UniversityW61.5%—
Sep 11, 2026vsMissouriL20.0%40.8%
Sep 19, 2026vsArizona State (neutral)L37.5%35.4%
Oct 3, 2026vsMiddle TennesseeW58.3%36.8%
Oct 10, 2026@UtahL30.8%35.4%
Oct 17, 2026@Kansas StateL27.3%38.3%
Oct 24, 2026vsBaylorW26.3%37.9%
Oct 31, 2026@TCUL35.0%34.1%

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, plus 0.7% in 2025, plus 1.4% 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 56% in 2025, 40% 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.
  • 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, 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.
  • 5 games in 2024 are neither with Isaiah Marshall nor without Isaiah Marshall: Isaiah Marshall had no game for the team that season, and sit out.