Putting Up Numbers· college football

Kentucky’s pass attempts vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Kentucky was 3.9 pass attempts over vs a ranked opponent and 4.0 pass attempts under vs an unranked opponent over its last 25 games, 10 games against 12. The plain averages are 33.5 and 26.7, a difference of 6.8. All 3 games while ranked were vs an unranked opponent. All 8 nonconference games were vs an unranked opponent.

Kentucky’s +7.9 vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent over expected ranks 5th of the 77 teams with 4 games on each side over their last 25 games.

pass attempts a game over expected

A +7.9 difference in pass attempts over expected vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent is unusual: shuffle which games were vs a ranked opponent and it comes up 2 times in 100.

A +6.8 difference in pass attempts vs a ranked opponent and vs an unranked opponent is unusual: shuffle which games were vs a ranked opponent and it comes up 3 times in 100.

The games

vs a ranked opponentvs an unranked opponent
Kentucky’s games, last 25 games, each marked vs a ranked opponent or vs an unranked opponent
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Oct 26, 2024vsAuburnL2725.5
Nov 2, 2024@TennesseeL2727.6
Nov 16, 2024vsMMurray StateW33—
Nov 23, 2024@TexasL2527.3
Nov 30, 2024vsLouisvilleL2428.3
Aug 30, 2025vsToledoW2331.4
Sep 6, 2025vsOle MissL3330.1
Sep 13, 2025vsEastern MichiganW2129.6
Sep 27, 2025@South CarolinaL1931.9
Oct 4, 2025@GeorgiaL4129.9
Oct 18, 2025vsTexasL3932.2
Oct 25, 2025vsTennesseeL3630.4
Nov 1, 2025@AuburnW2930.8
Nov 8, 2025vsFloridaW2329.4
Nov 15, 2025vsTTennessee TechW27—
Nov 22, 2025@VanderbiltL4932.0
Nov 29, 2025@LouisvilleL2631.5
Sep 5, 2026vsYYoungstown StateW27—
Sep 12, 2026vsAlabamaL3129.5
Sep 19, 2026@Texas A&MW1828.2
Sep 26, 2026vsSouth AlabamaW2633.0
Oct 3, 2026@South CarolinaW4130.7
Oct 10, 2026vsLSUW3628.7
Oct 17, 2026@OklahomaW2829.1
Oct 24, 2026vsVanderbiltW2629.9

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 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.
  • Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Youngstown State have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.