Putting Up Numbers· college football

Louisiana Tech’s passing yards with Blake Baker and without Blake Baker

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Louisiana Tech was 27.2 yards over with Blake Baker and 50.1 yards under without Blake Baker over its last 25 games, 10 games against 13. The plain averages are 237.3 and 150.6, a difference of 86.6. Both neutral-site games were without Blake Baker. Both bowl and playoff games were without Blake Baker.

Blake Baker, quarterback: 2,578 passing yards, 304 pass attempts and 208 completions in 15 of those 25 games, 77% of Louisiana Tech’s passing yards in those games.

passing yards a game over expected

A +77.3 difference in passing yards over expected with Blake Baker vs without Blake Baker is unusual: shuffle which games were with Blake Baker and it comes up once in 100.

A +86.6 difference in passing yards with Blake Baker vs without Blake Baker is unusual: shuffle which games were with Blake Baker and it comes up 3 times in 100.

The games

with Blake Bakerwithout Blake Baker
Louisiana Tech’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Blake Baker or without Blake Baker
SideDateGameResultpassing yardsExpected
Nov 16, 2024@Western KentuckyW66219.1
Nov 23, 2024@ArkansasL190198.9
Nov 30, 2024vsKennesaw StateW230231.2
Dec 28, 2024vsArmy (neutral)L169201.5
Aug 30, 2025vsSS E LouisianaW126—
Sep 6, 2025@LSUL96145.5
Sep 13, 2025vsNew Mexico StateW221187.1
Sep 20, 2025vsSouthern MissW238195.9
Sep 27, 2025@UTEPW137180.9
Oct 9, 2025@Kennesaw StateL169188.4
Oct 21, 2025vsWestern KentuckyL340171.2
Oct 31, 2025vsSam HoustonW221205.6
Nov 8, 2025@DelawareL202213.5
Nov 15, 2025@Washington StateL60141.0
Nov 22, 2025vsLibertyW118181.9
Nov 29, 2025@Missouri StateW87188.8
Dec 30, 2025vsCoastal Carolina (neutral)W114215.1
Sep 5, 2026vsNorthwestern StateW296—
Sep 12, 2026@LSUL143205.9
Sep 19, 2026@BaylorL223242.4
Oct 3, 2026vsArmyW259266.6
Oct 10, 2026vsLouisianaW338186.5
Oct 17, 2026@Louisiana MonroeW180229.8
Oct 24, 2026vsOld DominionW302203.8
Oct 31, 2026@South AlabamaW194274.9

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, plus 2.3 in 2024, plus 1.8 in 2025, plus 4.1 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 72% in 2024, 68% in 2025, 59% 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.
  • S E Louisiana, Northwestern State 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 21 of these 25 games; in the other 4 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.