Putting Up Numbers· college football

Mississippi State’s pass attempts with Parker Puckett and without Parker Puckett

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Mississippi State was 2.3 pass attempts under with Parker Puckett and 0.4 pass attempts over without Parker Puckett over its last 25 games, 2 games against 18. The plain averages are 28.0 and 30.7, a difference of 2.7. All 7 night games were without Parker Puckett. All 4 top-10 opponents were without Parker Puckett. All 7 nonconference games were without Parker Puckett.

Parker Puckett, quarterback: 390 passing yards, 74 pass attempts and 44 completions in 5 of those 25 games, 45% of Mississippi State’s pass attempts in those games.

2 games with Parker Puckett is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

pass attempts a game over expected

A −2.8 difference in pass attempts over expected with Parker Puckett vs without Parker Puckett is about what you’d expect.

A −2.7 difference in pass attempts with Parker Puckett vs without Parker Puckett is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Parker Puckettwithout Parker Puckett
Mississippi State’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Parker Puckett or without Parker Puckett
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Nov 2, 2024vsUMassW2525.0
Nov 9, 2024@TennesseeL2633.4
Nov 23, 2024vsMissouriL2829.7
Nov 29, 2024@Ole MissL3333.0
Aug 30, 2025@Southern MissW3632.1
Sep 6, 2025vsArizona StateW3331.6
Sep 13, 2025vsAlcorn StateW18—
Sep 20, 2025vsNorthern IllinoisW2029.2
Sep 27, 2025vsTennesseeL2932.2
Oct 4, 2025@Texas A&ML2032.2
Oct 18, 2025@FloridaL3628.7
Oct 25, 2025vsTexasL4332.4
Nov 1, 2025@ArkansasW3327.2
Nov 8, 2025vsGeorgiaL2532.5
Nov 15, 2025@MissouriL3828.3
Nov 28, 2025vsOle MissL3131.1
Jan 2, 2026vsWake Forest (neutral)L2733.0
Sep 5, 2026vsLouisiana MonroeW4225.0
Sep 12, 2026@MinnesotaW2232.6
Sep 19, 2026@South CarolinaW2734.3
Sep 26, 2026vsMissouriW3833.4
Oct 3, 2026vsAlabamaL4028.1
Oct 17, 2026@LSUL2631.6
Oct 24, 2026vsOklahomaL3029.1
Oct 31, 2026@TexasL2533.5

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 0.3 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 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.
  • Alcorn State 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 for 20 of these 21 games; in the other game a player is counted as in it 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.
  • 4 games in 2024 are neither with Parker Puckett nor without Parker Puckett: Parker Puckett had no game for the team that season, and sit out.