Putting Up Numbers· college football

Mississippi State’s third-down conversion rate with Kamario Taylor and without Kamario Taylor

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Mississippi State was 4.3 percentage points over with Kamario Taylor and 1.4 percentage points under without Kamario Taylor over its last 25 games, 7 games against 13. The plain averages are 44.2% and 40.2%, a difference of 4.0%.

Kamario Taylor, quarterback: 2,089 passing yards, 236 pass attempts and 147 completions in 17 of those 25 games.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A +5.8% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected with Kamario Taylor vs without Kamario Taylor is about what you’d expect.

A +4.0% difference in third-down conversion rate with Kamario Taylor vs without Kamario Taylor is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Kamario Taylorwithout Kamario Taylor
Mississippi State’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Kamario Taylor or without Kamario Taylor
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Nov 2, 2024vsUMassW55.6%44.1%
Nov 9, 2024@TennesseeL23.1%37.3%
Nov 23, 2024vsMissouriL20.0%34.9%
Nov 29, 2024@Ole MissL26.7%36.5%
Aug 30, 2025@Southern MissW57.1%45.2%
Sep 6, 2025vsArizona StateW42.9%38.0%
Sep 13, 2025vsAlcorn StateW66.7%—
Sep 20, 2025vsNorthern IllinoisW38.5%50.3%
Sep 27, 2025vsTennesseeL42.1%41.6%
Oct 4, 2025@Texas A&ML10.0%32.1%
Oct 18, 2025@FloridaL53.3%40.7%
Oct 25, 2025vsTexasL31.6%36.6%
Nov 1, 2025@ArkansasW42.9%43.6%
Nov 8, 2025vsGeorgiaL50.0%35.9%
Nov 15, 2025@MissouriL38.9%36.0%
Nov 28, 2025vsOle MissL52.9%37.3%
Jan 2, 2026vsWake Forest (neutral)L21.4%39.4%
Sep 5, 2026vsLouisiana MonroeW45.5%45.5%
Sep 12, 2026@MinnesotaW60.0%33.5%
Sep 19, 2026@South CarolinaW45.5%42.7%
Sep 26, 2026vsMissouriW42.9%42.0%
Oct 3, 2026vsAlabamaL41.2%38.5%
Oct 17, 2026@LSUL46.7%37.0%
Oct 24, 2026vsOklahomaL9.1%40.2%
Oct 31, 2026@TexasL33.3%37.9%

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 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.
  • 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 Kamario Taylor nor without Kamario Taylor: Kamario Taylor had no game for the team that season, and sit out.