Putting Up Numbers· college football

Navy’s third-down conversion rate with Braxton Woodson and without Braxton Woodson

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Navy was 3.5 percentage points under with Braxton Woodson and 2.9 percentage points over without Braxton Woodson over its last 25 games, 4 games against 19. The plain averages are 46.6% and 45.0%, a difference of 1.6%. Expected was 2.5 percentage points lower with Braxton Woodson than without Braxton Woodson. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Braxton Woodson. Both bowl and playoff games were without Braxton Woodson.

Braxton Woodson, quarterback: 440 passing yards, 73 pass attempts and 34 completions in 14 of those 25 games.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A −6.4% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected with Braxton Woodson vs without Braxton Woodson is about what you’d expect.

A +1.6% difference in third-down conversion rate with Braxton Woodson vs without Braxton Woodson is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Braxton Woodsonwithout Braxton Woodson
Navy’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Braxton Woodson or without Braxton Woodson
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Nov 16, 2024vsTulaneL9.1%36.4%
Nov 29, 2024@East CarolinaW47.1%40.2%
Dec 14, 2024vsArmy (neutral)W53.8%38.9%
Dec 27, 2024vsOklahoma (neutral)W30.8%34.4%
Aug 30, 2025vsVMIW76.9%—
Sep 6, 2025vsUABW44.4%47.9%
Sep 13, 2025@TulsaW61.5%43.0%
Sep 27, 2025vsRiceW58.3%43.3%
Oct 4, 2025vsAir ForceW45.5%50.7%
Oct 11, 2025@TempleW27.3%44.9%
Oct 25, 2025vsFlorida AtlanticW54.5%47.3%
Nov 1, 2025@North TexasL54.5%45.7%
Nov 8, 2025@Notre DameL27.3%38.1%
Nov 15, 2025vsSouth FloridaW35.7%44.9%
Nov 27, 2025@MemphisW53.3%41.8%
Dec 13, 2025vsArmy (neutral)W61.1%43.8%
Jan 2, 2026vsCincinnati (neutral)W60.0%42.4%
Sep 5, 2026vsTTowsonW58.3%—
Sep 12, 2026@Florida AtlanticL27.3%43.2%
Sep 25, 2026@UABL46.7%40.2%
Oct 3, 2026@Air ForceL9.1%43.0%
Oct 10, 2026vsTulsaW72.7%35.9%
Oct 17, 2026@UTSAL44.4%35.3%
Oct 24, 2026vsNorth TexasL41.7%40.0%
Oct 31, 2026vsNotre Dame (neutral)L33.3%37.6%

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 0.6% in 2024, 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 50% in 2024, 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.
  • VMI, Towson 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.