Putting Up Numbers· college football

Nevada’s third-down conversion rate with AJ Bianco and without AJ Bianco

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Nevada was 5.9 percentage points under with AJ Bianco and 4.2 percentage points under without AJ Bianco over its last 25 games, 3 games against 19. The plain averages are 33.9% and 33.0%, a difference of 0.9%. All 4 games after a bye were without AJ Bianco.

AJ Bianco, quarterback: 716 passing yards, 137 pass attempts and 77 completions in 14 of those 25 games.

third-down conversion rate a game over expected

A −1.7% difference in third-down conversion rate over expected with AJ Bianco vs without AJ Bianco is about what you’d expect.

A +0.9% difference in third-down conversion rate with AJ Bianco vs without AJ Bianco is about what you’d expect.

The games

with AJ Biancowithout AJ Bianco
Nevada’s games, last 25 games, each marked with AJ Bianco or without AJ Bianco
SideDateGameResult3rd downsExpected
Oct 26, 2024@HawaiiL41.7%40.5%
Nov 2, 2024vsColorado StateL27.3%42.5%
Nov 9, 2024@Boise StateL21.4%39.7%
Nov 23, 2024vsAir ForceL33.3%40.7%
Nov 30, 2024@UNLVL18.2%37.0%
Aug 30, 2025@Penn StateL36.4%34.7%
Sep 6, 2025vsSSacramento StateW33.3%—
Sep 13, 2025vsMiddle TennesseeL23.1%40.4%
Sep 20, 2025@Western KentuckyL31.3%36.4%
Oct 4, 2025@Fresno StateL50.0%33.1%
Oct 11, 2025vsSan Diego StateL21.4%34.3%
Oct 18, 2025@New MexicoL38.5%34.5%
Oct 24, 2025vsBoise StateL33.3%32.3%
Nov 8, 2025@Utah StateL23.1%36.2%
Nov 15, 2025vsSan Jose StateW36.4%35.1%
Nov 22, 2025@WyomingW30.8%33.6%
Nov 29, 2025vsUNLVL23.1%33.1%
Sep 5, 2026vsWestern KentuckyW50.0%35.3%
Sep 12, 2026vsMontana StateL30.8%—
Sep 19, 2026@Middle TennesseeL38.5%39.2%
Sep 26, 2026vsAir ForceL33.3%42.8%
Oct 10, 2026@UTEPW30.8%47.5%
Oct 17, 2026@NNorth Dakota StateL42.9%—
Oct 24, 2026vsSan Jose StateW50.0%38.0%
Oct 31, 2026@UCLAL31.3%32.6%

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.
  • Sacramento State, Montana State, North Dakota 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 20 of these 25 games; in the other 5 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.