Putting Up Numbers· college football

Northwestern’s points allowed with Josh Fussell and since Josh Fussell’s last game

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Northwestern was 3.5 points under with Josh Fussell and 2.1 points under since Josh Fussell’s last game in 2026, 2 games against 5. The plain averages are 18.0 and 19.2, a difference of 1.2. All 3 games while ranked were since Josh Fussell’s last game. All 4 second-half games were since Josh Fussell’s last game.

Josh Fussell, defender: 2 games this season.

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

points allowed a game over expected

A −1.4 difference in points allowed over expected with Josh Fussell vs since Josh Fussell’s last game is about what you’d expect.

A −1.2 difference in points allowed with Josh Fussell vs since Josh Fussell’s last game is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Josh Fussellsince Josh Fussell’s last game
Northwestern’s games, 2026, each marked with Josh Fussell or since Josh Fussell’s last game
SideDateGameResultpoints allowedExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsSSouth Dakota StateW18—
Sep 19, 2026vsColoradoW718.0
Sep 25, 2026@IndianaL2925.0
Oct 2, 2026vsPenn StateW1325.4
Oct 10, 2026vsBall StateW1414.2
Oct 17, 2026@Michigan StateW2121.4
Oct 24, 2026vsRutgersW1422.0
Oct 31, 2026@OregonL3423.6

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every 2026 game between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, minus 1.9 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 66% of the difference the model predicts.
  • The two sides are the games before and after one date, so the shuffle moves any game between them.
  • South Dakota 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 6 of these 8 games; in the other 2 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.