Putting Up Numbers· college football

Northwestern’s points with Josh Fussell and without Josh Fussell

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Northwestern was 0.0 points under with Josh Fussell and 0.2 points under without Josh Fussell over its last 25 games, 15 games against 8. The plain averages are 22.9 and 31.4, a difference of 8.5. Expected was 10.7 points lower with Josh Fussell than without Josh Fussell. All 5 neutral-site games were with Josh Fussell. All 4 night games were with Josh Fussell. All 6 ranked opponents were with Josh Fussell.

Josh Fussell, defender: 16 of those 25 games.

points a game over expected

A +0.2 difference in points over expected with Josh Fussell vs without Josh Fussell is about what you’d expect.

A −8.5 difference in points with Josh Fussell vs without Josh Fussell is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Josh Fussellwithout Josh Fussell
Northwestern’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Josh Fussell or without Josh Fussell
SideDateGameResultpointsExpected
Nov 2, 2024@PurdueW2632.3
Nov 16, 2024vsOhio State (neutral)L710.1
Nov 23, 2024@MichiganL614.5
Nov 30, 2024vsIllinois (neutral)L2818.5
Aug 30, 2025@TulaneL323.4
Sep 5, 2025vsWWestern IllinoisW42—
Sep 13, 2025vsOregonL1416.1
Sep 27, 2025vsUCLAW1728.1
Oct 4, 2025vsLouisiana MonroeW4235.1
Oct 11, 2025@Penn StateW2216.3
Oct 18, 2025vsPurdueW1928.1
Oct 25, 2025@NebraskaL2121.7
Nov 7, 2025@USCL1718.5
Nov 15, 2025vsMichigan (neutral)L2218.5
Nov 22, 2025vsMinnesota (neutral)W3820.4
Nov 29, 2025@IllinoisL1319.9
Dec 26, 2025vsCentral Michigan (neutral)W3427.2
Sep 5, 2026vsSSouth Dakota StateW34—
Sep 19, 2026vsColoradoW4129.3
Sep 25, 2026@IndianaL2320.3
Oct 2, 2026vsPenn StateW3428.0
Oct 10, 2026vsBall StateW4544.5
Oct 17, 2026@Michigan StateW2429.5
Oct 24, 2026vsRutgersW4242.3
Oct 31, 2026@OregonL2623.6

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 1.5 in 2024, plus 1.5 in 2025, plus 1.9 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 75% in 2024, 78% in 2025, 66% 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.
  • Western Illinois, South 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 14 of these 25 games; in the other 11 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.