Putting Up Numbers· college football

Ohio’s total yards with Nick Poulos and without Nick Poulos

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Ohio was 26.5 yards over with Nick Poulos and 2.8 yards over without Nick Poulos over its last 25 games, 3 games against 19. The plain averages are 385.5 and 410.7, a difference of 25.2. Expected was 60.2 yards lower with Nick Poulos than without Nick Poulos. All 3 neutral-site games were without Nick Poulos. All 3 games after a bye were without Nick Poulos. Both bowl and playoff games were without Nick Poulos.

Nick Poulos, quarterback: 824 passing yards, 109 pass attempts and 63 completions in 9 of those 25 games.

total yards a game over expected

A +23.7 difference in total yards over expected with Nick Poulos vs without Nick Poulos is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Nick Poulos and it comes up 19 times in 100.

A −25.2 difference in total yards with Nick Poulos vs without Nick Poulos is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Nick Pouloswithout Nick Poulos
Ohio’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Nick Poulos or without Nick Poulos
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Nov 20, 2024@ToledoW367388.7
Nov 29, 2024vsBall StateW475477.0
Dec 7, 2024vsMiami (OH) (neutral)W468347.8
Dec 20, 2024vsJacksonville State (neutral)W500424.0
Aug 28, 2025@RutgersL440409.9
Sep 6, 2025vsWest VirginiaW429389.2
Sep 13, 2025@Ohio StateL181220.0
Sep 20, 2025vsGGardner-WebbW609—
Sep 27, 2025vsBowling GreenW446387.2
Oct 4, 2025@Ball StateL358426.5
Oct 18, 2025vsNorthern IllinoisW540388.4
Oct 25, 2025@Eastern MichiganW492435.4
Nov 4, 2025vsMiami (OH)W347398.8
Nov 11, 2025@Western MichiganL287348.5
Nov 18, 2025vsUMassW391490.9
Nov 28, 2025@BuffaloW506395.1
Dec 23, 2025vsUNLV (neutral)W359430.6
Sep 5, 2026@NebraskaL303251.8
Sep 12, 2026vsJacksonville StateW262344.6
Sep 19, 2026@South AlabamaL387369.6
Sep 26, 2026vsSStonehillW525—
Oct 3, 2026@Kent StateW255364.7
Oct 10, 2026vsCentral MichiganW403343.3
Oct 17, 2026@SSacramento StateW469—
Oct 24, 2026vsEastern MichiganW367398.4

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 6.1 in 2024, plus 7.7 in 2025, plus 12.1 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 79% in 2024, 79% in 2025, 67% 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.
  • Gardner-Webb, Stonehill, Sacramento 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 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.