Putting Up Numbers· college football

Texas Tech’s points of margin with Will Hammond and without Will Hammond

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Texas Tech was 2.7 points under with Will Hammond and 8.2 points over without Will Hammond over its last 25 games, 10 games against 13. The plain averages are 14.4 and 26.9, a difference of 12.6. Both top-10 opponents were without Will Hammond. Both games while in the top 5 were without Will Hammond.

Will Hammond, quarterback: 2,521 passing yards, 349 pass attempts and 228 completions in 17 of those 25 games.

points of margin a game over expected

A −10.9 difference in points of margin over expected with Will Hammond vs without Will Hammond is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Will Hammond and it comes up 19 times in 100.

A −12.6 difference in points of margin with Will Hammond vs without Will Hammond is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Will Hammondwithout Will Hammond
Texas Tech’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Will Hammond or without Will Hammond
SideDateGameResultpoints of marginExpected
Nov 23, 2024@Oklahoma StateW88.3
Nov 30, 2024vsWest VirginiaW373.9
Dec 27, 2024vsArkansas (neutral)L-132.7
Aug 30, 2025vsAArkansas-Pine BluffW60—
Sep 6, 2025vsKent StateW4847.1
Sep 13, 2025vsOregon StateW3143.6
Sep 20, 2025@UtahW24-2.3
Oct 4, 2025@HoustonW2417.5
Oct 11, 2025vsKansasW2524.8
Oct 18, 2025@Arizona StateL-420.5
Oct 25, 2025vsOklahoma StateW4242.2
Nov 1, 2025@Kansas StateW2313.9
Nov 8, 2025vsBYUW2212.3
Nov 15, 2025vsUCFW3929.4
Nov 29, 2025@West VirginiaW4923.7
Dec 6, 2025vsBYU (neutral)W278.5
Jan 1, 2026vsOregon (neutral)L-233.4
Sep 5, 2026vsAAbilene ChristianW23—
Sep 12, 2026@Oregon StateW11-0.1
Sep 18, 2026vsHoustonW21.9
Sep 26, 2026vsSam HoustonW3534.2
Oct 3, 2026@ColoradoW228.6
Oct 17, 2026vsArizona StateW2812.8
Oct 24, 2026@CincinnatiL-1314.4
Oct 31, 2026vsArizonaW81.2

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 3.0 in 2024, plus 3.1 in 2025, plus 3.7 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 85% in 2024, 87% in 2025, 79% 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.
  • Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Abilene Christian 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 22 of these 25 games; in the other 3 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.