Putting Up Numbers· college football

Texas’ points with Derrek Cooper and without Derrek Cooper

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Texas was 4.0 points over with Derrek Cooper and 5.8 points under without Derrek Cooper in 2026, 6 games against 2. The plain averages are 33.0 and 24.0, a difference of 9.0.

Derrek Cooper, running back: 103 rushing yards, 29 carries and 2 receptions in 6 games this season.

2 games without Derrek Cooper is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

points a game over expected

A +9.8 difference in points over expected with Derrek Cooper vs without Derrek Cooper is about what you’d expect.

A +9.0 difference in points with Derrek Cooper vs without Derrek Cooper is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Derrek Cooperwithout Derrek Cooper
Texas’ games, 2026, each marked with Derrek Cooper or without Derrek Cooper
SideDateGameResultpointsExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsTexas StateW5933.0
Sep 12, 2026vsOhio StateW2427.0
Sep 19, 2026vsUTSAW3036.7
Sep 26, 2026@TennesseeW2021.8
Oct 10, 2026vsOklahoma (neutral)L2425.2
Oct 17, 2026vsFloridaL2432.6
Oct 24, 2026vsOle MissW3426.6
Oct 31, 2026vsMississippi StateW3130.8

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, plus 1.8 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 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.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 7 of these 8 games; in the other game a player is counted as in it when the box score has a stat for him.