Putting Up Numbers· college football

UMass’ pass attempts with T.Y. Harding and without T.Y. Harding

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, UMass was 2.7 pass attempts under with T.Y. Harding and 2.5 pass attempts over without T.Y. Harding over its last 25 games, 9 games against 11. The plain averages are 25.3 and 35.5, a difference of 10.2. All 5 opponents outside the major colleges were with T.Y. Harding. All 3 of Don Brown’s games were with T.Y. Harding. Both of Shane Montgomery’s games were with T.Y. Harding.

T.Y. Harding, receiver: 493 receiving yards, 43 receptions and 4 receiving touchdowns in 12 of those 25 games.

pass attempts a game over expected

A −5.3 difference in pass attempts over expected with T.Y. Harding vs without T.Y. Harding is about what you’d expect.

A −10.2 difference in pass attempts with T.Y. Harding vs without T.Y. Harding is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with T.Y. Harding and it comes up 5 times in 100.

The games

with T.Y. Hardingwithout T.Y. Harding
UMass’ games, last 25 games, each marked with T.Y. Harding or without T.Y. Harding
SideDateGameResultpass attemptsExpected
Oct 26, 2024vsWWagnerW18—
Nov 2, 2024@Mississippi StateL2925.4
Nov 16, 2024vsLibertyL2527.8
Nov 23, 2024@GeorgiaL1731.8
Nov 30, 2024vsUConnL3226.8
Aug 30, 2025vsTempleL4031.3
Sep 6, 2025vsBBryantL32—
Sep 13, 2025@IowaL2235.4
Sep 27, 2025@MissouriL3932.9
Oct 4, 2025vsWestern MichiganL3533.4
Oct 11, 2025@Kent StateL4935.8
Oct 18, 2025vsBuffaloL1436.0
Oct 25, 2025@Central MichiganL5133.4
Nov 4, 2025@AkronL2836.4
Nov 12, 2025vsNorthern IllinoisL4230.5
Nov 18, 2025@OhioL2834.9
Nov 25, 2025vsBowling GreenL3531.2
Sep 3, 2026@RutgersW2229.5
Sep 12, 2026vsSSacred HeartW14—
Sep 19, 2026vsSStonehillW25—
Sep 26, 2026@SSacramento StateW16—
Oct 3, 2026vsEastern MichiganL2729.3
Oct 10, 2026vsMiami (OH)L3536.1
Oct 17, 2026@BuffaloL2528.8
Oct 23, 2026@UConnL4429.0

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, minus 0.4 in 2024, minus 0.3 in 2025, minus 0.1 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 73% in 2024, 73% in 2025, 60% 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.
  • Wagner, Bryant, Sacred Heart, 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 20 of these 25 games; in the other 5 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.