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Tennessee at Arkansas

Saturday, October 10 · 4:15 PM ET · Razorback Stadium
Tennessee 4-1 32.9
AT
Arkansas 2-3 25.1

01 / THE NUMBER

The model makes this Tennessee -7.8. The market has it Tennessee -13.5, a gap of 5.7 points toward Arkansas.

Tested against closing lines on 1,148 games, this model tracks the market rather than beating it. A large gap is a question worth asking, not a signal to follow.

SPREAD
Vegas lineTennessee -13.5
ModelTennessee -7.8
Difference5.7

02 / PROJECTED SCORE

Tennessee32.9Arkansas25.1

03 / WHERE THE MARGIN COMES FROM

Elo / track record9.3Home field4.4Running game1.7Rush consistency0.7Passing game0.5Pass consistency0.2Tennessee ←→ Arkansas

Each bar is that input's contribution to the projected margin, in points, pointing toward the team it favours. They sum to 7.7 toward Tennessee, before calibration.

04 / HOW THEY RATE · percentile vs all FBS

Offence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Defence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Tennessee Arkansas
Percentile, 0–100Tennessee offArkansas off Tennessee defArkansas def
Passing34288847
Rushing97774429
Pass cons.46757659
Rush cons.89746956
Pass rate16813196
Pace64586977

Higher is better on both sides — defence is flipped so the shape reads the same way. Percentiles are taken from the opponent-adjusted ratings, so a number earned against a hard schedule ranks above the same number earned against a soft one.

05 / TEAM RATINGS

Per play, vs averageTennessee offArkansas off Tennessee defArkansas def
Pass EPA / dropback+0.071+0.033-0.169-0.068
Rush EPA / carry+0.248+0.156-0.064-0.034
Pass success rate+0.048+0.088-0.051-0.037
Rush success rate+0.117+0.084-0.079-0.058
Pass rate-0.072+0.039+0.024-0.029
Plays per game-1.1-1.2-4.9-5.3

Opponent adjusted and shrunk toward last season — after 5 and 5 games, a rating is still part last year. On defence, negative is good.

06 / ELO

RatingTennesseeArkansasGap
Elo, years of results17861472 -314

Worth 9.3 points of this projection. Elo carries what three games of play-by-play can't: years of results, so a team that has been bad for a decade isn't rated average in September.

07 / SEASON SO FAR

Tennessee 4-1

vs Furman56–9
at Georgia Tech45–24
vs Kennesaw State42–9
vs Texas17–20
vs Auburn24–14

Arkansas 2-3

vs North Alabama31–14
at Utah10–43
vs Georgia17–45
vs Tulsa34–6
at Texas A&M7–34