Ball State 1-4
11.9
Northwestern 3-1
45.001 / THE NUMBER
The model makes this Northwestern -33.1. The market has it Northwestern -34.5, a gap of 1.4 points toward Ball State.
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.
02 / PROJECTED SCORE
03 / WHERE THE MARGIN COMES FROM
Each bar is that input's contribution to the projected margin, in points, pointing toward the team it favours. They sum to 29.9 toward Northwestern, before calibration.
04 / HOW THEY RATE · percentile vs all FBS
| Percentile, 0–100 | Ball State off | Northwestern off | Ball State def | Northwestern def |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | 20 | 77 | 11 | 57 |
| Rushing | 10 | 85 | 40 | 14 |
| Pass cons. | 9 | 81 | 16 | 45 |
| Rush cons. | 1 | 83 | 26 | 10 |
| Pass rate | 66 | 12 | 43 | 60 |
| Pace | 2 | 59 | 38 | 58 |
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 average | Ball State off | Northwestern off | Ball State def | Northwestern def |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pass EPA / dropback | -0.012 | +0.253 | +0.027 | -0.094 |
| Rush EPA / carry | -0.025 | +0.183 | -0.053 | -0.000 |
| Pass success rate | -0.022 | +0.098 | +0.007 | -0.026 |
| Rush success rate | -0.054 | +0.096 | -0.019 | +0.002 |
| Pass rate | +0.007 | -0.081 | +0.012 | +0.004 |
| Plays per game | -3.1 | -1.2 | -3.5 | -4.3 |
Opponent adjusted and shrunk toward last season — after 5 and 4 games, a rating is still part last year. On defence, negative is good.
06 / ELO
| Rating | Ball State | Northwestern | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elo, years of results | 1065 | 1720 | +655 |
Worth 19.5 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
Ball State 1-4
| at Ohio State | 3–56 |
| vs Stony Brook | 41–17 |
| at Liberty | 15–51 |
| at Kent State | 13–26 |
| vs Toledo | 24–39 |
Northwestern 3-1
| vs South Dakota State | 34–18 |
| vs Colorado | 41–7 |
| at Indiana | 23–29 |
| vs Penn State | 34–13 |