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Washington State at Utah State

Friday, October 9 · 9:00 PM ET · Maverik Stadium
Washington State 1-4 25.4
AT
Utah State 1-4 25.8

01 / THE NUMBER

The model makes this Utah State -0.4. The market has it Utah State -3, a gap of 2.6 points toward Washington 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.

SPREAD
Vegas lineUtah State -3
ModelUtah State -0.4
Difference2.6

02 / PROJECTED SCORE

Washington St.25.4Utah State25.8

03 / WHERE THE MARGIN COMES FROM

Home field4.4Elo / track record3.6Passing game0.5Pass consistency0.4Rush consistency0.2Running game0.2Washington St. ←→ Utah State

Each bar is that input's contribution to the projected margin, in points, pointing toward the team it favours. They sum to 0.2 toward Washington State, before calibration.

04 / HOW THEY RATE · percentile vs all FBS

Offence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Defence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Washington State Utah State
Percentile, 0–100Washington St. offUtah State off Washington St. defUtah State def
Passing25147548
Rushing13234945
Pass cons.34207036
Rush cons.20133927
Pass rate4672858
Pace7546428

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 averageWashington St. offUtah State off Washington St. defUtah State def
Pass EPA / dropback+0.015-0.052-0.127-0.070
Rush EPA / carry-0.017+0.025-0.082-0.067
Pass success rate+0.022-0.000-0.044-0.019
Rush success rate+0.007-0.001-0.033-0.023
Pass rate-0.018+0.022-0.014+0.049
Plays per game-0.8-1.5-3.7-1.1

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

RatingWashington St.Utah StateGap
Elo, years of results14801358 -122

Worth 3.6 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

Washington State 1-4

at Washington10–24
at Kansas State7–34
vs Duquesne48–7
vs Arizona24–34
vs Fresno State6–26

Utah State 1-4

vs Idaho State17–29
at Washington14–16
at Utah0–33
vs Troy21–10
at Boise State18–37