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Buffalo at Toledo

Saturday, October 10 · 3:30 PM ET · Glass Bowl
Buffalo 2-3 12.7
AT
Toledo 4-1 37.9

01 / THE NUMBER

The model makes this Toledo -25.2. The market has it Toledo -19.5, a gap of 5.7 points toward Toledo.

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 lineToledo -19.5
ModelToledo -25.2
Difference5.7

02 / PROJECTED SCORE

Buffalo12.7Toledo37.9

03 / WHERE THE MARGIN COMES FROM

Elo / track record9.0Home field4.4Running game2.8Rush consistency2.7Passing game2.2Pass consistency1.5Buffalo ←→ Toledo

Each bar is that input's contribution to the projected margin, in points, pointing toward the team it favours. They sum to 22.6 toward Toledo, before calibration.

04 / HOW THEY RATE · percentile vs all FBS

Offence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Defence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Buffalo Toledo
Percentile, 0–100Buffalo offToledo off Buffalo defToledo def
Passing3672087
Rushing2521269
Pass cons.2583277
Rush cons.2551887
Pass rate52576421
Pace85111574

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 averageBuffalo offToledo off Buffalo defToledo def
Pass EPA / dropback-0.170+0.204+0.001-0.164
Rush EPA / carry-0.086+0.089+0.005-0.140
Pass success rate-0.067+0.065-0.013-0.051
Rush success rate-0.050+0.055-0.012-0.112
Pass rate-0.012-0.003+0.002+0.032
Plays per game-0.5-2.6-1.9-5.2

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

RatingBuffaloToledoGap
Elo, years of results12941598 +304

Worth 9.0 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

Buffalo 2-3

vs UAlbany21–17
at Florida International20–33
at Penn State13–55
vs Robert Morris31–28
vs Western Michigan17–20

Toledo 4-1

at Michigan State20–30
vs Central Connecticut63–10
vs Temple49–48
vs San Diego State41–16
at Ball State39–24