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Missouri State at Western Kentucky

Thursday, October 8 · 7:00 PM ET · Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium
Missouri State 1-3 26.3
AT
Western Kentucky 1-4 28.8

01 / THE NUMBER

The model makes this Western Kentucky -2.5. The market has it Missouri State -1.5, a gap of 4.0 points toward Western Kentucky.

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 lineMissouri State -1.5
ModelWestern Kentucky -2.5
Difference4.0

02 / PROJECTED SCORE

Missouri State26.3Western Kentu.28.8

03 / WHERE THE MARGIN COMES FROM

Home field4.4Elo / track record3.0Rush consistency0.5Running game0.3Pass consistency0.2Passing game0.0Missouri State ←→ Western Kentu.

Each bar is that input's contribution to the projected margin, in points, pointing toward the team it favours. They sum to 1.8 toward Western Kentucky, before calibration.

04 / HOW THEY RATE · percentile vs all FBS

Offence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Defence
PassingRushingPass cons.Rush cons.Pass ratePace
Missouri State Western Kentucky
Percentile, 0–100Missouri State offWestern Kentu. off Missouri State defWestern Kentu. def
Passing30181342
Rushing34293120
Pass cons.18151240
Rush cons.39621632
Pass rate59919066
Pace13556643

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 averageMissouri State offWestern Kentu. off Missouri State defWestern Kentu. def
Pass EPA / dropback+0.042-0.035+0.019-0.046
Rush EPA / carry+0.041+0.036-0.038-0.010
Pass success rate-0.003-0.010+0.008-0.023
Rush success rate+0.038+0.061-0.011-0.029
Pass rate+0.002+0.064-0.019+0.000
Plays per game-2.5-1.3-4.8-3.7

Opponent adjusted and shrunk toward last season — after 4 and 5 games, a rating is still part last year. On defence, negative is good.

06 / ELO

RatingMissouri StateWestern Kentu.Gap
Elo, years of results12921191 -101

Worth 3.0 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

Missouri State 1-3

at Texas A&M0–50
vs Lindenwood48–14
vs Marshall24–30
at SMU24–34

Western Kentucky 1-4

at Nevada14–49
at Georgia20–70
at Indiana0–38
vs Mercyhurst52–7
at New Mexico State13–34