Matchup analysis
Our model projects UT Rio Grande Valley 26, Lamar 23 at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium in Week 9. That is a lean: UT Rio Grande Valley wins about 59% of the time by our estimate, with a projected margin of 3.5 points and 48.8 combined points. Tags: upset alert.
Lamar is 6-2 against the 63rd-toughest schedule so far, scoring 30.8 and allowing 22.5 points per game (+8.3 per game). UT Rio Grande Valley is 4-4 against the 70th-toughest schedule so far, scoring 23.9 and allowing 22.1 points per game (+1.8 per game).
College football is noisy: even a well-rated projection misses the final margin by about 14 points on average. Based on how real results have scattered around our numbers, the final margin should land somewhere between Lamar by 19 and UT Rio Grande Valley by 26 about 80% of the time.
UT Rio Grande Valley gets about 2.1 points for playing at home. Even on a neutral field the ratings would still favour UT Rio Grande Valley by about 1.4. The game is on ESPN+.
Market lines
Market lines ยท Source: The Odds API, ESPN, Action Network ยท Updated Oct 29, 9:25 AM UTC. Shown for information; not an input to our projections.
No market line has been posted for this game yet.
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Lamar vs UT Rio Grande Valley: stat comparison
| Stat | Lamar | UT Rio Grande Valley |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 30.8 | 23.9 |
| Points allowed per game | 22.5 | 22.1 |
| Yards per play | 6.16 | 6.08 |
| Yards per play allowed | 5.30 | 5.41 |
| Rushing yards per game | 178.1 | 162.0 |
| Net passing yards per game | 208.1 | 270.5 |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 149.0 | 156.8 |
| Net passing yards allowed per game | 192.4 | 196.5 |
| Turnovers per game | 0.75 | 1.50 |
| Takeaways per game | 1.38 | 1.63 |
| Sacks per game | 2.00 | 1.75 |
| Sacks allowed per game | 1.38 | 1.75 |
| Stat | Lamar | UT Rio Grande Valley |
|---|---|---|
| EPA per play | +0.13 | +0.00 |
| EPA per play allowed | -0.03 | -0.04 |
| Success rate | 42.3% | 40.3% |
| Success rate allowed | 37.4% | 43.9% |
| Explosive play rate | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| Explosive plays allowed | 11.8% | 10.7% |
| Havoc rate | 15.0% | 14.8% |
| Havoc allowed | 11.9% | 14.8% |
| Points per scoring opportunity | 3.72 | 3.44 |
| Points per opportunity allowed | 3.85 | 2.35 |
| Average starting field position | opp 9 | opp 11 |
| Opponents' starting field position | opp 8 | opp 9 |
| Offensive plays per game (pace) | 62.8 | 71.1 |
| Stat | Lamar | UT Rio Grande Valley |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing EPA per play | +0.08 | -0.00 |
| Passing EPA per play | +0.18 | -0.01 |
| Rushing EPA allowed | +0.03 | +0.00 |
| Passing EPA allowed | -0.09 | -0.09 |
| Rushing success rate | 43.4% | 40.8% |
| Passing success rate | 43.6% | 40.2% |
| Run stuff rate | 15.1% | 19.2% |
| Passing-down success rate | 30.4% | 30.7% |
| Passing-down success allowed | 32.0% | 30.7% |
| Third-down conversion rate | 45.5% | 42.1% |
| Third-down rate allowed | 30.4% | 43.6% |
| Red-zone touchdown rate | 57.6% | 51.5% |
| Red-zone TD rate allowed | 51.7% | 37.5% |
# = rank among 138 FBS teams. Efficiency numbers exclude garbage time. Per-play numbers of teams with a weak schedule are pulled toward their opponent-adjusted values (fully at one standard deviation below an average schedule). Source: play-by-play (cfbfastR / sportsdataverse), aggregated by us.
More: Lamar schedule ยท UT Rio Grande Valley schedule ยท all Week 9 projections
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