Matchup analysis
Before kickoff our model projected Drake 28.1, Valparaiso 27.5 at Brown Field in Week 6. That is a genuine toss-up: Drake wins about 52% of the time by our estimate, with a projected margin of 0.6 points and 55.6 combined points. Tags: coin flip.
Drake is 2-3, scoring 28 and allowing 38.6 points per game (-10.6 per game). Valparaiso is 2-3, scoring 31.6 and allowing 23 points per game (+8.6 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 Drake by 23 and Valparaiso by 22 about 80% of the time.
Valparaiso gets about 2.1 points for playing at home. Drake is still favoured on the road, so the ratings gap is bigger than the value of playing at home. The game is on ESPN+.
Result: Drake 13, Valparaiso 21. Valparaiso won, so this goes down as a miss for the model (margin off by 8.6 points).
Market lines
Market lines · Source: The Odds API, ESPN, Action Network · Updated Oct 29, 11:25 AM UTC. Shown for information; not an input to our projections.
| Provider | Spread (open → now) | Total (open → now) | Moneyline (Drake / Valparaiso) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus | Drake -8.5 → Drake -9.5 | 53.5 → 57.5 | -397 / +294 |
| DraftKings | Drake -8.5 → Drake -9.5 | 53.5 → 57.5 | -397 / +294 |
This game's lines: CollegeFootballData.com · read Oct 22, 6:37 PM UTC.
| Projection | Margin | Total | Valparaiso win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our model | Drake -0.5 | 55.6 | 48% |
| Market consensus | Drake -9.5 | 57.5 | 24% |
| Blended projection | Drake -8 | 57.6 | 29% |
Blended projection = 0.16 x our margin + 0.84 x the market margin, weights fitted on past seasons (see methodology).
Model vs market
- Valparaiso win probability
- model 48% · market (no-vig) 24% · difference +24 pts
- Margin
- model Drake -0.6 · market Drake -9.5 · difference +8.9 pts (Valparaiso view)
- Total
- model 55.6 · market 57.5 · difference -1.9
Model margin is 8.9 pts more toward Valparaiso than the market.
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Original projection vs new formula
| Projection | Score | Win prob | Margin miss | Total miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original projection | Drake 28.1, Valparaiso 27.5 | Drake 52%wrong winner | 8.6 | 21.6 |
| New formula | Drake 27.8, Valparaiso 27.4 | Drake 51%wrong winner | 8.4 | 21.2 |
Final: Drake 13, Valparaiso 21. Original = the number we posted before kickoff. New formula (2026-10-21 matchup terms) = the current model re-run with only the games played before this one.
Drake vs Valparaiso: stat comparison
2025 season numbers (this season's sample is still too small).
| Stat | Drake | Valparaiso |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 25.3 | 20.3 |
| Points allowed per game | 17.7 | 35.6 |
| Yards per play | 6.07 | 5.17 |
| Yards per play allowed | 5.55 | 5.97 |
| Rushing yards per game | 211.3 | 132.7 |
| Net passing yards per game | 159.3 | 179.7 |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 151.6 | 196.0 |
| Net passing yards allowed per game | 182.3 | 216.5 |
| Turnovers per game | 0.58 | 2.09 |
| Takeaways per game | 0.83 | 0.73 |
| Sacks per game | 2.25 | 1.64 |
| Sacks allowed per game | 1.58 | 2.64 |
| Stat | Drake | Valparaiso |
|---|---|---|
| EPA per play | +0.03 | -0.10 |
| EPA per play allowed | +0.01 | +0.09 |
| Success rate | 42.6% | 36.4% |
| Success rate allowed | 42.8% | 46.0% |
| Explosive play rate | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| Explosive plays allowed | 11.0% | 14.9% |
| Havoc rate | 12.7% | 11.1% |
| Havoc allowed | 13.9% | 16.3% |
| Points per scoring opportunity | 3.66 | 3.24 |
| Points per opportunity allowed | 2.06 | 3.66 |
| Average starting field position | opp 0 | opp 0 |
| Opponents' starting field position | opp 0 | opp 0 |
| Offensive plays per game (pace) | 61.1 | 60.5 |
| Stat | Drake | Valparaiso |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing EPA per play | +0.05 | -0.13 |
| Passing EPA per play | +0.00 | -0.06 |
| Rushing EPA allowed | +0.03 | +0.04 |
| Passing EPA allowed | -0.02 | +0.13 |
| Rushing success rate | 44.2% | 31.9% |
| Passing success rate | 42.4% | 42.5% |
| Run stuff rate | 18.9% | 25.6% |
| Passing-down success rate | 28.6% | 27.5% |
| Passing-down success allowed | 30.0% | 30.9% |
| Third-down conversion rate | 42.1% | 38.1% |
| Third-down rate allowed | 38.2% | 34.9% |
| Red-zone touchdown rate | 57.6% | 0.0% |
| Red-zone TD rate allowed | 36.6% | 0.0% |
# = rank among 136 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: Drake schedule · Valparaiso schedule · all Week 6 projections
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