Matchup analysis
Our model projects Mercer 24, Chattanooga 21 at Finley Stadium in Week 10. That is a genuine toss-up: Mercer wins about 57% of the time by our estimate, with a projected margin of 2.7 points and 45.3 combined points. Tags: coin flip, leans low scoring.
Mercer is 6-2 against the 130th-toughest schedule so far, scoring 30.6 and allowing 17.1 points per game (+13.5 per game). Chattanooga is 5-3 against the 87th-toughest schedule so far, scoring 22.6 and allowing 13.3 points per game (+9.3 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 Mercer by 25 and Chattanooga by 20 about 80% of the time.
Chattanooga gets about 2.1 points for playing at home. Mercer is still favoured on the road, so the ratings gap is bigger than the value of playing at home. The game is on ESPN+.
Market lines
Market lines ยท Source: The Odds API, ESPN, Action Network ยท Updated Oct 29, 11:25 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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Mercer vs Chattanooga: stat comparison
| Stat | Mercer | Chattanooga |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 30.6 | 22.6 |
| Points allowed per game | 17.1 | 13.3 |
| Yards per play | 6.69 | 4.91 |
| Yards per play allowed | 5.01 | 4.73 |
| Rushing yards per game | 266.4 | 208.4 |
| Net passing yards per game | 163.6 | 76.6 |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 143.1 | 131.0 |
| Net passing yards allowed per game | 184.9 | 152.0 |
| Turnovers per game | 1.25 | 0.38 |
| Takeaways per game | 1.50 | 1.13 |
| Sacks per game | 2.38 | 2.75 |
| Sacks allowed per game | 1.75 | 2.13 |
| Stat | Mercer | Chattanooga |
|---|---|---|
| EPA per play | +0.04 | -0.02 |
| EPA per play allowed | +0.00 | -0.12 |
| Success rate | 40.5% | 37.6% |
| Success rate allowed | 39.8% | 35.8% |
| Explosive play rate | 12.6% | 11.1% |
| Explosive plays allowed | 13.3% | 9.9% |
| Havoc rate | 15.5% | 16.6% |
| Havoc allowed | 12.7% | 14.5% |
| Points per scoring opportunity | 3.29 | 2.98 |
| Points per opportunity allowed | 3.40 | 3.22 |
| Average starting field position | opp 9 | opp 0 |
| Opponents' starting field position | opp 7 | opp 0 |
| Offensive plays per game (pace) | 64.3 | 58.0 |
| Stat | Mercer | Chattanooga |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing EPA per play | +0.12 | +0.06 |
| Passing EPA per play | -0.07 | -0.19 |
| Rushing EPA allowed | +0.07 | -0.05 |
| Passing EPA allowed | -0.07 | -0.20 |
| Rushing success rate | 46.0% | 40.1% |
| Passing success rate | 36.8% | 29.3% |
| Run stuff rate | 14.7% | 18.4% |
| Passing-down success rate | 24.7% | 26.1% |
| Passing-down success allowed | 28.0% | 21.0% |
| Third-down conversion rate | 31.1% | 38.5% |
| Third-down rate allowed | 29.1% | 31.5% |
| Red-zone touchdown rate | 45.1% | 57.6% |
| Red-zone TD rate allowed | 53.2% | 50.1% |
# = 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: Mercer schedule ยท Chattanooga schedule ยท all Week 10 projections
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