Football Study Hall
Unfortunately, you’re not going to be a lot of advanced stats against Lamar because there’s not really any advanced stats sites for an FCS team. So, we’ll get to regroup a bit and we’ll demonstrate where Texas Tech is statistically after a disappointing game. As an aside, you can check out Football Study Hall’s Five Factor Box Scores to check out some of the early data on week 1 games, but I don’t think that the statistical profiles have been released for the year.
Texas Tech Offense vs. Lamar Defense
What I can do is set you straight with Lamar’s NCAA stats page where you can go bonkers checking out some Lamar stats. The problem with comparing stats is that Texas Tech played Ole Miss and Lamar played Kentucky Christian (which I did not know they had a football team) so the comparisons aren’t entirely accurate. And if you’ve ever wondered why football nerds (or wannabe nerds like myself) like advanced stats more than traditional stats, well, those advanced stats try to normalize opponents and level the playing field a bit so that comparisons are a bit more accurate. That’s the best reason why those advanced stats matter, because comparing total yards for last week’s games is somewhat futile. Lamar says that they have significantly better stats, but it doesn’t take into account opponent. Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox.
Nevertheless, the total defense for Lamar ranks 13th in comparison to FCS teams, giving up only 211 yards of offense, 11th in rushing offense, giving up 51 yards, and tied for 31st in passing defense, giving up 159 yards. Texas Tech’s NCAA stats page has Texas Tech 44th in total offense, 72nd in rushing offense, 27th in passing offense, and 93rd in passing efficiency.
Texas Tech Defense vs. Lamar Offense
The offense for Lamar was even better than the defense, 4th in total offense, 3rd in rushing offense (409 total yards rushing!), and 56th in passing offense (193 yards). The 70 points that Lamar put up was tops for all FCS teams. After playing Ole Miss, Texas Tech sits 114th in total defense, 100th in rushing defense and 112th in passing yards allowed. Again, total yards really don’t tell the story from a comparison purpose.
Other Stats
College Football Analytics: As of today, Texas Tech is 56th overall, but I don’t think these have been updated since the last time around and I think last week Ole Miss was one notch above Texas Tech.
FEI College Football Ratings: Texas Tech is 58th overall and Ole Miss is 38th.
ESPN’s Football Power Index: This has Texas Tech 56th overall (an obvious theme here), while Ole Miss is 30th, which is better than TCU (which is a bit surprising) so maybe Ole Miss is better than expected.
My Team’s Better: There’s no way to compare stats with an FCS opponent (using this site), so no dice here. I feel like I am continuing the disappointment from the start of the season.