Our side
MoneylineUT R to win
ours 68%
Projected score
21–28
LAM – UT R
2026-10-31 · 8:00 PM
Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium · Edinburg, TX
Conference game
Early season
The books
No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.
Series
Lamar lead
1–0
· 1 meeting since 2025
2025 unit ranks —
last completed season, from games actually played
Run game
edge UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
172 ranks
Lamar Cardinals #228 rush offense
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros #56 run defense
Pass game
edge UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
213 ranks
Lamar Cardinals #225 pass offense
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros #12 pass defense
Run game
even
9 ranks apart
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros #28 rush offense
Lamar Cardinals #37 run defense
Pass game
even
11 ranks apart
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros #22 pass offense
Lamar Cardinals #33 pass defense
Lamar Cardinals
Run-heavy · 61% run
Ball-control
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
Balanced · 52% run
Ball-control
Ranked by team-unit strength
(rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265
D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the
2025 season.
The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above
Who carried each team in 2025
Lamar Cardinals
DB
Mar Mar Evans
16 tkl · 4 PD
#54 DB
TE
Davin Driskell
10 rec · 99 yds · 3 TD
#12 TE
DB
Lanar Kelley
11 tkl · 1 INT
#86 DB
DB
Bryce McDonald
17 tkl · 1 PD · 1 INT
#146 DB
UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
WR
Kyran Lee
18 rec · 301 yds · 2 TD
#27 WR
DB
Alijah Prosser
14 tkl · 5 PD
#68 DB
LB
Spencer Rich
27 tkl · 1.0 TFL
#72 LB
K
Brysen Gardner
6 FG · 9 XP · 27 pts
#16 K
Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their
position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no
2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for
these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.
Power breakdown
Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).
Where the number comes from
Lamar offense vs UT Rio Grande Valley defense-8.8 pts
UT Rio Grande Valley offense vs Lamar defense-3.6 pts
Efficiency adjustment · EPA, success rate, explosiveness-0.8 pts
Power projection before adjustment+8.2
The projection carries an efficiency adjustment —
a residual from season-to-date EPA, success rate and explosiveness, which earned its place by
walk-forward test (margin error 12.90 → 12.72 across seven held-out seasons).