Nick Poulos

#8 · QB · Ohio6′5″ · 235 lb · Granite Bay

Passing yards966122nd of 159 quarterbacks Last gameW 28–20at Akron · Nov 3

Nextat Miami (OH)Tue Nov 10 · 7 pm ET

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: W 28-20 at Akron, Nov 3 · 12 of 20 for 197 yards, a touchdown, a lost fumble · 9 carries for 45 yards, a rushing touchdown

Ohio’s next game: at Miami (OH), Tue Nov 10, 7:00 p.m. ET · ESPN2

Ohio has won four straight in the games with 10 or more passes thrown, 4-1 in all. A vertical passer.

Strongest: 8.3 yards an attempt, 40th best of 158 starters. Weakest: completes 58% of throws by play-by-play, 30th lowest of 158 starters.

Plays most like Becht, Penn State.

Passing yards

966

69 of 117, 59%

TD–INT

7–0

8.3 per throw

NCAA rating

148.1

ZPR

not ranked yet

How ZPR works

Solid or better in 5 of 5 graded games.

No interceptions all season, in five games.

Best by our grade: Central Michigan. Lowest: at Nebraska. Best play: Completion for 60 yards, touchdown, at Akron, Q4 9:22. Win chance 39% to 76%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at Nebraska

L 21–49·Unranked

Solid

Passing grade only · Carried by the first quarter · 164 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 10 for 70, 1 TD · Sacked 1

Poulos is going to give me a heart attack with these wild drop the ball for an excellent play tactics
Ohio fan

Biggest swing: a Q4 run added 18 points of win chance. Win chance: 4% to 22%.

Full game page

Jacksonville State

W 29–27·Unranked

Left in Q2

Last pass came in the second quarter; Levi Davis finished the game · 16 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 11 · Sacked 1

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

at South Alabama

L 36–41·Unranked

Did not play

Stonehill

W 35–7·FCS

Did not play

at Kent State

W 13–10·Unranked

Did not play

Central Michigan

W 31–14·Unranked

Great

Passing grade only · 158 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 16 for 52 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 1

We knew Poulos would be a difference-maker but holy s---. The offense just cooks with him in there.
Ohio fan

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

at Sacramento State

W 48–7·Unranked

Great

165 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 48 · Sacked 0

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

Eastern Michigan

W 24–20·Unranked

Solid

Strong start, faded late · 266 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 9 for 22, 1 TD · Lost a fumble · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q3 run added 26 points of win chance. Win chance: 57% to 84%.

Full game page

at Akron

W 28–20·Unranked

Solid

197 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 9 for 45, 1 TD · Lost a fumble · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q4 completion added 40 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 23% to 62%.

Full game page

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game; on games with a lot of running it grades the passing only. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Vertical passer

Also: mobile

Why this word

Runs6.0 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws10.7 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes58% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws deeper than most and runs some. 6.0 carries a game. Closest matches: Becht, Warren, Simmons, Mandal.

Where the throws go

Behind the line11%typical 17%

Short38%typical 47%

Middle33%typical 22%

Deep18%typical 14%

Runs 6.0 times a game; 70% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Becht Penn State · Gunslinger
1,839 yards, 13 TD, 5 INT so far. Both rarely throw behind the line and throw deep.
Warren Stanford · Pocket passer
2,203 yards, 14 TD, 3 INT so far. Both rarely throw behind the line and protect the ball.
Simmons Missouri · Vertical passer
1,935 yards, 16 TD, 2 INT so far. Both throw deep and rarely throw behind the line.
Mandal Fresno State · Balanced
1,595 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT so far. Both rarely throw behind the line and protect the ball.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordOhio is 7-2.

Worth knowing

Nick Poulos has 0 interceptions in 117 throws, the fewest among FBS quarterbacks.

His most important play this season

Q1, 13:49 · Ohio tiedNick Poulos finds Riley Neer for a 4-yard touchdownOhio at Nebraska, week 1Q1, 13:49 · Ohio 7, Nebraska 0Ohio opened the scoringOhio opened the scoringN.Poulos pass complete short right to R.Neer caught at NEB00, for 4 yards to the NEB00 touchdown, kick goodWatch from this play

All 2 of his plays on video

Nick Poulos

QB · Ohio · #8

On Trialas of Nov 4

Nick Poulos takes over from Parker Navarro at Ohio.

966passing yards7passing TD248rushing yards

PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP

+55

perception vs production percentile · 2026

Ohio fans can't agree whether the tape backs the reputation.

medium confidence4 sources

Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.

The production (73rd) is outrunning the reputation (18th). The recognition is the thing lagging behind.

Read the story so far

Nick Poulos lines up at QB for Ohio.

On the field, the headline is 966 pass yds, with 7 pass td.

Nick Poulos inherited the QB job from Parker Navarro (3-star).

Ohio fans can't agree whether the tape backs the reputation.

The number to watch: +55 — produces above perception · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith

Inherited fromParker Navarro 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Ohio	69	117	59.0%	966	8.3	7	0	148.1	58
2025	Ohio	4	8	50.0%	19	2.4	0	0	70.0	--
2024	Ohio	22	49	44.9%	271	5.5	2	1	100.7	--
Career		95	174	54.6%	1,256	7.2	9	1	131.2	58

Season	Team
2026	Ohio	53	248	4.7	3	17
2025	Ohio	8	34	4.2	0	19
2024	Ohio	28	149	5.3	1	22
Career		89	431	4.8	4	22

Last game (Wk 10): 197 passing yards, 1 passing TD.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 6 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	L 21-49@ Nebraska	Solid	14/31	164	1	5.3	—	1	70
Wk 2	W 29-27vs Jacksonville State	Left in Q2	2/5	16	0	3.2	7.9	1	11
Wk 6	W 31-14vs Central Michigan	Great	11/18	158	3	8.8	52.8	1	52	3 TD passes
Wk 7	W 48-7@ Sacramento State	Great	11/14	165	1	11.8	80.5	0	48
Wk 8	W 24-20vs Eastern Michigan	Solid	19/29	266	1	9.2	27.2	1	22	Season-high 266 yds
Wk 10	W 28-20@ Akron	Solid	12/20	197	1	9.9	—	2	45
Total			69/117	966	7	8.3	—	6	248

The latest game

Nov. 3 · W 28-20 at Akron

12 of 20 for 197 yards and a touchdown.

His season, game by game

The season, game by game

W 28-20 at AkronNov. 3197 yds12 of 20, 1 TDPlay by play just above

W 24-20 vs Eastern MichiganOct. 24266 yds19 of 29, 1 TDBox score only

19 of 29 for 266 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

4 more games, with the play by play

W 48-7 at Sacramento StateOct. 17165 yds11 of 14, 1 TD

Play by playOn the field

11 of 14 for 165 yards and a touchdown. Ohio scored touchdowns on 4 of the 6 drives he played.

6 of 6 of his drives scored
1 of 4 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 33 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD2 of 3, 32 yds1
FG3 of 4, 28 yds2
Second quarterbegan up 7-0
TD2 of 2, 18 yds
FG1 of 2, 3 yds
TD1 of 1, 4 yds
Third quarterbegan up 27-0
TD2 of 2, 80 yds3
FinalW 48-7

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
11-yard run on 3rd and 12. First quarter, tied 0-0.
2
Incomplete to DJ Walker on 3rd and 8. First quarter, up 7-0. Broken up by Sacramento State’s M. Nichols.
3
67-yard touchdown pass to Preston Bowman. Third quarter, made it 34-0.

102030405067

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 31-14 vs Central MichiganOct. 10158 yds11 of 18, 3 TDBox score only

11 of 18 for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 29-27 vs Jacksonville StateSept. 1216 yds2 of 5

Play by playOn the field

2 of 5 for 16 yards.

1 of 4 of his drives scored
0 of 2 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
2 runs for 11 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt1 of 1, 7 yds
Punt1 of 3, 9 yds12
Second quarterbegan down 7-0
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds3
TD—
FinalW 29-27

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
9-yard completion to Duncan Brune. First quarter, down 7-0.
2
Incomplete to AJ Miller on 3rd and 15. First quarter, down 7-0.
3
Incomplete to Dom Dorwart on 3rd and 7. Second quarter, down 7-0. Broken up by Jacksonville State’s K. Perry.

1020304050

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

L 21-49 at NebraskaSept. 5164 yds14 of 31, 1 TDBox score only

14 of 31 for 164 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	Central Michigan	W 31-14 · Graded great · Passing grade only · 158 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 16 for 52 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	at Nebraska	L 21-49 · Graded solid · Passing grade only · Carried by the first quarter · 164 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 10 for 70, 1 TD · Sacked 1
Best play	at Akron	Completion for 60 yards, touchdown, Q4 9:22 · Win chance 39% to 76%

Where he ranks

3rd among Mid-American quarterbacks in yards an attempt.

Stat	His	Nation	Mid-American
Passing yards	966	117th of 370	11th of 34
Yards an attempt	8.3	T-36th of 152	3rd of 14
Touchdown passes	7	T-103rd of 370	T-9th of 34
Passer rating	148.1	46th of 152	4th of 14
Completion percentage	59.0	T-119th of 152	9th of 14
Rushing yards	248	48th of 370	5th of 34
Rushing touchdowns	3	T-53rd of 370	T-6th of 34

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All Mid-American quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	John Alan Richter	2,244	17	2	259	8.7
2	Noah Kim	1,678	11	4	285	5.9
3	Dru DeShields	1,624	9	7	251	6.5
4	Jay Kastantin	1,567	11	8	225	7.0
5	Broc Lowry	1,397	11	3	194	7.2
6	Jason Wright	1,345	9	6	231	5.8
7	Brayden Roggow	1,343	7	10	192	7.0
8	Keldric Luster	1,300	9	6	211	6.2
9	David McComb	1,120	7	1	103	10.9
10	William Watson III	1,025	8	2	138	7.4
11	Nick Poulos	966	7	0	117	8.3
12	Caleb Heavner	769	4	4	125	6.2
13	Cibastian Broughton	612	4	1	100	6.1
14	Angel H Flores	475	2	2	92	5.2
15	Jadyn Glasser	463	2	3	74	6.3
16	Logan Inagawa	296	1	1	37	8.0
17	Tyler Mizzell	260	1	0	38	6.8
18	Elijah Holmes	253	3	0	61	4.1
19	Carson Conklin	222	0	1	46	4.8
20	Brogan McCaughey	215	1	1	43	5.0
21	Levi Davis	203	2	0	27	7.5
22	Aedan McCarthy	182	0	0	33	5.5
23	Brian Salazar	99	1	0	10	9.9
24	Trey Petty	59	1	0	8	7.4
25	Marcus Beamon	40	0	0	8	5.0
26	Walter Moses	40	1	0	1	40.0
27	Jace Stuckey	24	0	0	5	4.8
28	Nolan Good	24	0	2	14	1.7
29	Khamoni Robinson	21	0	1	6	3.5
30	Austin Novosad	20	0	0	7	2.9
31	Ethan Thanthanavong	16	0	0	2	8.0
32	Mason Atkins	10	0	0	1	10.0
33	Semaj Beals	0	0	0	1	0.0
34	Deante Ruffin	-1	0	0	3	-0.3

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Touchdown passes7tied for 10th in the Mid-American this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +15 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Neer and Dorwart saw 69 of the 118 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Riley Neer	47	25	324	11.2	5.7
Dom Dorwart	22	12	315	17.8	8.2
Preston Bowman	17	11	157	11.6	7.7
Jake Furtney	9	7	86	4.1	9.4
Eian Pugh	6	2	8	15.0	0.0
5 others	15	11	75	2.9	4.6
No receiver charted	2

Play by play: 118 passes, 69 caught, 966 yards; the box score counts 117 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

69/117 (59.0%) · 7 TD · 0 INT

All 117 box-score attempts covered (play-by-play lists 118 passing plays)

115 of 118 attempts charted for true throw depth

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 118 passing plays (69 completions) against the box score's 117 attempts (69 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

8.6927 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

5.6%105 of 185 QBs

Sacked on 5.6% of dropbacks (105 of 185) — and still 27 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

11% of attempts (13)

85%comp

Air -1.6 · YAC 7.2 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

37% of attempts (43)

77%comp

Air 3.0 · YAC 4.7 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

32% of attempts (37)

46%comp

Air 13.8 · YAC 7.6 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

19% of attempts (22)

27%comp

Air 29.4 · YAC 11.8 avg

Overall 59.0% completion on 117 attempts · 27% completion on 22 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2024Ohio11-3HC: Tim Albin · Run-heavy

2025Ohio9-4HC: Brian Smith · Run-heavy

2026Ohio7-2HC: John Hauser · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 50 (#67 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

50Rotational starter #67 of 145 · through 6 games?

13 metrics · season cumulative

through 6 games score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: interception rate (99th percentile). Strength: interceptions (99th percentile). Concern: fumbles lost (12th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Interception rate#1 / 157 · 99th pct

0.0%

EPA / dropback#38 / 157 · 76th pct

0.30

Success rate#69 / 157 · 56th pct

43.5%

Sack rate#87 / 157 · 45th pct

5.6%

Explosive rate#101 / 157 · 36th pct

9.3%

Box-score rates (8)

Interceptions#1 / 159 · 99th pct

Rush yards#40 / 159 · 75th pct

248

Yards / att#38 / 159 · 75th pct

8.3

Rush TDs#42 / 159 · 69th pct

Pass TDs#108 / 159 · 28th pct

Pass yards#122 / 159 · 24th pct

966

Completion %#123 / 159 · 23rd pct

59.0%

Fumbles lost#114 / 142 · 12th pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Sack rate— first qualifying season

Interception rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

Thin sample: 121 dropbacks

58Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks

Positive-play rate weight 24%

47.6%56th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · +0.5% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

8.5280th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

6.0%43rd pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +1.1% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (3 of 124 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 6 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home3g	147	1.3	7.1	0.0
Road3g	175	1.0	9.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-74g	126	1.2	7.3	0.0
Weeks 8+2g	232	1.0	9.6	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

John Hauser

Pass share

38.1%

206 pass / 335 run

Plays / game

60.1

9 games

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Ohio’s two quarterbacks

Nick Poulos	Threw in 6 of 9 games · 69 of 117, 966 yds, 7 TD, 0 INT · 8.3 yards an attempt on 117 attempts · ran for 248 yds, 3 TD
Levi Davis	Threw in 5 of 9 games · 18 of 27, 203 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · 7.5 yards an attempt on 27 attempts · ran for 92 yds, 1 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Nick Poulos. Gray: Levi Davis. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT@ NebraskaJacksonville State@ South AlabamaStonehill@ Kent StateCentral Michigan@ Sacramento StateEastern Michigan@ Akron

Awards

Player standing · 2026

117 pass attempts and 53 carries in 6 games

Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

50 · #67 of 145 QBs · through 6 games

Nick Poulos

Style of play

This week

Worth knowing

His most important play this season

What fans said

In the game threads

Named in

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Ohio’s two quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

117 pass attempts and 53 carries in 6 games

Three seasons at Ohio