Putting Up Numbers· college football

Alabama’s passing yards with Kevin Riley and without Kevin Riley

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Alabama was 38.0 yards over with Kevin Riley and 24.3 yards under without Kevin Riley in 2026, 5 games against 3. The plain averages are 285.6 and 217.3, a difference of 68.3.

Kevin Riley, running back: 55 rushing yards, 15 carries and 2 receptions in 5 games this season.

3 games without Kevin Riley is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

passing yards a game over expected

A +62.2 difference in passing yards over expected with Kevin Riley vs without Kevin Riley is about what you’d expect.

A +68.3 difference in passing yards with Kevin Riley vs without Kevin Riley is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Kevin Rileywithout Kevin Riley
Alabama’s games, 2026, each marked with Kevin Riley or without Kevin Riley
SideDateGameResultpassing yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsEast CarolinaW260267.9
Sep 12, 2026@KentuckyW188269.4
Sep 19, 2026vsFlorida StateW320260.0
Sep 26, 2026vsSouth CarolinaW365240.4
Oct 3, 2026@Mississippi StateW304253.9
Oct 10, 2026vsGeorgiaL185242.2
Oct 17, 2026@TennesseeL147222.6
Oct 24, 2026vsTexas A&MW311206.6

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every 2026 game between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 4.1 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 59% of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.