Putting Up Numbers· college football

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

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Alabama was 37.5 yards over with Kevin Riley and 30.4 yards under without Kevin Riley in 2026, 5 games against 3. The plain averages are 438.4 and 373.0, a difference of 65.4.

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.

total yards a game over expected

A +67.9 difference in total yards over expected with Kevin Riley vs without Kevin Riley is about what you’d expect.

A +65.4 difference in total 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
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsEast CarolinaW489439.3
Sep 12, 2026@KentuckyW343400.8
Sep 19, 2026vsFlorida StateW572452.2
Sep 26, 2026vsSouth CarolinaW491393.1
Oct 3, 2026@Mississippi StateW487384.1
Oct 10, 2026vsGeorgiaL346376.9
Oct 17, 2026@TennesseeL201381.1
Oct 24, 2026vsTexas A&MW382387.3

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 12.1 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 67% 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.