Putting Up Numbers· college football

Arkansas State’s penalty yards with Kenyon Clay and without Kenyon Clay

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Arkansas State was 3.2 yards under with Kenyon Clay and 22.0 yards under without Kenyon Clay in 2026, 5 games against 2. The plain averages are 50.3 and 35.0, a difference of 15.3.

Kenyon Clay, running back: 221 rushing yards, 52 carries and 10 receptions in 6 games this season.

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

penalty yards a game over expected

A +18.9 difference in penalty yards over expected with Kenyon Clay vs without Kenyon Clay is about what you’d expect.

A +15.3 difference in penalty yards with Kenyon Clay vs without Kenyon Clay is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Kenyon Claywithout Kenyon Clay
Arkansas State’s games, 2026, each marked with Kenyon Clay or without Kenyon Clay
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026@MemphisL3754.5
Sep 12, 2026vsWWest GeorgiaW60—
Sep 19, 2026@TCUL1051.8
Sep 26, 2026vsKennesaw StateW5554.3
Oct 3, 2026@LouisianaL1559.7
Oct 8, 2026vsSouth AlabamaL9046.0
Oct 17, 2026@Southern MissW5057.4
Oct 24, 2026vsGeorgia StateW5548.2

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, minus 1.3 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 27% 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.
  • West Georgia has no other game in the table, so that game has no expected number and sits out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.