Putting Up Numbers· college football

Boise State’s penalty yards with Sire Gaines and without Sire Gaines

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Boise State was 6.0 yards over with Sire Gaines and 10.2 yards under without Sire Gaines over its last 25 games, 17 games against 6. The plain averages are 59.9 and 42.2, a difference of 17.7. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Sire Gaines. All 3 games after a bye were with Sire Gaines.

Sire Gaines, running back: 1,229 rushing yards, 236 carries and 21 receptions in 19 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +16.2 difference in penalty yards over expected with Sire Gaines vs without Sire Gaines is about what you’d expect.

A +17.7 difference in penalty yards with Sire Gaines vs without Sire Gaines is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Sire Gaineswithout Sire Gaines
Boise State’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Sire Gaines or without Sire Gaines
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 29, 2024vsOregon StateW3048.3
Dec 6, 2024vsUNLVW1052.5
Dec 31, 2024vsPenn State (neutral)L9035.8
Aug 28, 2025@South FloridaL5763.4
Sep 5, 2025vsEEastern WashingtonW55—
Sep 20, 2025@Air ForceW10747.9
Sep 27, 2025vsAppalachian StateW5550.8
Oct 4, 2025@Notre DameL11249.2
Oct 11, 2025vsNew MexicoW5060.0
Oct 18, 2025vsUNLVW3760.0
Oct 24, 2025@NevadaW1062.1
Nov 1, 2025vsFresno StateL9455.0
Nov 15, 2025@San Diego StateL4553.5
Nov 22, 2025vsColorado StateW9553.3
Nov 28, 2025@Utah StateW6557.9
Dec 5, 2025vsUNLVW2061.3
Dec 13, 2025vsWashington (neutral)L3051.0
Sep 5, 2026@OregonL2552.7
Sep 12, 2026vsMemphisW8752.9
Sep 19, 2026vsSSouth DakotaW39—
Sep 26, 2026@Western MichiganW5859.4
Oct 3, 2026vsUtah StateW2558.6
Oct 10, 2026@Fresno StateW8351.0
Oct 24, 2026@Washington StateW7259.3
Oct 31, 2026vsTexas StateW4059.4

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, minus 0.8 in 2024, minus 2.1 in 2025, minus 1.3 in 2026 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 44% in 2024, 45% in 2025, 27% in 2026 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.
  • Eastern Washington, South Dakota have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 21 of these 25 games; in the other 4 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.