Buffalo’s rushing yards with James McNeil Jr. and without James McNeil Jr.
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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Buffalo was 6.1 yards under with James McNeil Jr. and 19.5 yards over without James McNeil Jr. in 2026, 4 games against 2. The plain averages are 159.4 and 207.0, a difference of 47.6. Both night games were with James McNeil Jr..
James McNeil Jr., running back: 120 rushing yards and 27 carries in 4 games this season, 22% of Buffalo’s rushing yards in those games.
3 games without James McNeil Jr. is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.
rushing yards a game over expected
A −25.6 difference in rushing yards over expected with James McNeil Jr. vs without James McNeil Jr. is about what you’d expect.
A −47.6 difference in rushing yards with James McNeil Jr. vs without James McNeil Jr. is about what you’d expect.
The games
| Side | Date | Game | Result | rushing yards | Expected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 2026 | vsUUAlbany | W | 154 | — | |
| Sep 12, 2026 | @ Florida International | L | 62 | 153.9 | |
| Sep 19, 2026 | @ Penn State | L | 113 | 152.0 | |
| Sep 26, 2026 | vsRRobert Morris | W | 305 | — | |
| Oct 3, 2026 | vs Western Michigan | L | 135 | 147.2 | |
| Oct 10, 2026 | @ Toledo | W | 181 | 129.9 | |
| Oct 17, 2026 | vs UMass | W | 217 | 168.1 | |
| Oct 24, 2026 | vs Bowling Green | W | 251 | 193.5 |
Method
- 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 8.0 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 60% 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.
- UAlbany, Robert Morris 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, which name every player who entered the game.