Putting Up Numbers· college football

BYU’s penalty yards with LJ Martin and without LJ Martin

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, BYU was 1.6 yards under with LJ Martin and 11.0 yards under without LJ Martin over its last 25 games, 18 games against 5. The plain averages are 48.8 and 42.8, a difference of 6.0. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with LJ Martin. All 3 games while unranked were with LJ Martin. All 3 games after a bye were with LJ Martin.

LJ Martin, running back: 1,866 rushing yards, 327 carries and 45 receptions in 20 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +9.4 difference in penalty yards over expected with LJ Martin vs without LJ Martin is about what you’d expect.

A +6.0 difference in penalty yards with LJ Martin vs without LJ Martin is about what you’d expect.

The games

with LJ Martinwithout LJ Martin
BYU’s games, last 25 games, each marked with LJ Martin or without LJ Martin
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 23, 2024@Arizona StateL4050.8
Nov 30, 2024vsHoustonW5046.7
Dec 28, 2024vsColorado (neutral)W8057.1
Aug 30, 2025vsPPortland StateW55—
Sep 6, 2025vsStanfordW3553.0
Sep 20, 2025@East CarolinaW10145.8
Sep 27, 2025@ColoradoW3456.7
Oct 3, 2025vsWest VirginiaW6749.5
Oct 11, 2025@ArizonaW4250.1
Oct 18, 2025vsUtahW4248.4
Oct 25, 2025@Iowa StateW5755.5
Nov 8, 2025@Texas TechL3745.4
Nov 15, 2025vsTCUW2545.2
Nov 22, 2025@CincinnatiW2145.1
Nov 29, 2025vsUCFW4046.8
Dec 6, 2025vsTexas Tech (neutral)L3044.9
Dec 27, 2025vsGeorgia Tech (neutral)W4951.4
Sep 5, 2026vsUUtah TechW46—
Sep 12, 2026vsArizonaW5955.4
Sep 19, 2026@Colorado StateW7452.1
Oct 3, 2026@TCUW4054.0
Oct 9, 2026vsIowa StateW6554.2
Oct 17, 2026vsNotre DameW3557.0
Oct 24, 2026@UCFL4658.1
Oct 31, 2026vsArizona StateW1948.2

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.
  • Portland State, Utah Tech 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 13 of these 25 games; in the other 12 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.