Putting Up Numbers· college football

Eastern Michigan’s penalty yards with Nick Devereaux and without Nick Devereaux

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Eastern Michigan was 4.9 yards under with Nick Devereaux and 8.8 yards under without Nick Devereaux over its last 25 games, 18 games against 4. The plain averages are 44.4 and 49.0, a difference of 4.6. All 5 night games were with Nick Devereaux. All 4 games after a bye were with Nick Devereaux.

Nick Devereaux, receiver: 688 receiving yards, 54 receptions and 9 receiving touchdowns in 20 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +3.9 difference in penalty yards over expected with Nick Devereaux vs without Nick Devereaux is about what you’d expect.

A −4.6 difference in penalty yards with Nick Devereaux vs without Nick Devereaux is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Nick Devereauxwithout Nick Devereaux
Eastern Michigan’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Nick Devereaux or without Nick Devereaux
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 2, 2024vsToledoL2564.9
Nov 13, 2024@OhioL7056.1
Nov 20, 2024vsBuffaloL7249.1
Nov 30, 2024@Western MichiganL1054.8
Aug 30, 2025@Texas StateL5053.1
Sep 6, 2025vsLLong Island UniversityL0—
Sep 13, 2025@KentuckyL4554.8
Sep 20, 2025vsLouisianaW9253.8
Sep 27, 2025@Central MichiganL5258.4
Oct 4, 2025@BuffaloL8046.4
Oct 11, 2025vsNorthern IllinoisW4053.7
Oct 18, 2025@Miami (OH)L2453.9
Oct 25, 2025vsOhioL4948.5
Nov 8, 2025vsBowling GreenW6551.2
Nov 15, 2025@Ball StateW5957.1
Nov 25, 2025vsWestern MichiganL3051.4
Aug 29, 2026vsSSacramento StateW29—
Sep 4, 2026vsSan Jose StateL3556.3
Sep 12, 2026@Michigan StateL1248.3
Sep 19, 2026@WisconsinL3847.7
Sep 26, 2026vsLLindenwoodW55—
Oct 3, 2026@UMassW7055.8
Oct 10, 2026@AkronW6552.4
Oct 17, 2026vsToledoL3052.1
Oct 24, 2026@OhioL3552.0

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.
  • Long Island University, Sacramento State, Lindenwood 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.