Putting Up Numbers· college football

Georgia State’s penalty yards with Dennis Murray Jr. and without Dennis Murray Jr.

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Georgia State was 10.5 yards over with Dennis Murray Jr. and 11.9 yards under without Dennis Murray Jr. over its last 25 games, 16 games against 7. The plain averages are 69.4 and 42.9, a difference of 26.5. Both ranked opponents were with Dennis Murray Jr.. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Dennis Murray Jr.. All 3 games after a bye were with Dennis Murray Jr..

Dennis Murray Jr., running back: 323 rushing yards, 59 carries and 28 receptions in 17 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +22.4 difference in penalty yards over expected with Dennis Murray Jr. vs without Dennis Murray Jr. is about what you’d expect.

A +26.5 difference in penalty yards with Dennis Murray Jr. vs without Dennis Murray Jr. is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Dennis Murray Jr. and it comes up 12 times in 100.

The games

with Dennis Murray Jr.without Dennis Murray Jr.
Georgia State’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Dennis Murray Jr. or without Dennis Murray Jr.
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 1, 2024@UConnL9551.2
Nov 9, 2024@James MadisonL4248.3
Nov 16, 2024vsArkansas StateL6552.0
Nov 23, 2024@Texas StateW1247.4
Nov 30, 2024vsCoastal CarolinaL2549.6
Aug 30, 2025@Ole MissL6053.5
Sep 6, 2025vsMemphisL5056.2
Sep 13, 2025vsMMurray StateW132—
Sep 20, 2025@VanderbiltL10957.4
Oct 4, 2025vsJames MadisonL11449.6
Oct 11, 2025vsAppalachian StateL3057.8
Oct 18, 2025@Georgia SouthernL12054.7
Oct 23, 2025vsSouth AlabamaL1061.1
Nov 8, 2025@Coastal CarolinaL4063.6
Nov 15, 2025vsMarshallL1554.1
Nov 22, 2025@TroyL3059.2
Nov 29, 2025@Old DominionL10559.5
Sep 4, 2026vsNNorth Carolina A&TW50—
Sep 12, 2026@Kennesaw StateW6560.3
Sep 19, 2026@UCFL6057.2
Sep 26, 2026vsNorthern IllinoisW5356.1
Oct 3, 2026vsOld DominionW7562.1
Oct 17, 2026@James MadisonL4063.2
Oct 24, 2026@Arkansas StateL5654.9
Oct 31, 2026vsCoastal CarolinaL9653.5

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.
  • Murray State, North Carolina A&T 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 20 of these 25 games; in the other 5 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.