Putting Up Numbers· college football

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

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Georgia State was 17.7 yards over with Dennis Murray Jr. and 4.5 yards over without Dennis Murray Jr. in 2026, 5 games against 2. The plain averages are 209.8 and 174.5, a difference of 35.3. All 4 conference games were with Dennis Murray Jr.. All 4 second-half games were with Dennis Murray Jr..

Dennis Murray Jr., running back: 252 rushing yards, 43 carries and 11 receptions in 6 games this season, 20% of Georgia State’s rushing yards in those games.

2 games without Dennis Murray 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 +13.2 difference in rushing yards over expected with Dennis Murray Jr. vs without Dennis Murray Jr. is about what you’d expect.

A +35.3 difference in rushing yards with Dennis Murray Jr. vs without Dennis Murray Jr. is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Dennis Murray Jr.without Dennis Murray Jr.
Georgia State’s games, 2026, each marked with Dennis Murray Jr. or without Dennis Murray Jr.
SideDateGameResultrushing yardsExpected
Sep 4, 2026vsNNorth Carolina A&TW286—
Sep 12, 2026@Kennesaw StateW236156.4
Sep 19, 2026@UCFL203110.0
Sep 26, 2026vsNorthern IllinoisW146230.0
Oct 3, 2026vsOld DominionW188171.1
Oct 17, 2026@James MadisonL188134.8
Oct 24, 2026@Arkansas StateL201205.4
Oct 31, 2026vsCoastal CarolinaL160216.6

Method

Read against .

  • 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.
  • North Carolina A&T has no other game in the table, so that game has no expected number and sits out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.