Putting Up Numbers· college football

Illinois’ penalty yards with Ca'Lil Valentine and since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Illinois was 6.7 yards under with Ca'Lil Valentine and 28.0 yards under since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game over its last 25 games, 20 games against 3. The plain averages are 41.3 and 21.0, a difference of 20.3. All 3 neutral-site games were with Ca'Lil Valentine. All 6 night games were with Ca'Lil Valentine. All 5 ranked opponents were with Ca'Lil Valentine.

Ca'Lil Valentine, running back: 903 rushing yards, 201 carries and 14 receptions in 22 of those 25 games.

3 games since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +21.3 difference in penalty yards over expected with Ca'Lil Valentine vs since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Ca'Lil Valentine and it comes up 14 times in 100.

A +20.3 difference in penalty yards with Ca'Lil Valentine vs since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Ca'Lil Valentine and it comes up 11 times in 100.

The games

with Ca'Lil Valentinesince Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game
Illinois’ games, last 25 games, each marked with Ca'Lil Valentine or since Ca'Lil Valentine’s last game
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 16, 2024vsMichigan StateW2044.8
Nov 23, 2024@RutgersW9345.8
Nov 30, 2024vsNorthwestern (neutral)W5041.5
Dec 31, 2024vsSouth Carolina (neutral)W1548.4
Aug 29, 2025vsWWestern IllinoisW60—
Sep 6, 2025@DukeW5154.7
Sep 13, 2025vsWestern MichiganW4643.6
Sep 20, 2025@IndianaL2343.6
Sep 27, 2025vsUSCW4251.3
Oct 4, 2025@PurdueW3147.7
Oct 11, 2025vsOhio StateL1937.6
Oct 25, 2025@WashingtonL8242.2
Nov 1, 2025vsRutgersW2547.8
Nov 15, 2025vsMarylandW3047.0
Nov 22, 2025@WisconsinL4043.1
Nov 29, 2025vsNorthwesternW4444.7
Dec 30, 2025vsTennessee (neutral)W2048.8
Sep 3, 2026vsUABW449.3
Sep 12, 2026vsDukeL7159.8
Sep 19, 2026vsSouthern IllinoisW44—
Sep 26, 2026@Ohio StateL5247.4
Oct 3, 2026vsPurdueL4648.6
Oct 10, 2026@Michigan StateW1645.1
Oct 24, 2026vsOregonW3244.4
Oct 31, 2026@MarylandW1557.6

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 two sides are the games before and after one date, so the shuffle moves any game between them.
  • Western Illinois, Southern Illinois 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.