Putting Up Numbers· college football

Kentucky’s yards a carry with Jovantae Barnes and without Jovantae Barnes

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Kentucky averaged 4.47 yards a carry with Jovantae Barnes and 5.66 without Jovantae Barnes over its last 25 games, 6 games against 2, a difference of 1.20. All 3 night games were with Jovantae Barnes. All 3 games while ranked were with Jovantae Barnes.

Jovantae Barnes, running back: 224 rushing yards, 43 carries and 2 receptions in 6 of those 25 games.

2 games without Jovantae Barnes is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

yards a carry a game

A −1.20 difference in yards a carry with Jovantae Barnes vs without Jovantae Barnes is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Jovantae Barneswithout Jovantae Barnes
Kentucky’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Jovantae Barnes or without Jovantae Barnes
SideDateGameResultyards a carryExpected
Oct 26, 2024vsAuburnL2.59—
Nov 2, 2024@TennesseeL4.83—
Nov 16, 2024vsMMurray StateW6.30—
Nov 23, 2024@TexasL0.70—
Nov 30, 2024vsLouisvilleL4.70—
Aug 30, 2025vsToledoW5.26—
Sep 6, 2025vsOle MissL4.65—
Sep 13, 2025vsEastern MichiganW5.62—
Sep 27, 2025@South CarolinaL2.63—
Oct 4, 2025@GeorgiaL2.05—
Oct 18, 2025vsTexasL2.98—
Oct 25, 2025vsTennesseeL4.08—
Nov 1, 2025@AuburnW2.61—
Nov 8, 2025vsFloridaW5.47—
Nov 15, 2025vsTTennessee TechW5.31—
Nov 22, 2025@VanderbiltL1.63—
Nov 29, 2025@LouisvilleL1.54—
Sep 5, 2026vsYYoungstown StateW6.71—
Sep 12, 2026vsAlabamaL1.97—
Sep 19, 2026@Texas A&MW4.62—
Sep 26, 2026vsSouth AlabamaW9.29—
Oct 3, 2026@South CarolinaW3.30—
Oct 10, 2026vsLSUW4.84—
Oct 17, 2026@OklahomaW2.96—
Oct 24, 2026vsVanderbiltW4.44—

Method

Read against .

  • 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.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 3 of these 8 games; in the other 5 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.
  • 17 games in 2024 and 2025 are neither with Jovantae Barnes nor without Jovantae Barnes: Jovantae Barnes had no game for the team those seasons, and sit out.