Putting Up Numbers· college football

Louisiana Monroe’s total yards with Zach Palmer-Smith and without Zach Palmer-Smith

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Louisiana Monroe was 36.0 yards under with Zach Palmer-Smith and 7.2 yards over without Zach Palmer-Smith in 2026, 5 games against 2. The plain averages are 322.4 and 344.7, a difference of 22.3. Expected was 96.1 yards higher with Zach Palmer-Smith than without Zach Palmer-Smith. All 4 conference games were with Zach Palmer-Smith. All 4 second-half games were with Zach Palmer-Smith.

Zach Palmer-Smith, running back: 156 rushing yards, 34 carries and 4 receptions in 5 games this season.

3 games without Zach Palmer-Smith is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

total yards a game over expected

A −43.2 difference in total yards over expected with Zach Palmer-Smith vs without Zach Palmer-Smith is about what you’d expect.

A −22.3 difference in total yards with Zach Palmer-Smith vs without Zach Palmer-Smith is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Zach Palmer-Smithwithout Zach Palmer-Smith
Louisiana Monroe’s games, 2026, each marked with Zach Palmer-Smith or without Zach Palmer-Smith
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026@Mississippi StateL282260.6
Sep 12, 2026@UABL257263.9
Sep 19, 2026vsSS E LouisianaL495—
Sep 26, 2026vsFlorida AtlanticL332413.1
Oct 3, 2026@South AlabamaL442335.2
Oct 17, 2026vsLouisiana TechL236320.1
Oct 24, 2026@TroyW243322.0
Oct 31, 2026vsSouthern MissL359401.5

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 12.1 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 67% 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.
  • S E Louisiana 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.