Putting Up Numbers· college football

Louisville’s carries with Keyjuan Brown and without Keyjuan Brown

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Louisville was 0.5 carries under with Keyjuan Brown and 3.4 carries over without Keyjuan Brown over its last 25 games, 18 games against 5. The plain averages are 32.7 and 36.8, a difference of 4.1. All 4 ranked opponents were with Keyjuan Brown. Both top-10 opponents were with Keyjuan Brown. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Keyjuan Brown.

Keyjuan Brown, running back: 1,253 rushing yards, 172 carries and 15 receptions in 20 of those 25 games, 26% of Louisville’s carries in those games.

carries a game over expected

A −3.9 difference in carries over expected with Keyjuan Brown vs without Keyjuan Brown is about what you’d expect.

A −4.1 difference in carries with Keyjuan Brown vs without Keyjuan Brown is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Keyjuan Brownwithout Keyjuan Brown
Louisville’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Keyjuan Brown or without Keyjuan Brown
SideDateGameResultcarriesExpected
Nov 16, 2024@StanfordL2633.2
Nov 23, 2024vsPittsburghW4333.1
Nov 30, 2024@KentuckyW5131.0
Dec 31, 2024vsWashington (neutral)W3233.3
Aug 30, 2025vsEEastern KentuckyW28—
Sep 5, 2025vsJames MadisonW3029.1
Sep 20, 2025vsBowling GreenW2934.9
Sep 27, 2025@PittsburghW3331.3
Oct 4, 2025vsVirginiaL2733.4
Oct 17, 2025@Miami (FL)W2828.1
Oct 25, 2025vsBoston CollegeW2936.1
Nov 1, 2025@Virginia TechW3332.9
Nov 8, 2025vsCaliforniaL3034.8
Nov 14, 2025vsClemsonL3030.1
Nov 22, 2025@SMUL2935.9
Nov 29, 2025vsKentuckyW5032.0
Dec 23, 2025vsToledo (neutral)W3434.0
Sep 6, 2026vsOle Miss (neutral)L3835.4
Sep 11, 2026vsVillanovaW38—
Sep 19, 2026vsSMUW3334.2
Sep 26, 2026vsWake ForestL3831.6
Oct 3, 2026@NC StateL2435.5
Oct 9, 2026vsFlorida StateW4034.6
Oct 17, 2026@SyracuseW3331.3
Oct 31, 2026vsStanfordW3137.8

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, plus 0.1 in 2024, plus 0.3 in 2025, plus 0.6 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 73% in 2024, 74% in 2025, 61% 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.
  • Eastern Kentucky, Villanova 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.