Putting Up Numbers· college football

Michigan’s penalty yards with Tommy Carr and without Tommy Carr

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Michigan was 2.8 yards under with Tommy Carr and 7.0 yards over without Tommy Carr in 2026, 2 games against 6. The plain averages are 52.5 and 65.8, a difference of 13.3. All 3 games while ranked were without Tommy Carr. All 3 nonconference games were without Tommy Carr. All 4 first-half games were without Tommy Carr.

Tommy Carr, quarterback: 503 passing yards, 68 pass attempts and 49 completions in 4 games this season.

2 games with Tommy Carr 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 −9.7 difference in penalty yards over expected with Tommy Carr vs without Tommy Carr is about what you’d expect.

A −13.3 difference in penalty yards with Tommy Carr vs without Tommy Carr is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Tommy Carrwithout Tommy Carr
Michigan’s games, 2026, each marked with Tommy Carr or without Tommy Carr
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsWestern MichiganW8061.0
Sep 12, 2026vsOklahomaW9057.7
Sep 19, 2026vsUTEPW4461.4
Sep 26, 2026vsIowaL7557.8
Oct 3, 2026@MinnesotaL4358.2
Oct 17, 2026vsPenn StateW6357.1
Oct 24, 2026vsIndianaL1557.5
Oct 31, 2026@RutgersW9053.1

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, minus 1.3 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 27% 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.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.
  • With him means he was the team’s quarterback that game, at least half of its pass attempts; a game he left early or came into late reads as without him.