Putting Up Numbers· college football

Ohio State’s penalty yards with Ja'Kobi Jackson and since Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Ohio State was 5.5 yards under with Ja'Kobi Jackson and 8.9 yards over since Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game in 2026, 6 games against 2. The plain averages are 51.3 and 60.5, a difference of 9.2. All 4 home games were with Ja'Kobi Jackson. All 3 nonconference games were with Ja'Kobi Jackson. All 4 first-half games were with Ja'Kobi Jackson.

Ja'Kobi Jackson, running back: 354 rushing yards, 59 carries and 2 receptions in 6 games this season.

2 games since Ja'Kobi Jackson’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 −14.4 difference in penalty yards over expected with Ja'Kobi Jackson vs since Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game is about what you’d expect.

A −9.2 difference in penalty yards with Ja'Kobi Jackson vs since Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Ja'Kobi Jacksonsince Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game
Ohio State’s games, 2026, each marked with Ja'Kobi Jackson or since Ja'Kobi Jackson’s last game
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Sep 5, 2026vsBall StateW8152.9
Sep 12, 2026@TexasL3554.5
Sep 19, 2026vsKent StateW1963.7
Sep 26, 2026vsIllinoisW5956.3
Oct 3, 2026@IowaW4956.4
Oct 10, 2026vsMarylandW6557.5
Oct 17, 2026@IndianaW5050.5
Oct 31, 2026@USCL7152.7

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 for 7 of these 8 games; in the other game a player is counted as in it when the box score has a stat for him.