Putting Up Numbers· college football

Penn State’s total yards with Quinton Martin Jr. and without Quinton Martin Jr.

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Penn State was 9.5 yards under with Quinton Martin Jr. and 7.3 yards over without Quinton Martin Jr. over its last 25 games, 13 games against 11. The plain averages are 353.6 and 403.4, a difference of 49.8.

Quinton Martin Jr., running back: 270 rushing yards, 54 carries and 5 receptions in 8 of those 25 games.

total yards a game over expected

A −16.8 difference in total yards over expected with Quinton Martin Jr. vs without Quinton Martin Jr. is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Quinton Martin Jr. and it comes up 14 times in 100.

A −49.8 difference in total yards with Quinton Martin Jr. vs without Quinton Martin Jr. is unusual: shuffle which games were with Quinton Martin Jr. and it comes up 3 times in 100.

The games

with Quinton Martin Jr.without Quinton Martin Jr.
Penn State’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Quinton Martin Jr. or without Quinton Martin Jr.
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Dec 7, 2024vsOregon (neutral)L523363.8
Dec 21, 2024vsSMUW325417.1
Dec 31, 2024vsBoise State (neutral)W388444.1
Jan 9, 2025vsNotre Dame (neutral)L339381.7
Aug 30, 2025vsNevadaW438407.1
Sep 6, 2025vsFlorida InternationalW409456.8
Sep 13, 2025vsVillanovaW465—
Sep 27, 2025vsOregonL276303.5
Oct 4, 2025@UCLAL357365.2
Oct 11, 2025vsNorthwesternL274377.2
Oct 18, 2025@IowaL266303.6
Nov 1, 2025@Ohio StateL200249.1
Nov 8, 2025vsIndianaL336291.5
Nov 15, 2025@Michigan StateW370387.7
Nov 22, 2025vsNebraskaW415357.0
Nov 29, 2025@RutgersW510431.5
Dec 27, 2025vsClemson (neutral)W400378.0
Sep 5, 2026vsMarshallW487438.9
Sep 12, 2026@TempleW416438.8
Sep 19, 2026vsBuffaloW573420.4
Sep 26, 2026vsWisconsinL233338.9
Oct 2, 2026@NorthwesternL291392.1
Oct 10, 2026vsUSCL357374.7
Oct 17, 2026@MichiganL333290.1
Oct 31, 2026vsPurdueW457407.7

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 6.1 in 2024, plus 7.7 in 2025, plus 12.1 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 79% in 2024, 79% in 2025, 67% 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.
  • Villanova 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 for 13 of these 25 games; in the other 12 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.