Putting Up Numbers· college football

South Florida’s penalty yards with Alvon Isaac and without Alvon Isaac

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, South Florida was 2.7 yards over with Alvon Isaac and 5.4 yards under without Alvon Isaac over its last 25 games, 17 games against 6. The plain averages are 59.1 and 49.8, a difference of 9.2. All 3 ranked opponents were with Alvon Isaac. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Alvon Isaac. All 5 games while ranked were with Alvon Isaac.

Alvon Isaac, running back: 422 rushing yards, 83 carries and 16 receptions in 17 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +8.1 difference in penalty yards over expected with Alvon Isaac vs without Alvon Isaac is about what you’d expect.

A +9.2 difference in penalty yards with Alvon Isaac vs without Alvon Isaac is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Alvon Isaacwithout Alvon Isaac
South Florida’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Alvon Isaac or without Alvon Isaac
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 16, 2024@CharlotteW7059.1
Nov 23, 2024vsTulsaW10071.5
Nov 30, 2024@RiceL5563.6
Dec 24, 2024vsSan Jose State (neutral)W10470.1
Aug 28, 2025vsBoise StateW5664.7
Sep 6, 2025@FloridaW7548.2
Sep 13, 2025@Miami (FL)L1551.2
Sep 20, 2025vsSSouth Carolina StateW80—
Oct 3, 2025vsCharlotteW6049.2
Oct 10, 2025@North TexasW7056.7
Oct 18, 2025vsFlorida AtlanticW8062.0
Oct 25, 2025@MemphisL7454.9
Nov 6, 2025vsUTSAW5658.5
Nov 15, 2025@NavyL3152.0
Nov 22, 2025@UABW10455.6
Nov 29, 2025vsRiceW3055.5
Dec 17, 2025vsOld Dominion (neutral)L6560.7
Sep 5, 2026vsFlorida InternationalW3054.3
Sep 12, 2026@ArmyW1548.0
Sep 19, 2026vsDDelaware StateW35—
Sep 26, 2026@Bowling GreenW3551.4
Oct 3, 2026vsTempleL6044.0
Oct 8, 2026@UTSAL3558.9
Oct 17, 2026vsKent StateW6254.0
Oct 31, 2026vsUABW2447.8

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, minus 0.8 in 2024, minus 2.1 in 2025, minus 1.3 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 44% in 2024, 45% in 2025, 27% 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.
  • South Carolina State, Delaware State 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.