Putting Up Numbers· college football

UNLV’s penalty yards with Kayden McGee and without Kayden McGee

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, UNLV was 5.0 yards over with Kayden McGee and 10.5 yards under without Kayden McGee over its last 25 games, 19 games against 4. The plain averages are 64.6 and 52.0, a difference of 12.6. All 3 neutral-site games were with Kayden McGee. Both bowl and playoff games were with Kayden McGee.

Kayden McGee, receiver: 491 receiving yards, 22 receptions and 6 receiving touchdowns in 14 of those 25 games.

penalty yards a game over expected

A +15.5 difference in penalty yards over expected with Kayden McGee vs without Kayden McGee is about what you’d expect.

A +12.6 difference in penalty yards with Kayden McGee vs without Kayden McGee is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Kayden McGeewithout Kayden McGee
UNLV’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Kayden McGee or without Kayden McGee
SideDateGameResultpenalty yardsExpected
Nov 30, 2024vsNevadaW3549.9
Dec 6, 2024@Boise StateL3050.2
Dec 18, 2024vsCalifornia (neutral)W2655.8
Aug 23, 2025vsIdaho StateW90—
Aug 29, 2025vsSam Houston (neutral)W9252.4
Sep 6, 2025vsUCLAW13042.8
Sep 20, 2025@Miami (OH)W3554.3
Oct 4, 2025@WyomingW6763.6
Oct 11, 2025vsAir ForceW7950.7
Oct 18, 2025@Boise StateL4566.7
Nov 1, 2025vsNew MexicoL1565.5
Nov 8, 2025@Colorado StateW7260.3
Nov 15, 2025vsUtah StateW2062.2
Nov 21, 2025vsHawaiiW8059.9
Nov 29, 2025@NevadaW9257.3
Dec 5, 2025@Boise StateL7064.9
Dec 23, 2025vsOhio (neutral)L4051.7
Aug 29, 2026vsMemphisL7556.4
Sep 5, 2026@HawaiiW5964.5
Sep 12, 2026@North TexasL6454.6
Sep 26, 2026@AkronW7057.7
Oct 3, 2026vsCaliforniaW6762.6
Oct 10, 2026vsNNorth Dakota StateW94—
Oct 17, 2026@Air ForceL3056.1
Oct 31, 2026vsNorthern IllinoisW7554.7

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, 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.
  • Idaho State, North Dakota 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.