Putting Up Numbers· college football

USC’s total yards with Trent Mosley and without Trent Mosley

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, USC was 25.4 yards over with Trent Mosley and 1.9 yards under without Trent Mosley over its last 25 games, 6 games against 3. The plain averages are 426.2 and 425.0, a difference of 1.2. Expected was 26.1 yards lower with Trent Mosley than without Trent Mosley. All 4 night games were with Trent Mosley. All 3 nonconference games were with Trent Mosley.

Trent Mosley, receiver: 512 receiving yards, 32 receptions and 6 receiving touchdowns in 6 of those 25 games.

3 games without Trent Mosley is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

total yards a game over expected

A +27.3 difference in total yards over expected with Trent Mosley vs without Trent Mosley is about what you’d expect.

A +1.2 difference in total yards with Trent Mosley vs without Trent Mosley is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Trent Mosleywithout Trent Mosley
USC’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Trent Mosley or without Trent Mosley
SideDateGameResulttotal yardsExpected
Nov 23, 2024@UCLAW351413.3
Nov 30, 2024vsNotre DameL557384.4
Dec 27, 2024vsTexas A&M (neutral)W400434.1
Aug 30, 2025vsMissouri StateW597505.8
Sep 6, 2025vsGeorgia SouthernW755552.3
Sep 13, 2025@PurdueW461496.7
Sep 20, 2025vsMichigan StateW523471.7
Sep 27, 2025@IllinoisL490417.7
Oct 11, 2025vsMichiganW490427.1
Oct 18, 2025@Notre DameL396394.7
Nov 1, 2025@NebraskaW349446.3
Nov 7, 2025vsNorthwesternW483438.6
Nov 15, 2025vsIowaW363396.6
Nov 22, 2025@OregonL391365.1
Nov 29, 2025vsUCLAW391468.3
Dec 30, 2025vsTCU (neutral)L392459.1
Aug 29, 2026vsSan Jose StateW507462.0
Sep 4, 2026vsFresno StateW553447.3
Sep 12, 2026vsLouisianaW484410.0
Sep 19, 2026@RutgersW466479.6
Sep 26, 2026vsOregonL447368.2
Oct 3, 2026vsWashingtonW362433.0
Oct 10, 2026@Penn StateW433347.8
Oct 24, 2026@WisconsinL241368.1
Oct 31, 2026vsOhio StateW339369.5

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, plus 12.1 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 67% 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.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 8 of these 9 games; in the other game a player is counted as in it when the box score has a stat for him.
  • 16 games in 2024 and 2025 are neither with Trent Mosley nor without Trent Mosley: Trent Mosley had no game for the team those seasons, and sit out.