Putting Up Numbers· college football

Virginia Tech’s rushing yards with Ayden Greene and without Ayden Greene

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Virginia Tech was 8.3 yards under with Ayden Greene and 36.2 yards over without Ayden Greene over its last 25 games, 21 games against 2. The plain averages are 163.0 and 173.5, a difference of 10.5. Expected was 29.3 yards higher with Ayden Greene than without Ayden Greene. All 13 home games were with Ayden Greene. Both neutral-site games were with Ayden Greene. All 12 night games were with Ayden Greene.

Ayden Greene, receiver: 981 receiving yards, 60 receptions and 6 receiving touchdowns in 23 of those 25 games, 1% of Virginia Tech’s rushing yards in those games.

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

rushing yards a game over expected

A −44.5 difference in rushing yards over expected with Ayden Greene vs without Ayden Greene is about what you’d expect.

A −10.5 difference in rushing yards with Ayden Greene vs without Ayden Greene is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Ayden Greenewithout Ayden Greene
Virginia Tech’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Ayden Greene or without Ayden Greene
SideDateGameResultrushing yardsExpected
Nov 2, 2024@SyracuseL249161.3
Nov 9, 2024vsClemsonL40201.3
Nov 23, 2024@DukeL190183.8
Nov 30, 2024vsVirginiaW204160.4
Jan 3, 2025vsMinnesota (neutral)L74145.5
Aug 31, 2025vsSouth Carolina (neutral)L115187.5
Sep 6, 2025vsVanderbiltL114170.4
Sep 13, 2025vsOld DominionL167191.5
Sep 20, 2025vsWoffordW155—
Sep 27, 2025@NC StateW235162.0
Oct 4, 2025vsWake ForestL153186.2
Oct 11, 2025@Georgia TechL188214.3
Oct 24, 2025vsCaliforniaW358204.5
Nov 1, 2025vsLouisvilleL164182.0
Nov 15, 2025@Florida StateL238183.1
Nov 22, 2025vsMiami (FL)L194120.9
Nov 29, 2025@VirginiaL119169.4
Sep 5, 2026vsVMIW268—
Sep 12, 2026vsOld DominionW89153.4
Sep 19, 2026@MarylandW137126.4
Sep 26, 2026@Boston CollegeW228105.2
Oct 2, 2026vsPittsburghL6590.5
Oct 10, 2026@CaliforniaL113162.4
Oct 17, 2026vsGeorgia TechW164185.1
Oct 24, 2026@ClemsonW74128.0

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 3.8 in 2024, plus 5.9 in 2025, plus 8.0 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 75% in 2024, 77% in 2025, 60% 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.
  • Wofford, VMI 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 9 of these 25 games; in the other 16 a player is counted as in them when the box score has a stat for him.