Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-57@ South Carolina | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 36-15vs Wofford | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#1
A'tiq Muhammad
Senior defensive back on Kent State's 2026 roster.
6′3″ · 200 lb · Rockford, IL · Guilford HS
Returning to Kent State for 2026
The story
4 defensive back on Kent State's 2026 roster.
- Transferred from UTEP to Kent State in 2025.
A'tiq Muhammad
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Two head coaches in three seasons, at two different programs. The receipt: 7 tackles against South Carolina — Week 1, 2026.
12 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
20257 games
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coaches2023
Kenni Burns
Kent State
2025–2026era →
Mark Carney
Kent State
Coaching transition mid-career: Kenni Burns → Mark Carney. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2023UTEP3-9HC: Dana Dimel · Run-leaning
2025Kent State5-7HC: Mark Carney · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2026Kent State1-1HC: Mark Carney · Run-leaning, slow tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles for loss (20th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 6.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Carney
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
Rotational
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Kent State | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Kent State | 28 | 17 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | UTEP | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 42 | 25 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 36–15
vs Wofford
5 TOT · 2 SOLO
Dominant 21-point win at home against Wofford.
With D. DeShields — 248 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 67.4 · 74 rush yds (10 car) · 2 TD · D. Clark — 5 rec · 90 yds
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Kent State
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Kent State
Returning around him
- Transfer portal: -4 net (11 in / 15 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Kent State · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #130 · 2026 recruiting class #122
DNA match
Player DNA
Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Major Burns’s 2021 season.
Matches Major on
PD rate
Tackle volume
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Jelani McDonald's sophomore season at Texas (2024).
Matches Jelani on
Class year
PD rate
Weight
Player DNA
Players who play like A'tiq Muhammad
Background
2025 (R-Junior) Played in 9 games for Kent State Recorded 28 total tackles (17 unassisted, 11 assisted) Had half a tackle for loss for 2 yards Registered 1 quarterback hurry vs Massachusetts Broke up 1 pass Season-high 7 tackles came vs Merrimack, posted 6 tackles vs Buffalo and 5 at Florida State
The secondary · Kent State
- #2Joel Cordoba66 tackles · 2025
- #3Derrick Jackson48 tackles · 2025
- #19DJ Barnes28 tackles · 2025
- #1A'tiq Muhammad28 tackles · 2025
- #7Angelo Stockstill8 tackles · 2025
11 more on the roster · Kent State team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology