Akeem Smith: DL · Sam Houston.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Akeem Smith
Wins the gap play after play. The six seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Shawn Elliott and K.C. Keeler. A game that shows it: 3 tackles against New Mexico State — Week 7, 2023.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
16 tackles. 0 passes defended. 1 interception. 2.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The New York Times Oct 28Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Sam Houston | 16 | 8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | -- | 1 |
| 2022 | Georgia State | 9 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Georgia State | 17 | 10 | 2.5 | 1.5 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Georgia State | 22 | 13 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2019 | Georgia State | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2018 | Georgia State | 7 | -- | 0.5 | 0.5 | -- | -- |
| Career | 72 | 35 | 10.5 | 3.5 | 1 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-14@ BYU | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 3-13vs Air Force | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 7-38@ Houston | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 28-35vs Jacksonville State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 16-21@ Liberty | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-27@ New Mexico State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 27-33vs Florida International | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 24-21vs Kennesaw State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 42-27@ Louisiana Tech | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 23-20vs Middle Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
16%2 TFLSack rate
6%1 sackHurry rate
6%1 hurry16 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 1 sack · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
K.C. Keeler
Pass share
55.0%
446 pass / 365 run
Plays / game
67.6
12 games
Team sack rate
3.4%
465 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #322 at the position.
How it ended
Six seasons, at Georgia State and Sam Houston, 4 sacks — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 37 games over six seasons.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2023
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Shawn Elliott and K.C. Keeler.
