Andrew Motuapuaka: LB · Virginia Tech · #54.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Andrew Motuapuaka
Carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Played for two head coaches in three seasons at Virginia Tech. A game that shows it: 12 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against Georgia Tech — Week 11, 2017.
Play style
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
92 tackles. 6 passes defended. 1 interception. 11.5 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 Roanoke Times Oct 23
TigerNet Oct 20Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Virginia Tech | 92 | 46 | 11.5 | 3.5 | 6 | 1 |
| 2016 | Virginia Tech | 114 | 52 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 4 | 3 |
| 2015 | Virginia Tech | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Career | 206 | 98 | 17.0 | 5.5 | 10 | 5 |
There is no official box score for these seasons, so this sack count comes from the play-by-play.
Each sack is credited to the player named on the play, and a sack shared by two players counts as half for each. We checked the same method against the official box scores for 2016 to 2019: it lands within half a sack for about 9 in 10 players. Tackles and passes defended are not shown for these seasons because the same check does not hold for them. Source: SportsDataverse play data.
Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-24vs No. 22 West Virginia | 12 | 9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 27-0vs Delaware | 8 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 64-17@ East Carolina | 6 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 38-0vs Old Dominion | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-31vs No. 2 Clemson | 9 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 23-10@ Boston College | 6 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 59-7vs North Carolina | 9 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 24-3vs Duke | 6 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 10-28@ No. 9 Miami | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 22-28@ Georgia Tech | 12 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 20-14vs Pittsburgh | 7 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 10-0@ Virginia | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
 Bowl | L 21-30vs No. 17 Oklahoma State | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 92 | 46 | 11.5 | 3.5 | 1 | 6 |
Week 8 · 2017
W 59-7
1 interception · 1.5 tackles for loss · 9 tackles
Dominant 52-point win at home against North Carolina.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
92tackles this seasonTFL rate
12%12 TFLSack rate
4%4 sacksPD rate
7%6 pass breakups92 tackles · 11.5 for loss · 3.5 sacks · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Road5g | 6.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 7.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 6.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Justin Fuente
Pass share
41.7%
410 pass / 573 run
Plays / game
75.6
13 games
Team sack rate
5.0%
438 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2017
92 tackles in 13 games, more tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at Virginia Tech, 206 tackles — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2013–2017
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Frank Beamer → Justin Fuente. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
