Bryce Santana: DL · New Mexico · #99.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Bryce Santana
Wins the gap play after play. The five seasons at New Mexico span two head coaches: Danny Gonzales and Bronco Mendenhall. First career honor, 2024: All-Mountain West. One game to point at: 9 tackles against Utah State — Week 8, 2024.
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
28 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 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.
KOB 4 Oct 15Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | New Mexico | 28 | 13 | 1.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | New Mexico | 12 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | -- | 1 |
| 2022 | New Mexico | 24 | 8 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | New Mexico | 4 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | New Mexico | 2 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 70 | 26 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 31-35vs Montana State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 39-61@ No. 21 Arizona | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 19-45@ Auburn | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 21-38vs Fresno State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 50-40@ New Mexico State | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 52-37vs Air Force | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 50-45@ Utah State | 9 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 6-17@ Colorado State | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 45-49vs Wyoming | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 13 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Week 8 · 2024
W 50-45
at Utah State
9 tackles · 1 hurry · 7 solo tackles
Edged out Utah State on the road in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
5%2 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
4%1 hurry28 tackles · 1.5 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 3.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 4.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bronco Mendenhall
Pass share
46.5%
390 pass / 449 run
Plays / game
69.9
12 games
Team sack rate
0.8%
367 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #276 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at New Mexico, 4 sacks — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
All-Mountain West mention (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Danny Gonzales → Bronco Mendenhall. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
