Dashed line: 100 yards.
Komolafe against Northwestern’s best seasons, game by game
Backs who run like Komolafe, and how their seasons went
Komolafe against this year’s top backs, game by game
The road ahead: 618 yards, 77 a game, 4 regular-season games left.
“We need Komolafe or Himon to go off”
No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.
Share of the team's total this season.
Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 17, middle 76, right 11. His longest went for 56 yards.
Caleb Komolafe
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Fourth year in the same backfield at Northwestern. On tape: 188 rushing yards and 14 receiving yards against Penn State, Week 5, 2026.
618 rushing yards · 5 rushing TD · 104 carries
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 28.9% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 19.4% of his carries. 6 carries for 7 yds vs Indiana; 25 for 188 vs Penn State.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
2 of the team's 16 inside-the-5 carries (12.5%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Fans first named Caleb Komolafe at Indiana.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northwestern | 104 | 618 | 5.9 | 5 | 56 |
| 2025 | Northwestern | 190 | 941 | 5.0 | 11 | 56 |
| 2024 | Northwestern | 50 | 139 | 2.8 | 0 | 17 |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 4 | 9 | 2.2 | 0 | 5 |
| Career | 348 | 1,707 | 4.9 | 16 | 56 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northwestern | 15 | 162 | 10.8 | 0 | 25 |
| 2025 | Northwestern | 11 | 60 | 5.5 | 1 | 18 |
| 2024 | Northwestern | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 5 | 33 | 6.6 | 1 | 14 |
| Career | 33 | 263 | 8.0 | 2 | 25 |
Last game (Wk 9): 67 rushing yards, 4 catches.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-18vs South Dakota State | 10 | 46 | 4.6 | 1 | 11 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-7vs Colorado | 11 | 49 | 4.5 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 4 | L 23-29@ No. 5 Indiana | 6 | 7 | 1.2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-13vs Penn State | 25 | 188 | 7.5 | 1 | 32 | Season-high 188 yds |
| Wk 6 | W 45-14vs Ball State | 8 | 44 | 5.5 | 1 | 14 | |
| Wk 7 | W 24-21@ Michigan State | 15 | 67 | 4.5 | 1 | 14 | |
| Wk 8 | W 42-14vs Rutgers | 13 | 150 | 11.5 | 1 | 56 | 150-yard day |
| Wk 9 | L 26-34@ Oregon | 16 | 67 | 4.2 | 0 | 12 | |
| Total | 104 | 618 | 5.9 | 5 | 56 |
Oct. 31 · L 26-34 at Oregon, play by play
16 carries for 67 yards. He also caught 4 passes for 30 yards.
Incomplete on 3rd and 4. Third quarter, up 20-13.
18-yard catch on 4th and 4. Fourth quarter, down 34-26. Converted.
13 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown.
56-yard run. First quarter, up 7-3.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
15 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 4 passes for 51 yards.
5-yard run on 3rd and 22. Fourth quarter, down 14-13.
21-yard catch. Fourth quarter, tied 21-21.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
8 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown.
The per-play feed is missing a 12-yard run in the first quarter (the play drew a penalty), which the play text shows; the chart draws the 7 carries it has.
No gain on 3rd and 1. First quarter, tied 0-0.
1-yard run on 3rd and 2. First quarter, up 7-0.
14-yard touchdown run. Second quarter, made it 21-0.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
A big game: 25 carries for 188 yards and a touchdown, his most this season. 5 of his 25 carries went 10 yards or more; the longest went 32.
32-yard run. Third quarter, up 24-7.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
6 carries for 7 yards.
2-yard run on 3rd and 16. First quarter, down 2-0.
3-yard catch. Second quarter, down 12-0.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
11 carries for 49 yards. He also caught 3 passes for 27 yards.
1-yard run on 3rd and 2. First quarter, tied 0-0.
11-yard catch on 3rd and 6. Third quarter, up 21-0. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
10 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown.
25-yard catch on 3rd and 8. Second quarter, up 7-3. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
Week 5 · 2026
W 34-13
vs Penn State
188 rush yds (25 car) · 1 TD · 1 rec · 14 yds
Dominant 21-point win at home against Penn State.
With J. Himon II — 162 rush yds (10 car) · 2 TD · A. Chiles — 93 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 84.3 · 21 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD
The plays that mattered most
43rd in rushing yards, among all 1,551 FBS players with a rushing row this season, any position
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -20 to +24 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
45%103 carriesFumble rate
1.0%1 of 104 carries · 1 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.9 yds/carry on 104 carries · 17% explosive (10+ yds) · 45% success rate.
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
Targets
199% of team targetsCatch rate
79%15 of 19 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
79% catch rate on 19 targets · 9% of the team's targets.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
4 seasons under David Braun — 25-21 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 95.4 | 6.7 | 0.8 |
| Road3g | 47.0 | 3.3 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 66.8 | 4.6 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 108 | 7.8 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
David Braun
Pass share
40.2%
204 pass / 303 run
Plays / game
63.4
8 games
Team sack rate
7.4%
231 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
104 carries and 15 catches in 8 games, more touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #30 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #12 of 44 Big Ten RBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
The No. 1,630 recruit in the country is carrying the ball in the Big Ten.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 34 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under David Braun.
