Carson Steele: RB · UCLA · #33.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Carson Steele
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. Played for two head coaches across three seasons and two programs. First career honor, 2022: All-MAC. One game to point at: 140 rushing yards and 2 receiving yards against Washington State — Week 6, 2023.
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 16.5% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 11.5% of his carries. 11 carries for 29 yds vs Utah; 30 for 140 vs Washington State.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
34.8% of carries overall (163/469) → 19.8% of Q4-with-lead carries (19/96) — 63.2% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
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
10 of 18 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (55.6%). 8 of the team's 20 inside-the-5 carries (40.0%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
USA Today Oct 29
On3 Oct 24
Yahoo Sports Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | UCLA | 167 | 846 | 5.1 | 6 | 42 |
| 2022 | Ball State | 290 | 1,581 | 5.5 | 14 | 48 |
| 2021 | Ball State | 192 | 891 | 4.6 | 6 | 49 |
| Career | 649 | 3,318 | 5.1 | 26 | 49 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | UCLA | 17 | 163 | 9.6 | 2 | 19 |
| 2022 | Ball State | 28 | 163 | 5.8 | 1 | 29 |
| 2021 | Ball State | 12 | 157 | 13.1 | 1 | 31 |
| Career | 57 | 483 | 8.5 | 4 | 31 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-13vs Coastal Carolina | 13 | 76 | 5.8 | 0 | 24 | |
| Wk 2 | W 35-10@ San Diego State | 12 | 84 | 7.0 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 3 | W 59-7vs North Carolina Central | 5 | 83 | 16.6 | 1 | 42 | |
| Wk 4 | L 7-14@ No. 11 Utah | 11 | 29 | 2.6 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 6 | W 25-17vs No. 13 Washington State | 30 | 140 | 4.7 | 0 | 13 | Season-high 140 yds |
| Wk 7 | L 24-36@ No. 15 Oregon State | 22 | 110 | 5.0 | 1 | 15 | |
| Wk 8 | W 42-7@ Stanford | 20 | 76 | 3.8 | 3 | 13 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 9 | W 28-16vs Colorado | 11 | 75 | 6.8 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wk 10 | L 10-27@ Arizona | 8 | 38 | 4.8 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wk 11 | L 7-17vs Arizona State | 11 | 33 | 3.0 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 12 | W 38-20@ USC | 12 | 49 | 4.1 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 13 | L 7-33vs California | 12 | 53 | 4.4 | 0 | 12 | |
| Total | 167 | 846 | 5.1 | 6 | 42 |
Week 7 · 2023
L 24-36
at Oregon State
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
44%165 carriesFumble rate
1.2%2 of 167 carries · 2 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.1 yds/carry on 167 carries · 16% explosive (10+ yds) · 44% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 76.7 | 6.9 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 64.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 87.0 | 7.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 54.0 | 4.5 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Chip Kelly
Pass share
44.4%
410 pass / 514 run
Plays / game
71.1
13 games
Team sack rate
9.3%
453 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
167 carries and 17 catches in 12 games, more touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #109 at the position.
How it ended
Three seasons, at Ball State and UCLA, 3,318 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — the college career is complete.
Recruited without a star rating, and honored since.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 1ST TEAM
All-MAC 1st team (2022)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2023
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Mike Neu and Chip Kelly.
