Liberty · L 15-51
No catches.
Kent State · L 13-26
No catches.
Toledo · L 24-39
No catches.
Sacramento State · W 34-17
1 catch, 7 yards
The other 4 games average 21 yards. This one was 14 below.
Nelson has catches in 5 of Ball State’s 8 games: none against Liberty, Kent State and Toledo.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
CJ Nelson
The two seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Dana Holgorsen and Mike Uremovich. One game to point at: 59 receiving yards and 6 receptions against Bowling Green — Week 7, 2026.
90 receiving yards · 12 catches · 0 receiving TD
Play style
Moves the chains on third down.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Against Sacramento State on Oct. 24: 1 catch for 7 yards. In the 5 games drawn here: 12 catches for 90 yards. Ball State has thrown to him 18 times in 166 passes.
Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ball State | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 23 |
| 2022 | Houston | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Career | 14 | 97 | 6.9 | 0 | 23 |
| Season | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ball State | 1 | 10 |
| 2022 | Houston | -- | -- |
| Career | 1 | 10 |
Last game (Wk 8): 7 receiving yards, 1 catch.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 3-56@ No. 1 Ohio State | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 2 | W 41-17vs Stony Brook | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Wk 6 | L 14-45@ Northwestern | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 7 | W 32-31@ Bowling Green | 6 | 59 | 9.8 | 0 | 23 | Season-high 59 yds |
| Wk 8 | W 34-17vs Sacramento State | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Total | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 23 |
Week 7 · 2026
W 32-31
6 rec · 59 yds
Edged out Bowling Green on the road in a shootout.
With K. Luster — 195 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 71.2 · 125 rush yds (17 car) · 1 TD · C. Stumbaugh — 41 yards per punt · 4 punts · 56 long
The plays that mattered most
835th in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position
Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
Targets
198% of team targetsCatch rate
63%12 of 19 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
63% catch rate on 19 targets · 8% of the team's targets.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 3.3 | 25.7 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 2.8 | 20.8 | 6.8 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mike Uremovich
Pass share
49.2%
250 pass / 258 run
Plays / game
63.5
8 games
Team sack rate
5.3%
281 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.
2026 is in progress.
The snaps went the other way.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Dana Holgorsen and Mike Uremovich.
