DeCarlos Nicholson is a cornerback who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at USC.
Nicholson jams receivers off their route at the line. The four seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Mike Leach, Greg Knox and Lincoln Riley. A game that shows it: 6 tackles against Iowa — Week 12, 2025.
Play style
Long and physical; jams receivers off their route at the line.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 4 passes defended. 1 interception. 1 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | USC | 42 | 30 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | USC | 27 | 18 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5 | -- |
| 2023 | Mississippi State | 42 | 17 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Mississippi State | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 116 | 66 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 12 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 73-13vs Missouri State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 59-20vs Georgia Southern | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 33-17@ Purdue | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 45-31vs Michigan State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 32-34@ No. 23 Illinois | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 31-13vs No. 15 Michigan | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | L 24-34@ No. 13 Notre Dame | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 21-17@ Nebraska | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-17vs Northwestern | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 12 | W 26-21vs Iowa | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 27-42@ No. 6 Oregon | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 29-10vs UCLA | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 27-30vs TCU | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 42 | 30 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 4 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
10%4 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
42tackles this season42 tackles · 1 for loss · 1 sack · 4 pass breakups · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Road5g | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
50.4%
420 pass / 414 run
Plays / game
64.2
13 games
Team sack rate
2.9%
421 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #137 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #6 of 18 Big Ten CBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Mike Leach, Zach Arnett and Lincoln Riley.
