“Samuel’s (1) always waits for them to run into him and it’s the most annoying thing on the planet”
Demetres Samuel Jr.
Second year in the Syracuse secondary. On tape: 10 tackles against SMU, Week 9, 2026.
33 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Erases the deep middle of the field.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
33 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0.5 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Fans first named Demetres Samuel Jr. vs California.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 1 pass breakup, 10 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 66-3vs New Hampshire | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 18-21vs California | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 13-27@ Pittsburgh | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 42-41@ UConn | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 6 | L 25-28@ Virginia | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 26-34vs Louisville | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 31-30@ North Carolina | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 30-27vs No. 19 SMU | 10 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Total | 33 | 23 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 5 |
Oct. 31 · W 30-27 vs SMU, play by play
10 tackles, including 1 pass broken up. The fumble he forced ended SMU’s drive (fumble).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Forced a fumble. Second quarter, tied 10-10. Ended SMU’s drive (fumble).
His game this year: coverage — 5 passes defended in the 8 games with play by play.
How Syracuse’s defense played that day
SMU’s 11 drives: 7 stopped (2 takeaways) · 4 scored. While the game was within a score they held 7 of 10. His forced fumble came with the game tied.
5 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 4 of his 5, sacks included.
1 tackle, including 1 pass broken up.
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles, including 2 passes broken up, tied for 2nd-most passes broken up in FBS that week. His pass breakup on 4th and 6 ended UConn’s drive (downs).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Broke up a pass on 4th and 6. Fourth quarter, tied 34-34. Ended UConn’s drive (downs).
3 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
0 tackles.
Not drawn: there is no box score for this game yet.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 3 for him; the box score credits 2.
Week 9 · 2026
W 30-27
vs SMU
10 tackles · 1 pass breakup · 4 solo tackles
A close one, won by 3 at home.
Ratings of the games shown run from -8 to +13 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
15%5 pass breakupsTackle volume
33tackles this seasonTFL rate
2%0 TFL33 tackles · 0.5 for loss · 5 pass breakups.
2 seasons under Fran Brown — 7-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road4g | 3.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 7.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Fran Brown
Pass share
47.4%
300 pass / 333 run
Plays / game
79.1
8 games
Team sack rate
5.3%
339 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #201 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #19 of 75 ACC DBs
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%).
2026 is in progress.
