Deshawn Pace

Former linebacker at UCF. 2024: 61 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss.

LB · UCF · Sr. · #3

6′2″ · 220 lb · Cincinnati, OH

CFB Index 58 · #216 of 571 LBsHigh confidenceUCF 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 1646 nationally · Signed with Cincinnati

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former linebacker at UCF. 2024: 61 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Cincinnati in 2020.
Transferred from Cincinnati to UCF in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at UCF, 301 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20203 games

Signed with Cincinnati3-star out of Colerain

202412 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1646 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

2 coaches

2020

Josh Heupel

UCF

2021–2024

Gus Malzahn

UCF

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Josh Heupel → Gus Malzahn. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Cincinnati9-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2021Cincinnati13-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2022Cincinnati9-4HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2023Cincinnati3-9HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning

2024UCF4-8HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

58Quality starter #216 of 571?

High confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (92nd percentile). Strength: tackles (87th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (23rd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#211 / 2892 · 92nd pct

Tackles#355 / 2892 · 87th pct

Interceptions#132 / 862 · 74th pct

Tackles for loss#900 / 2892 · 66th pct

3.5

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Sacks#1455 / 2892 · 25th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1536 / 2892 · 23rd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.9	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road5g	6.8	0.7	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.7	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.5	0.4	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Frost

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

58 · #216 of 571 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #216 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	UCF	61	40	3.5	0.0	1	2	--
2023	Cincinnati	80	42	11.0	1.5	5	1	1
2022	Cincinnati	55	29	5.0	1.0	1	1	--
2021	Cincinnati	95	45	9.5	0.5	2	4	--
2020	Cincinnati	10	3	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		301	159	29.0	3.0	9	8	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2024

W 35–34

at TCU

11 TOT · 8 SOLO · 1 TFL

Edged out TCU on the road in a shootout.

With K. Jefferson — 230 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 87.6 · 46 rush yds (9 car) · R. Harvey — 180 rush yds (29 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 57-3vs New Hampshire	5	3	0.0	1	0
Wk 2	W 45-14vs Sam Houston	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 35-34@ TCU	11	8	1.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 5	L 21-48vs Colorado	3	2	0.0	1	0
Wk 6	L 13-24@ Florida	5	5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 13-19vs Cincinnati	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 35-38@ Iowa State	6	4	1.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 24-37vs BYU	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 56-12vs Arizona	4	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 31-35@ Arizona State	6	4	0.5	—	0
Wk 13	L 21-31@ West Virginia	6	1	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 14-28vs Utah	7	3	0.0	—	0
Total		61	40	3.5	2	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology