Deshawn Purdie

#5 · QB · Jr. · Liberty6′4″ · 228 lb · Baltimore, MD · Milford Mill Academy

ZPR6134th of 119 QBs Last gameW 49–10vs Florida International · Oct 31

Nextat New Mexico StateSat Nov 7 · 8 pm ET

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: W 49-10 vs Florida International, Oct 31 · 16 of 19 for 227 yards, a touchdown, an interception · 4 carries for 24 yards. Started all eight of Liberty’s games.

Liberty’s next game: at New Mexico State, Sat Nov 7, 8:00 p.m. ET · ESPNU

Liberty has won seven straight in the games played, 7-1 in all. A vertical passer.

Strongest: 9.6 yards an attempt, 12th best of 158 starters.

Plays most like Osborne, UConn.

Passing yards

1,453

96 of 152, 63%

TD–INT

10–1

9.6 per throw

NCAA rating

163.8

19th of 119

ZPR

34th of 119

How ZPR works

Boom or bust: great in 3, shaky or worse in 2.

Best by our grade: Florida International. Lowest: Gardner-Webb, sacked 4 times.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at James Madison

L 13–20·Unranked

Great

230 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 3 · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q4 incompletion cost the team 15 points of win chance. Win chance: 16% to 1%.

Full game page

Gardner-Webb

W 24–23·FCS

Out after Q3

Last pass came in the third quarter; Jaylen Henderson played the fourth quarter · 122 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for -18 · Sacked 4

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 21 points of win chance. Win chance: 53% to 73%.

Full game page

Ball State

W 51–15·Unranked

Solid

211 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for 29 · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 18 points of win chance. Win chance: 69% to 87%.

Full game page

at Coastal Carolina

W 34–17·Unranked

Great

Last pass came in the fourth quarter; Ethan Vasko finished the game · 216 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 12 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 3

Biggest swing: a Q3 completion added 31 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 25% to 56%.

Full game page

at Delaware

W 30–14·Unranked

Shaky

Carried by the first quarter · 157 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 7 · Sacked 2

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

Sam Houston

W 35–3·Unranked

Few throws

114 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 57 · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 13 points of win chance. Win chance: 66% to 80%.

Full game page

at Kennesaw State

W 34–6·Unranked

Solid

176 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 20 · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 11 points of win chance. Win chance: 36% to 47%.

Full game page

Florida International

W 49–10·Unranked

Great

227 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for 24 · Sacked 0

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Vertical passer

Also: explosive runner, big-play arm

Why this word

Runs3.5 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws11.1 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes61% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks8% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws deeper than most and runs some. 3.5 carries a game. Closest matches: Osborne, DeShields ’25, Hoover, Sheppard.

Where the throws go

Behind the line9%typical 17%

Short43%typical 47%

Middle30%typical 22%

Deep19%typical 14%

Runs 3.5 times a game; 61% of starters run more.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Osborne UConn · Vertical passer
1,857 yards, 14 TD, 2 INT so far. Both score a lot and protect the ball.
DeShields ’25 Kent State 2025 · Vertical passer
2,030 yards, 18 TD, 3 INT. Both throw deep and protect the ball.
Hoover Indiana · Vertical passer
1,860 yards, 19 TD, 2 INT so far. Both throw deep and protect the ball.
Sheppard Temple · Chain-mover
1,245 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT so far. Both take sacks and score a lot.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordLiberty is 7-1.

Worth knowing

Deshawn Purdie played at Charlotte and Wake Forest before joining Liberty.
Deshawn Purdie has 23 rushing yards a game at home, 10.5 on the road.

His most important play this season

Q3, 13:10 · Liberty down 7, ties itDeshawn Purdie finds Makai Jackson for a 33-yard touchdownLiberty at Coastal Carolina, week 4Q3, 13:10 · Liberty 17, Coastal Carolina 17Liberty tied the game in the third quarterLiberty tied the game in the third quarterD.Purdie pass complete deep left to M.Jackson caught at CCU06, for 33 yards to the CCU00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play

All 4 of his plays on video

Deshawn Purdie

QB · Liberty · #5

Pushes it downfield on every look. Played for three head coaches at three programs in three seasons: Biff Poggi, Jake Dickert and Jamey Chadwell. A game that shows it: 230 passing yards and 3 rushing yards against James Madison — Week 1, 2026.

1,453 passing yards · 10 passing TD · 134 rushing yards

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Liberty	96	152	63.2%	1,453	9.6	10	1	163.8	61
2025	Wake Forest	41	82	50.0%	618	7.5	6	3	130.1	54
2024	Charlotte	100	200	50.0%	1,802	9.0	10	6	136.2	--
Career		237	434	54.6%	3,873	8.9	26	10	144.7	59

Season	Team
2026	Liberty	45	134	3.0	0	19
2025	Wake Forest	11	−11	−1.0	0	13
2024	Charlotte	41	−130	−3.2	1	19
Career		97	−7	−0.1	1	19

Last game (Wk 9): 227 passing yards, 1 passing TD, 1 interception.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	L 13-20@ James Madison	Great	17/27	230	1	0	8.5	—	0	3	Season-high 230 yds
Wk 2	W 24-23vs Gardner-Webb	Out after Q3	6/17	122	1	0	7.2	3.2	4	-18
Wk 3	W 51-15vs Ball State	Solid	13/20	211	3	0	10.6	85.5	1	29	3 TD passes
Wk 4	W 34-17@ Coastal Carolina	Great	11/16	216	2	0	13.5	43.9	3	12
Wk 5	W 30-14@ Delaware	Shaky	13/20	157	0	0	7.9	54.2	2	7
Wk 6	W 35-3vs Sam Houston		10/14	114	1	0	8.1	42.0	1	57
Wk 8	W 34-6@ Kennesaw State	Solid	10/19	176	1	0	9.3	42.6	0	20
Wk 9	W 49-10vs Florida International	Great	16/19	227	1	1	11.9	73.4	0	24
Total			96/152	1453	10	1	9.6	—	11	134

The latest game

Oct. 31 · W 49-10 vs Florida International, play by play

16 of 19 for 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Liberty scored touchdowns on 5 of the 6 drives he played.

5 of 6 of his drives scored
1 of 2 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 24 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Int1 of 3, 4 yds1
TD3 of 4, 49 yds
Second quarterbegan up 7-0
TD2 of 2, 41 yds
TD1 of 1, 14 yds
Third quarterbegan up 28-0
TD6 of 6, 72 yds
TD3 of 3, 47 yds2
FinalW 49-10

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
Intercepted on 3rd and 6. First quarter, up 7-0. Picked off by Florida International’s Shamir Sterlin.
2
36-yard completion to Makai Jackson. Third quarter, up 35-0.

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	Florida International	W 49-10 · Graded great · 227 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for 24 · Sacked 0
Lowest by our grade	Gardner-Webb	W 24-23 · Graded rough · 122 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for -18 · Sacked 4

Where he ranks

Tied for 8th in the nation in yards an attempt. Leads Conference USA quarterbacks in passer rating.

Stat	His	Nation	Conference USA
Passing yards	1,453	79th of 370	7th of 28
Yards an attempt	9.6	T-8th of 152	1st of 13
Touchdown passes	10	T-70th of 370	6th of 28
Passer rating	163.8	20th of 152	1st of 13
Completion percentage	63.2	T-76th of 152	7th of 13
Rushing yards	134	89th of 370	5th of 28
Rushing touchdowns	0	—	—

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All Conference USA quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	JJ Kohl	1,801	11	9	255	7.1
2	Caden Creel	1,746	13	8	209	8.4
3	Landyn Locke	1,653	12	5	236	7.0
4	Rickie Collins	1,617	7	6	229	7.1
5	Roman Gagliano	1,587	12	4	258	6.2
6	Nick Minicucci	1,477	14	4	170	8.7
7	Deshawn Purdie	1,453	10	1	152	9.6
8	Henry Belin IV	1,071	8	4	126	8.5
9	Trey Hedden	906	5	6	124	7.3
10	Brock Glenn	887	6	4	165	5.4
11	Rodney Tisdale Jr.	883	4	2	123	7.2
12	Skyler Locklear	788	4	2	108	7.3
13	Adam Damante	638	4	4	118	5.4
14	Tyler Bell	373	3	1	49	7.6
15	DJ Bailey	258	0	0	37	7.0
16	Braden Streeter	175	1	3	35	5.0
17	Landon Varnes	154	0	0	22	7.0
18	EJ Archield Jr.	137	0	0	19	7.2
19	Jaylen Henderson	131	2	0	18	7.3
20	Zach Marker	109	0	0	15	7.3
21	Brett Holloway	64	1	1	5	12.8
22	Riley Trujillo	38	0	0	3	12.7
23	Jack Moran	25	0	0	2	12.5
24	Skyler Williams	12	0	1	4	3.0
25	Elijah Leonard	7	0	0	1	7.0
26	Ethan Vasko	6	1	0	2	3.0
27	Caleb McMickle	3	0	0	2	1.5
28	Peter Costelli	0	0	0	1	0.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Passing yards1,4537th in the Conference USA this season.

Touchdown passes106th in the Conference USA this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -20 to +11 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Jackson and Person saw 64 of the 153 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Makai Jackson	38	28	618	13.9	8.4
Jamari Person	26	17	253	11.9	3.4
Darius Copeland	19	10	107	10.6	5.5
Jaylon Coleman	12	8	111	7.1	10.8
Zeke Wimbush	10	9	103	8.0	4.1
8 others	44	24	261	11.0	4.5
No receiver charted	4	The interception is among these

Play by play: 153 passes, 96 caught, 1,453 yards; the box score counts 152 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

96/152 (63.2%) · 10 TD · 1 INT

All 152 box-score attempts covered (play-by-play lists 153 passing plays)

152 of 153 attempts charted for true throw depth

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 153 passing plays (96 completions) against the box score's 152 attempts (96 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

9.4619 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

6.7%128 of 185 QBs

Sacked on 6.7% of dropbacks (128 of 185) — and still 19 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

9% of attempts (14)

79%comp

Air -7.7 · YAC 16.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

41% of attempts (63)

75%comp

Air 4.7 · YAC 4.1 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

31% of attempts (47)

51%comp

Air 14.4 · YAC 4.2 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

18% of attempts (28)

50%comp1 INT

Air 30.8 · YAC 7.8 avg

Overall 63.2% completion on 152 attempts · 50% completion on 28 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2024Charlotte5-7HC: Biff Poggi · Balanced, slow tempo

2025Wake Forest9-4HC: Jake Dickert · Balanced

2026Liberty7-1HC: Jamey Chadwell · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 54 (#50 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

54Rotational starter #50 of 145?

13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interception rate (93rd percentile). Strength: explosive rate (91st percentile). Concern: rush tds (10th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Interception rate#11 / 157 · 93rd pct

0.7%

Explosive rate#14 / 157 · 91st pct

15.0%

EPA / dropback#44 / 157 · 72nd pct

0.27

Success rate#66 / 157 · 58th pct

43.6%

Sack rate#107 / 157 · 32nd pct

6.7%

Box-score rates (8)

Yards / att#8 / 159 · 95th pct

9.6

Interceptions#5 / 159 · 93rd pct

Fumbles lost#23 / 142 · 64th pct

Rush yards#74 / 159 · 54th pct

134

Pass TDs#72 / 159 · 53rd pct

Completion %#79 / 159 · 50th pct

63.2%

Pass yards#81 / 159 · 49th pct

1453

Rush TDs#127 / 159 · 10th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / dropback

54th → 72nd percentile

Success rate

11th → 58th percentile

Explosive rate

96th → 91st percentile

Sack rate

84th → 32nd percentile

Interception rate

12th → 93rd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 154 dropbacks

61Zeitgeist Passer Rating34th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 163.8 19th of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 15 places lower than passer rating does: passer rating rewards the low interception count, which ZPR treats as mostly luck; and passer rating cannot see sacks, and a sack comes on 7.1% of dropbacks.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

46.6%47th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -2.1% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

9.0391st pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · -0.4 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

7.6%18th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +0.5% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (9 of 163 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home4g	168	1.5	9.4	0.2
Road4g	195	1.0	9.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-76g	175	1.3	9.3	0.0
Weeks 8+2g	202	1.0	10.6	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jamey Chadwell

Pass share

34.9%

173 pass / 323 run

Plays / game

62.0

8 games

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Liberty’s quarterbacks

Deshawn Purdie	Threw in all 8 games · 96 of 152, 1,453 yds, 10 TD, 1 INT · 9.6 yards an attempt on 152 attempts · ran for 134 yds, 0 TD
Jaylen Henderson	Threw in 5 of 8 games · 9 of 18, 131 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · 7.3 yards an attempt on 18 attempts · ran for 27 yds, 0 TD
Ethan Vasko	Threw in 2 of 8 games · 1 of 2, 6 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · 3.0 yards an attempt on 2 attempts · ran for 24 yds, 6 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

Starter

152 pass attempts and 45 carries in 8 games, fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

54 · #50 of 145 QBs

Three-star recruit. Now #50 at the position.

Starter

The No. 1,559 recruit in the country is starting at quarterback in the Conference USA as a junior.

Deshawn Purdie

Style of play

This week

Worth knowing

His most important play this season

In the game threads

Named in

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Liberty’s quarterbacks

Awards

Starter

Starter

Three seasons, three schools

Moves

2024 9 games

2025 8 games

2026 8 games