Dominic DeLuca

Senior linebacker for Penn State. 2025: 66 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

LB · Penn State · Sr.

6′1″ · 227 lb · West Pittston, PA

CFB Index 63 · #179 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Penn State for 2026

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

Tackles for loss: 90th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

7 TFL · 2 sacks · 3 PBU

Backed by 12 tackles · 1 TFL -- top 1% tackles game. -- Best game: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sacks, at Rutgers

Swing playSwung Penn State from 40% to 69% to win.SMU at Penn State · 38-10

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Penn State. 2025: 66 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

His career, year by year

Dominic DeLuca

LB · Penn State · Sr

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Dominic DeLuca has played for two head coaches in four seasons at Penn State. One game to point at: 12 tackles, 1 TFL against UCLA — Week 6, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Penn State11-2HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

2023Penn State10-3HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

2024Penn State13-3HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

2025Penn State7-6HC: Terry Smith · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

63Quality starter #179 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (90th percentile). Strength: tackles (89th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#277 / 2975 · 90th pct

7.0

Tackles#316 / 2975 · 89th pct

Solo tackles#353 / 2975 · 88th pct

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th 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

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.6	0.5	0.1	0.1
Road6g	5.7	0.6	0.2	0.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.9	0.5	0.1	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	5.3	0.6	0.2	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Matt Campbell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

63 · #179 of 583 LBs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #31 of 72 Big Ten LBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Penn State	66	35	7.0	2.0	3	--	--
2024	Penn State	36	19	4.0	0.5	--	3	--
2023	Penn State	29	17	4.5	1.0	3	2	--
2022	Penn State	27	17	2.0	1.0	1	--	--
Career		158	88	17.5	4.5	7	5	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 22–10

at Clemson

3 TOT · 1 SOLO · 1 TFL

With E. Grunkemeyer — 260 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 79.4 · -11 rush yds (4 car) · G. Nwosu — 45 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 50 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 46-11vs Nevada	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 34-0vs Florida International	3	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 52-6vs Villanova	4	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 24-30vs Oregon	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 37-42@ UCLA	12	5	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 7	L 21-22vs Northwestern	7	4	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 8	L 24-25@ Iowa	8	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 14-38@ Ohio State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	L 24-27vs Indiana	3	3	2.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 28-10@ Michigan State	4	2	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 37-10vs Nebraska	10	6	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 40-36@ Rutgers	6	1	1.0	1.0	—	1
Bowl	W 22-10@ Clemson	3	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Total		66	35	7.0	2.0	—	3