Elijah Benton: S · Liberty · #31.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Elijah Benton
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Played for two head coaches in two seasons at Liberty. A game that shows it: 13 tackles against Syracuse — Week 1, 2019.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
85 tackles. 7 passes defended. 1 interception. 2.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-24vs No. 22 Syracuse | 13 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 35-17vs Buffalo | 10 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 62-27vs Hampton | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 17-10vs New Mexico | 8 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 20-13@ New Mexico State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 59-44vs Maine | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 34-44@ Rutgers | 10 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 63-21@ Massachusetts | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 24-31@ BYU | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 27-55@ Virginia | 11 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | W 49-28vs New Mexico State | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 3 | |
 Bowl | W 23-16vs Georgia Southern | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 85 | 50 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 7 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
8%7 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
85tackles this seasonTFL rate
3%2 TFL85 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 1 sack · 7 pass breakups · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 7.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Road5g | 6.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 7.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Hugh Freeze
Pass share
51.7%
451 pass / 422 run
Plays / game
67.2
13 games
Team sack rate
6.0%
486 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2019
85 tackles in 12 games, more tackles a game than nearly every FBS defensive back who plays every week.
How it ended
Two seasons at Liberty, 157 tackles — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2019
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Turner Gill → Hugh Freeze. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
