Elijah James: DT · Liberty · #55.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Elijah James
Wins the gap play after play. Third year in the same defensive front at Liberty. On tape: 12 tackles and 2 tackles for loss against UL Monroe, Week 7, 2021.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-7vs Campbell | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 21-13@ Troy | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 45-17vs Old Dominion | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 21-24@ Syracuse | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 36-12@ UAB | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 41-13vs Middle Tennessee | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 28-31@ UL Monroe | 12 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 12 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 35-26@ North Texas | 5 | 4 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 62-17vs Massachusetts | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 14-27@ No. 15 Ole Miss | 5 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 16-31vs Army | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 15 | 5.0 | 2.0 | — | 3 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
11%5 TFLSack rate
4%2 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries45 tackles · 5 for loss · 2 sacks.
3 seasons under Hugh Freeze — 26-11 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Road6g | 4.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Hugh Freeze
Pass share
43.1%
381 pass / 504 run
Plays / game
73.8
12 games
Team sack rate
12.2%
444 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
45 tackles in 11 games, more tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #258 at the position.
How it ended
Three seasons at Liberty, 97 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 27 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2021
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Turner Gill → Hugh Freeze. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
