Elijah Tau-Tolliver

Senior running back for Michigan State. 2025: 428 rushing yards, 2 rushing TD, 18 catches.

RB · Michigan State · Sr. · #4

6′1″ · 211 lb · Sparks, NV

CFB Index 49 · #132 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to Michigan State for 2026

The numbers

428

rushing yards · 2025

2 TD · 5.9 per carry · 18 catches

The play that turned itSwung Michigan State from 23% to 58% to win.Michigan State at Minnesota · 23-20

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Michigan State. 2025: 428 rushing yards, 2 rushing TD, 18 catches.

Transferred from Sacramento State to Michigan State in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins in space out of the backfield.

Yards / carry: 63rd percentile.

The full scouting read

Elijah Tau-Tolliver

RB · Michigan State · Sr · #4

Wins in space out of the backfield. Elijah Tau-Tolliver arrived at Michigan State from Sacramento State. The receipt on tape: 127 rush yds, 4 rec yds against Minnesota, Week 10, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025Michigan State4-8HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

49Rotational starter #132 of 326?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: long run (96th percentile). Strength: yards / carry (84th percentile). Concern: epa / carry (17th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / carry#170 / 456 · 63rd pct

5.3

Explosive rate#327 / 456 · 28th pct

4.3%

TD rate#356 / 456 · 22nd pct

1.4%

Success rate#367 / 456 · 19th pct

37.1%

EPA / carry#381 / 456 · 17th pct

-0.03

Box-score rates (7)

Long run#13 / 349 · 96th pct

Yards / carry#52 / 349 · 84th pct

5.9

Rec yards#93 / 338 · 72nd pct

139

Receptions#93 / 338 · 71st pct

Rush yards#195 / 349 · 44th pct

428

Carries#235 / 349 · 32nd pct

Rush TDs#236 / 349 · 26th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home7g	35.6	5.5	0.3
Road4g	44.8	4.6	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	12.2	3.3	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	61.2	6.7	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

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

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

49 · #132 of 326 RBs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #22 of 44 Big Ten RBs

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	Michigan State	72	428	5.9	2	--
Career		72	428	5.9	2	--

Season	Team
2025	Michigan State	18	139	7.7	0	--
Career		18	139	7.7	0	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 41–24

vs Youngstown State

37 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD

With A. Chiles — 270 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 76.6 · 76 rush yds (8 car) · O. Kelly — 4 rec · 49 yds

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 10 · Minnesota · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +5.27(02:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush middle for 85 yards gain to the MINN03 (#3 K.Perich), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Penn State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.47Shotgun #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush right for 57 yards gain to the PSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:46, 1ST DOWN #29 M.Connington kick attempt good (H: #96 R.Eckley, LS: #87 J.Wills)
Week 14 · Maryland · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.09#4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush middle for 38 yards gain to the UMD42 (#22 J.Huskey), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Penn State · 3&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.56Shotgun #11 A.Milivojevic pass complete short right to #4 E.Tau-Tolliver caught at PSU32, for 32 yards to the PSU19 (#7 Z.Tracy), 1ST DOWN
Week 3 · Youngstown State · 2&2 · Q4 · EPA +2.30Elijah Tau-Tolliver run for 22 yds for a TD (Martin Connington KICK)
Week 1 · Western Michigan · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -2.18Elijah Tau-Tolliver run for a loss of 5 yards to the MSU 47
Week 13 · Iowa · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -1.72(07:50) #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush left for 3 yards loss to the MSU39 (#43 K.Sharar)
Week 10 · Minnesota · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -1.56(04:34) #4 E.Tau-Tolliver rush right for 2 yards loss to the MSU49 (#14 K.Brown)
Week 1 · Western Michigan · 2&5 · Q3 · EPA -1.56Elijah Tau-Tolliver run for a loss of 2 yards to the MSU 43
Week 12 · Penn State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.42#11 A.Milivojevic pass complete short left to #4 E.Tau-Tolliver caught at MSU22, for 16 yards to the MSU41 (#6 Z.Wheatley), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 23-6vs Western Michigan	8	17	2.1	0	6
Wk 2	W 42-40vs Boston College	1	1	1.0	0	1
Wk 3	W 41-24vs Youngstown State	4	37	9.3	1	22
Wk 4	L 31-45@ USC	2	4	2.0	0	3
Wk 7	L 13-38vs UCLA	1	2	2.0	0	2
Wk 8	L 13-38@ Indiana	5	13	2.6	0	9
Wk 9	L 20-31vs Michigan	5	18	3.6	0	6
Wk 10	L 20-23@ Minnesota	11	127	11.5	0	85	Season-high 127 yds
Wk 12	L 10-28vs Penn State	6	79	13.2	1	57
Wk 13	L 17-20@ Iowa	16	35	2.2	0	10
Wk 14	W 38-28vs Maryland	13	95	7.3	0	38
Total		72	428	5.2	2	85

How he plays

Play style

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

fact

20.0%Carry share

41.7%Q4-lead share

60.0%In competitive games

20.0% of carries overall (71/355) → 41.7% of Q4-with-lead carries (15/36) — 60.0% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

2/21Inside-5 share

2 of the team's 21 inside-the-5 carries (9.5%).

2026 Outlook

Michigan State

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · Michigan State

Returning around him

21% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
2 Michigan State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -18 net (28 in / 46 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Michigan State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #61 · 2026 recruiting class #45

DNA match

Player DNA

Satellite Back

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Elijah Green’s 2025 season.

Elijah Green

72%match

Sam Houston · 2025

Micah Bernard

Utah · 2021

65%

Jeffery Pittman

Mississippi State · 2023

65%

C'Bo Flemister

Pittsburgh · 2022

63%

Zaquandre White

South Carolina · 2021

60%

Matches Elijah on

Yards / carry

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Yards / reception

Differs from Elijah on

Height (higher)

Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Brittain Brown’s path through UCLA.

Brittain Brown

97%match

UCLA · 2021

NFL Rd 7

Taye Mcwilliams

Baylor · 2022

94%

Durell Robinson

UConn · 2024

90%

Byron Cardwell

San Diego State · 2025

90%

Jonathon Brooks

Texas · 2023

All-Big 12NFL Rd 2 · Pk 14

89%

Matches Brittain on

Height

Yards per carry

Weight

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Ryan Montgomery's senior season at Cincinnati (2023).

Ryan Montgomery

63%match

Cincinnati · 2023

Ashaad Clayton

Tulane · 2023

61%

Demie Sumo

Kentucky · 2024

61%

Darvon Hubbard

Temple · 2023

59%

Dean Connors

Houston · 2025

57%

Matches Ryan on

Weight

Receiving share

Differs from Ryan on

Height (higher)

EPA / carry (adj) (lower)

Total rush EPA (college ability) (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Elijah Tau-Tolliver

Elijah Green

Sam Houston · 2025

72%

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

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Satellite Back

Players who play like Elijah Tau-Tolliver