Isaiah Gay: LB · Illinois · #92.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Isaiah Gay
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. The five seasons at Illinois span three head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith and Bret Bielema. First career honor, 2021: Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. One game to point at: 10 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss against Iowa — Week 12, 2021.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
48 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 10 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.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Swipe 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 30-22vs Nebraska | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 30-37vs UTSA | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-20vs Maryland | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 9-13@ Purdue | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-14vs Charlotte | 5 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 0-24vs Wisconsin | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-18@ No. 7 Penn State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-20vs Rutgers | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 14-6@ Minnesota | 6 | 4 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-33@ No. 18 Iowa | 10 | 7 | 5.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 13 | W 47-14vs Northwestern | 5 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 48 | 24 | 10.0 | 3.0 | — | 3 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
48tackles this seasonTFL rate
21%10 TFLSack rate
6%3 sacksPD rate
6%3 pass breakups48 tackles · 10 for loss · 3 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road4g | 5.2 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 6.4 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
41.0%
321 pass / 462 run
Plays / game
65.2
12 games
Team sack rate
6.3%
378 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #427 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Illinois, 132 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 43 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2017–2021
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
