Jacob Merrifield is a defensive tackle who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at South Florida.
Merrifield wins the gap play after play. The five seasons span two programs and four head coaches: Willie Taggart, Tom Herman, Chad Lunsford and Kevin Patrick. On tape: 4 tackles against Charlotte, Week 6, 2025.
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
19 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | South Florida | 19 | 7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Florida Atlantic | 15 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | -- |
| 2023 | Florida Atlantic | 13 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2022 | Florida Atlantic | 14 | 5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2021 | Florida Atlantic | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 63 | 22 | 8.5 | 4.5 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-7vs No. 25 Boise State | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 18-16@ No. 13 Florida | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 12-49@ No. 5 Miami | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 54-26vs Charlotte | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 63-36@ North Texas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 48-13vs Florida Atlantic | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 31-34@ Memphis | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 55-23vs UTSA | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 38-41@ Navy | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 10-24vs Old Dominion | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 7 | 2.5 | 2.0 | — | 1 |
Week 7 · 2025
W 63-36
at North Texas
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 27-point win on the road against North Texas.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
13%2 TFLSack rate
11%2 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries19 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kevin Patrick
Pass share
44.8%
404 pass / 498 run
Plays / game
69.4
13 games
Team sack rate
4.3%
397 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #107 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-AAC
Based on 2025: #6 of 10 American Athletic DTs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
The No. 1,682 recruit in the country is starting on the defensive line in the American Athletic as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Willie Taggart, Tom Herman and Alex Golesh.
