James Neal: LB · Texas State · #25.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
James Neal
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Played for two head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Dana Dimel and G.J. Kinne. First career honor, 2023: All-Conference USA. A game that shows it: 9 tackles against Southern Miss — Week 12, 2024.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
50 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 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.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Texas State | 50 | 24 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | UTEP | 67 | 19 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | UTEP | 12 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | UTEP | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 133 | 50 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27vs Lamar | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 49-10vs UTSA | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 28-31vs Arizona State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 39-40vs Sam Houston | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-17@ Troy | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 41-9vs Arkansas State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 14-24@ Old Dominion | 9 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 17-23vs Louisiana | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-17@ UL Monroe | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 58-3vs Southern Miss | 9 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 44-52vs Georgia State | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 45-38@ South Alabama | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 30-28vs North Texas | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 24 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
50tackles this seasonTFL rate
3%2 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksPD rate
2%1 pass breakups50 tackles · 1.5 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Road4g | 4.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
G.J. Kinne
Pass share
45.1%
428 pass / 521 run
Plays / game
73.0
13 games
Team sack rate
3.5%
405 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #452 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons, at UTEP and Texas State, 133 tackles — the college career is complete.
Recruited without a star rating, and honored since.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE USA
All-Conference USA mention (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2024
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Dana Dimel and G.J. Kinne.
