Joe Gaziano: DL · Northwestern · #97.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Joe Gaziano
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Four seasons in the Northwestern defensive front to date. All-Big Ten in 2019 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 9 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss against UNLV, Week 3, 2019.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
49 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 17 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.
OregonLive Oct 29Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Northwestern | 49 | 34 | 17.0 | 9.0 | 5 |
| 2018 | Northwestern | 44 | 27 | 12.5 | 7.5 | 3 |
| 2017 | Northwestern | 35 | 23 | 13.0 | 9.0 | 5 |
| 2016 | Northwestern | 24 | 15 | 6.5 | 4.5 | 2 |
| Career | 152 | 99 | 49.0 | 30.0 | 15 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-17@ No. 25 Stanford | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 30-14vs UNLV | 9 | 5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 10-31vs Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 15-24@ No. 8 Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 10-13@ Nebraska | 7 | 4 | 3.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 3.0 TFL |
| Wk 8 | L 3-52vs No. 4 Ohio State | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 0-20vs No. 20 Iowa | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 3-34@ Indiana | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 22-24vs Purdue | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 45-6vs Massachusetts | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 13 | L 22-38vs No. 11 Minnesota | 6 | 4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 2 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 14 | W 29-10@ Illinois | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 49 | 34 | 17.0 | 9.0 | — | 5 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
35%17 TFLSack rate
18%9 sacksHurry rate
6%3 hurries49 tackles · 17 for loss · 9 sacks.
4 seasons under Pat Fitzgerald — 29-23 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.9 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Road5g | 4.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 4.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Pass share
37.1%
310 pass / 525 run
Plays / game
69.6
12 games
Team sack rate
6.4%
343 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2019
First team in his league at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at Northwestern, 30 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2019) — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 47 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2019)
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
1 coachPlayed every college season under Pat Fitzgerald.
