“Unreal effort from Gerlach there. He was behind the LOS when that was thrown.”
Joey Gerlach
Ranges from hash to hash and finishes the tackle. Fourth year in the Minnesota linebacker corps. A game that shows it: 9 tackles and 1 INT against Iowa — Week 8, 2026.
41 tackles · 1 sack
Play style
Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
41 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interception. 3 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 4 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 59-7vs Eastern Illinois | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-38vs Mississippi State | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-7vs Akron | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 27-24@ Washington | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 20-14vs Michigan | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 13-41@ Purdue | 8 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 13-10vs No. 15 Iowa | 9 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 16-23@ No. 4 Indiana | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 41 | 25 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 |
Oct. 31 · L 16-23 at Indiana, play by play
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: taking the ball away — 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles in the 7 games with play by play.
How Minnesota’s defense played that day
Indiana’s 14 drives: 9 stopped (2 takeaways) · 5 scored. While the game was within a score they held 9 of 14.
9 tackles, including 1 interception, 1 pass broken up. His interception ended Iowa’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted. First quarter, up 3-0. Ended Iowa’s drive (int).
8 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 1 of his 2, sacks included.
Forced a fumble. Second quarter, up 14-0.
8 tackles. The fumble he forced ended Akron’s drive (fumble).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 7 of his 8, sacks included.
Forced a fumble. First quarter, up 7-0. Ended Akron’s drive (fumble).
4 tackles, including 1 sack.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 5 for him; the box score credits 4.
Week 8 · 2026
W 13-10
vs Iowa
1 interception · 0.5 tackles for loss · 9 tackles
A close one, won by 3 at home.
Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +24 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
41tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%3 TFLSack rate
2%1 sackPD rate
5%2 pass breakups41 tackles · 3 for loss · 1 sack · 1 interception.
4 seasons under P.J. Fleck — 27-20 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 5.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 4.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 6.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
54.3%
269 pass / 226 run
Plays / game
61.9
8 games
Team sack rate
3.5%
289 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #128 at the position.
The No. 1,341 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Big Ten.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 22 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under P.J. Fleck.
