Air Force · L 26-35
15 tackles, 1.5 for loss
The other 7 games average 6 tackles. This one was 9 above.
John Lista
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. One game to point at: 15 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Air Force — Week 9, 2026.
58 tackles · 1 sack
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
58 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | UConn | 58 | 22 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Career | 58 | 22 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 56-7vs Lafayette | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-38vs Maryland | 7 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-20@ Southern Miss | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 21-24@ Miami (OH) | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 41-42vs Syracuse | 11 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 34-20@ Temple | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 35-16vs Massachusetts | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 26-35@ Air Force | 15 | 4 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Total | 58 | 22 | 5.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 |
Oct. 31 · L 26-35 at Air Force, play by play
A big game: 15 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 5 tackles for loss, 1 of them a sack, in the 8 games with play by play.
How UConn’s defense played that day
Air Force’s 9 drives: 4 stopped · 5 scored. While the game was within a score they held 3 of 8.
6 tackles, including 1 more for loss, 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 4 of his 6, sacks included.
8 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 9 for him; the box score credits 8.
11 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 10 of his 11, sacks included.
3 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
7 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
5 tackles, including 1 sack. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Sacked the quarterback for a 8-yard loss. Second quarter, up 28-0.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -16 to -1 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
58tackles this seasonTFL rate
9%5 TFLSack rate
2%1 sackPD rate
2%1 pass breakups58 tackles · 5 for loss · 1 sack.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 7.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 7.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 10.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jason Candle
Pass share
44.1%
226 pass / 286 run
Plays / game
64.0
8 games
Team sack rate
9.1%
274 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
58 tackles in 8 games, more tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #182 at the position.
