John McCartan: LB · Oregon State · #6.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
John McCartan
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Five seasons in the Oregon State linebacker corps to date. On tape: 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against San Diego State, Week 3, 2023.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
47 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interception. 8.5 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.
OregonLive Nov 2OregonLive Oct 26
Sports Illustrated Oct 23Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Oregon State | 47 | 25 | 8.5 | 5.0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | Oregon State | 34 | 21 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 3 | -- |
| 2020 | Oregon State | 6 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | 1 |
| 2019 | Oregon State | 34 | 21 | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 | Oregon State | 11 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | 1 |
| Career | 132 | 77 | 19.5 | 10.5 | 6 | 4 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-17@ San José State | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 2 | W 55-7vs UC Davis | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 26-9vs San Diego State | 7 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 35-38@ No. 21 Washington State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 21-7vs No. 10 Utah | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 52-40@ California | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 36-24vs No. 18 UCLA | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-27@ Arizona | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | W 26-19@ Colorado | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 62-17vs Stanford | 5 | 3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 12 | L 20-22vs No. 5 Washington | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 7-31@ No. 6 Oregon | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 8-40vs No. 15 Notre Dame | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 25 | 8.5 | 5.0 | 1 | 2 |
Week 1 · 2023
W 42-17
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 25-point win on the road against San José State.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
47tackles this seasonTFL rate
18%8 TFLSack rate
11%5 sacksPD rate
4%2 pass breakups47 tackles · 8.5 for loss · 5 sacks · 1 interception.
5 seasons under Jonathan Smith — 27-30 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jonathan Smith
Pass share
46.9%
380 pass / 431 run
Plays / game
62.4
13 games
Team sack rate
5.0%
399 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #55 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Oregon State, 132 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 46 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2023
1 coachPlayed every college season under Jonathan Smith.
