Justin Birchette: CB · Ohio · #8.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Justin Birchette
Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away. The five seasons at Ohio span two head coaches: Frank Solich and Tim Albin. One game to point at: 6 tackles against San Diego State — Week 1, 2023.
Play style
Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
29 tackles. 8 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 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.
Eleven Warriors Oct 27
The Columbus Dispatch Oct 20Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 13-20@ San Diego State | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 1 | W 27-10vs Long Island University | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 17-10@ Florida Atlantic | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 10-7vs Iowa State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 38-7@ Bowling Green | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-23@ Northern Illinois | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-17vs Western Michigan | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-30vs Miami (OH) | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 20-10@ Buffalo | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 34-20vs Central Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | W 41-21vs Georgia Southern | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 29 | 16 | 2.5 | 0.0 | — | 8 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
28%8 pass breakupsTackle volume
29tackles this season29 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 8 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Road5g | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Albin
Pass share
45.0%
383 pass / 469 run
Plays / game
65.5
13 games
Team sack rate
4.1%
388 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #211 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Ohio, 95 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 40 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Frank Solich → Tim Albin. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
