2026 games, tackles for loss per game. W and L: the team’s results.
Khalil Laufau
Khalil Laufau is on trial in Houston's fan jury — the eye test against the résumé.
Houston fans are litigating the player's worthiness — the eye test against the résumé.
Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04
Play style
Wins the gap play after play.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Houston Chronicle Nov 2Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Houston | 27 | 14 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2025 | Houston | 34 | 19 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Washington State | 15 | 7 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Washington State | 12 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 88 | 44 | 12.0 | 7.0 | 3 |
Last game (Wk 8): 3 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 33-20vs Oregon State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 26-28@ No. 13 Texas Tech | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 42-28@ Georgia Southern | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 27-17vs UCF | 4 | 4 | 3.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 3.0 TFL |
| Wk 6 | W 35-16@ Kansas State | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 35-32vs No. 18 Oklahoma State | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 13-21@ No. 10 Utah | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 14 | 5.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 |
Oct. 24 · L 13-21 at Utah, play by play
3 tackles.
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, 2 of them sacks, in the 7 games with play by play.
How Houston’s defense played that day
Utah’s 11 drives: 8 stopped (2 takeaways) · 3 scored. While the game was within a score they held 8 of 10.
7 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. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Sacked the quarterback for a 2-yard loss. Fourth quarter, up 35-9.
A big game: 4 tackles, including 2 more for loss, 1 sack, tied for 5th-most tackles for loss in FBS that week. 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 9-yard loss. Fourth quarter, up 21-17.
5 tackles, including 1 pass broken up. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles, including 1 more for loss. 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 5-yard loss on 3rd and 17. Second quarter, up 10-7.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Ratings of the games shown run from -5 to +18 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
19%5 TFLSack rate
7%2 sacksHurry rate
15%4 hurries27 tackles · 5 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Willie Fritz
Pass share
43.3%
241 pass / 315 run
Plays / game
69.5
8 games
Team sack rate
3.4%
265 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
27 tackles in 7 games, more tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #225 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #5 of 35 Big 12 DLs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
The No. 1,803 recruit in the country is starting on the defensive line in the Big 12.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 33 games over four seasons.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Jake Dickert and Willie Fritz.
