Marcel Spears Jr.: LB · Iowa State · #42.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Marcel Spears Jr.
Carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Four seasons in the Iowa State linebacker corps to date. First career honor, 2019: All-Big 12. One game to point at: 12 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Texas Tech — Week 8, 2019.
Play style
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
92 tackles. 7 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 8 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.
FOX61 Oct 28
The Des Moines Register Oct 23
Arizona Daily Star Oct 22
Wide Right & Natty Lite Oct 16Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Iowa State | 92 | 56 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 7 | -- |
| 2018 | Iowa State | 69 | 44 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 3 | 2 |
| 2017 | Iowa State | 107 | 56 | 8.5 | 1.0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016 | Iowa State | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 272 | 160 | 24.5 | 6.0 | 13 | 4 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 29-26vs Northern Iowa | 9 | 5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-18vs No. 19 Iowa | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 72-20vs UL Monroe | 6 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | L 21-23@ Baylor | 6 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 49-24vs TCU | 8 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 38-14@ West Virginia | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 34-24@ Texas Tech | 12 | 11 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 12 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 27-34vs Oklahoma State | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 41-42@ No. 9 Oklahoma | 10 | 6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 23-21vs No. 22 Texas | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 41-31vs Kansas | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | L 17-27@ Kansas State | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 9-33vs No. 14 Notre Dame | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Total | 92 | 56 | 8.0 | 2.5 | — | 7 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
92tackles this seasonTFL rate
9%8 TFLSack rate
3%2 sacksPD rate
8%7 pass breakups92 tackles · 8 for loss · 2.5 sacks.
4 seasons under Matt Campbell — 26-25 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 6.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Road5g | 7.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 7.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 7.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Campbell
Pass share
54.6%
482 pass / 400 run
Plays / game
67.8
13 games
Team sack rate
3.7%
516 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2019
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
How it ended
Four seasons at Iowa State, 272 tackles — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG 12 · 2ND TEAM
All-Big 12 2nd team (2019)
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
1 coachPlayed every college season under Matt Campbell.
