Marques Buford is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Nebraska.
Buford moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for three head coaches in five seasons at Nebraska. On tape: 5 tackles against Cincinnati, Week 1, 2025.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
21 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0 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.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 20-17vs Cincinnati | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 68-0vs Akron | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30vs No. 21 Michigan | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-27vs Michigan State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31@ Maryland | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 6-24@ Minnesota | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 28-21vs Northwestern | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 16-40vs Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 22-44vs No. 15 Utah | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Week 1 · 2025
W 20-17
vs Cincinnati · neutral site
5 tackles · 5 solo tackles
A close one, won by 3 at a neutral site.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
0%0 pass breakupsTackle volume
21tackles this seasonTFL rate
0%0 TFL21 tackles.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Rhule
Pass share
46.4%
378 pass / 437 run
Plays / game
62.7
13 games
Team sack rate
7.7%
389 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #531 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #74 of 77 Big Ten DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
A stat line in 39 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Scott Frost, Mickey Joseph, and Matt Rhule. Multi-era developmental context.
