Marques Watson-Trent is a linebacker who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Nebraska.
Watson-Trent is steady in every phase without a signature trait. The six seasons span two programs and four head coaches: Chad Lunsford, Kevin Whitley, Clay Helton and Matt Rhule. Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. A game that shows it: 11 tackles and 0.5 sacks against Minnesota — Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
39 tackles. 0 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Nebraska | 39 | 15 | 2.5 | 1.5 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Georgia Southern | 118 | 52 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Georgia Southern | 116 | 58 | 12.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2022 | Georgia Southern | 105 | 44 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Georgia Southern | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Georgia Southern | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 387 | 174 | 27.5 | 7.5 | 4 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 20-17vs Cincinnati | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 68-0vs Akron | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 59-7vs Houston Christian | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30vs No. 21 Michigan | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31@ Maryland | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 6-24@ Minnesota | 11 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 9 | W 28-21vs Northwestern | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 28-21@ UCLA | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-37@ Penn State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 16-40vs Iowa | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 22-44vs No. 15 Utah | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 15 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
39tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%2 TFLSack rate
4%2 sacksPD rate
0%0 pass breakups39 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 1.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 5.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 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 linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #415 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #53 of 72 Big Ten LBs
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%).
The No. 2,819 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Big Ten as a senior.
A stat line in 54 games over six seasons.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-SUN BELT · 1ST TEAM
All-Sun Belt 1st team (2024)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2024)
2 career weekly honors across 2 seasons
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: Chad Lunsford, Kevin Whitley, Clay Helton and Matt Rhule.
