“We are so blessed to have Martell Hughes & Owen Long as our LBs Absolute studs”
Martell Hughes
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Third year in the same linebacker corps at Arizona State. One game to point at: 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Kansas State — Week 8, 2026.
62 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
62 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 7.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Arizona State | 62 | 28 | 7.5 | 0.0 | 3 | -- |
| 2025 | Arizona State | 39 | 16 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | Arizona State | 15 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 116 | 51 | 9.5 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 |
Last game (Wk 9): 8 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 70-7vs Morgan State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 20-48@ No. 10 Texas A&M | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 24-17vs Kansas | 11 | 7 | 3.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 3.5 TFL |
| Wk 5 | L 19-55vs Baylor | 8 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 30-12vs Hawai'i | 10 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 25-53@ No. 10 Texas Tech | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 28-17vs Kansas State | 14 | 5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 14 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 20-27@ No. 8 BYU | 8 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 62 | 28 | 7.5 | 0.0 | — | 3 |
Oct. 31 · L 20-27 at BYU, play by play
8 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 7 of his 8, sacks included.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 7 tackles for loss, in the 8 games with play by play.
How Arizona State’s defense played that day
BYU’s 11 drives: 6 stopped (2 takeaways) · 5 scored. While the game was within a score they held 4 of 9. His pbu came with the game tied.
A big game: 14 tackles, including 1 more for loss, 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
10 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 11 for him; the box score credits 10.
8 tackles, including 2 more for loss. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 6 of his 8, sacks included.
A big game: 11 tackles, including 3 more for loss, tied for the most tackles for loss in FBS that week.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
8 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -10 to +18 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
62tackles this seasonTFL rate
12%8 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksPD rate
5%3 pass breakups62 tackles · 7.5 for loss.
3 seasons under Kenny Dillingham — 23-12 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 8.5 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 5.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 11.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kenny Dillingham
Pass share
52.1%
285 pass / 262 run
Plays / game
68.4
8 games
Team sack rate
7.5%
322 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
62 tackles in 8 games, more tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #158 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #37 of 73 Big 12 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. 1,421 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Big 12 as a junior.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 28 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kenny Dillingham.
