Matt Lawson: DL · New Mexico State · #90.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Matt Lawson
Wins the gap play after play. The five seasons span three programs and five head coaches: Kalen DeBoer, Lee Marks, Jeff Tedford, David Braun and Tony Sanchez. One game to point at: 5 tackles against Jacksonville State — Week 7, 2024.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
30 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | New Mexico State | 30 | 14 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2022 | Fresno State | 12 | 4 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Fresno State | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2020 | Fresno State | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 48 | 23 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 23-16vs Southeast Missouri State | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 24-30vs Liberty | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 0-48@ Fresno State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 11-31@ Sam Houston | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 5 | L 40-50vs New Mexico | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-54@ Jacksonville State | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 33-30vs Louisiana Tech | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 13-34vs Florida International | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 28-41vs Western Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 3-38@ No. 15 Texas A&M | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 36-21@ Middle Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 35-42vs UTEP | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 14 | 3.5 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
Week 10 · 2024
L 13-34
vs Florida International · neutral site
2 tackles for loss · 4 tackles · 3 solo tackles
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
12%4 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries30 tackles · 3.5 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 3.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tony Sanchez
Pass share
39.4%
320 pass / 492 run
Plays / game
67.7
12 games
Team sack rate
7.4%
324 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2024
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #120 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Fresno State, Northwestern and New Mexico State — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2024
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 3 schools: Jeff Tedford, Kalen DeBoer, David Braun and Tony Sanchez.
