Matthew Tago

Senior linebacker for San José State. 2023: 27 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss.

LB · San José State · Sr. · #9

6′2″ · 222 lb · Palmdale, CA

CFB Index 40 · #375 of 577 LBsHigh confidenceSan José State 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

ATH recruit

No. 937 nationally · Signed with Oregon State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for San José State. 2023: 27 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Oregon State in 2018.
Transferred from Oregon State to San José State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at San José State, 78 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20188 games

Signed with Oregon State3-star out of Quartz Hill

202110 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#937 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2023

1 coach

2018–2019

Brent Brennan

San José State

2021–2023

Brent Brennan

San José State

Played his entire career under Brent Brennan.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Oregon State2-10HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced, fast tempo

2019Oregon State5-7HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced

2021San José State5-7HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced, slow tempo

2022San José State7-5HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-leaning

2023San José State7-6HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

40Rotational starter #375 of 577?

High confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (96th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Forced fumbles#4 / 710 · 96th pct

Passes defended#512 / 2842 · 78th pct

QB hurries#574 / 2842 · 74th pct

Tackles for loss#1231 / 2842 · 54th pct

2.5

Tackles#1465 / 2842 · 47th pct

Interceptions#323 / 827 · 31st pct

Solo tackles#2046 / 2842 · 25th pct

Sacks#1503 / 2842 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.8	0.3	0.0	0.4
Road5g	1.6	0.2	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.0	0.2	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+4g	3.8	0.4	0.0	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Ken Niumatalolo

Pass share

51.0%

106 pass / 102 run

Plays / game

69.3

3 games

Team sack rate

1.8%

110 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

40 · #375 of 577 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #375 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	San José State	27	9	2.5	0.0	3	1	1
2022	San José State	4	3	2.0	1.0	--	--	--
2021	San José State	13	7	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
2019	Oregon State	15	6	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Oregon State	19	12	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		78	37	8.0	2.0	4	1	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 11 · 2023

W 42–18

vs Fresno State

1 QB HUR · 2 PD · 1 SOLO

Dominant 24-point win at home against Fresno State.

With A. Weir — 42 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 55 LONG · C. Cordeiro — 146 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 89.4 · 27 rush yds (6 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 28-56@ USC	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 1	L 17-42vs Oregon State	2	2	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 17-21@ Toledo	2	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 20-45vs Air Force	5	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 27-35@ Boise State	0	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 35-0@ Hawai'i	1	1	1.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 42-18vs Fresno State	5	1	0.0	1	2
Wk 12	W 24-13vs San Diego State	6	1	0.5	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 13	W 37-31@ UNLV	3	0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 14-24vs Coastal Carolina	1	1	0.0	—	0
Total		27	9	2.5	1	3

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology