Michael Kennedy: DE · Northern Illinois · #5.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Michael Kennedy
Turns pressure into sacks — pressures become finishes. Played for two head coaches in five seasons at Northern Illinois. First career honor, 2022: All-MAC. One game to point at: 3 tackles against Ball State — Week 5, 2022.
Play style
Turns pressure into sacks — when he gets there, he finishes.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
27 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6.5 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | 27 | 10 | 6.5 | 6.0 | -- |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | 44 | 23 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2020 | Northern Illinois | 17 | 4 | 2.5 | 1.0 | -- |
| 2019 | Northern Illinois | 9 | 6 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2018 | Northern Illinois | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- |
| Career | 98 | 44 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27vs Eastern Illinois | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 35-38@ Tulsa | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 28-38vs Vanderbilt | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 23-31@ No. 8 Kentucky | 5 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 38-44@ Ball State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 32-52vs Toledo | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 39-10@ Eastern Michigan | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 17-24@ Ohio | 6 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 22-35vs Central Michigan | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 24-21@ Western Michigan | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 10 | 6.5 | 6.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
22%6 sacksTFL rate
24%6 TFLHurry rate
11%3 hurriesPressure-to-sack conversion
67%6 of 9 pressures27 tackles · 6.5 for loss · 6 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Road6g | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Thomas Hammock
Pass share
40.9%
328 pass / 473 run
Plays / game
66.8
12 games
Team sack rate
2.7%
334 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #156 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Northern Illinois, 10 sacks — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC
All-MAC mention (2022)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Rod Carey → Thomas Hammock. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
