Nick Heninger: DE · Utah State · #42.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Nick Heninger
Turns pressure into sacks — pressures become finishes. The five seasons span two programs and four head coaches: Kyle Whittingham, Gary Andersen, Frank Maile and Blake Anderson. First career honor, 2020: Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. On tape: 10 tackles and 3 tackles for loss against New Mexico, Week 13, 2021.
Play style
Turns pressure into sacks — when he gets there, he finishes.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
67 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 14.5 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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Utah State | 74 | 30 | 19.5 | 8.0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2020 | Utah State | 42 | 15 | 7.0 | 3.0 | -- | -- |
| 2019 | Utah State | 32 | 20 | 9.5 | 5.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2018 | Utah | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2017 | Utah | 11 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 161 | 70 | 37.0 | 17.0 | 9 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 26-23@ Washington State | 6 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 48-24vs North Dakota | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 49-45@ Air Force | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 3-27vs Boise State | 5 | 2 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 2 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 5 | L 20-34vs No. 13 BYU | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 28-24@ UNLV | 4 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 26-24vs Colorado State | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 51-31vs Hawai'i | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 35-13@ New Mexico State | 5 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-17@ San José State | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 17-44vs Wyoming | 9 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 35-10@ New Mexico | 10 | 3 | 3.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 14 | W 46-13@ No. 19 San Diego State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Total | 67 | 25 | 14.5 | 5.0 | — | 5 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
11%8 sacksTFL rate
26%20 TFLHurry rate
5%4 hurriesPressure-to-sack conversion
67%8 of 12 pressures74 tackles · 19.5 for loss · 8 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Road7g | 5.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 5.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 5.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Blake Anderson
Pass share
47.6%
503 pass / 554 run
Plays / game
81.3
13 games
Team sack rate
6.0%
537 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2021
74 tackles in 13 games, more tackles a game than nearly every FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Five seasons, at Utah and Utah State, 17 sacks — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2016–2021
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: Kyle Whittingham, Gary Andersen, Frank Maile and Blake Anderson.
