Air Force · W 38-32
No tackles.
James has tackles in 8 of North Dakota State’s 9 games: none against Air Force.
Ray James Jr.
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. On tape: 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against New Mexico, Week 8, 2026.
39 tackles · 1.5 sacks
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
39 tackles. 1 pass defended. 2 interceptions. 5.5 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 | North Dakota State | 39 | 22 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 |
| Career | 39 | 22 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 |
Last game (Wk 9): 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
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 33-7vs Jacksonville State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | W 38-0vs Fordham | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 31-10@ Sacramento State | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 28-0vs Wyoming | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 7-13@ UNLV | 8 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 31-17vs Nevada | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 16-21@ New Mexico | 11 | 5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 9 | W 31-7vs UTEP | 5 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 22 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 |
Oct. 31 · W 31-7 vs UTEP, play by play
5 tackles, including 2 more for loss.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Against his own season: his best backfield disruption game of the season so far.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 5 tackles for loss, 1 of them a sack, in the 8 games with play by play.
How North Dakota State’s defense played that day
UTEP’s 10 drives: 9 stopped (3 takeaways) · 1 scored. While the game was within a score they held 6 of 7.
11 tackles, including 1 sack, 1 interception. His interception on 3rd and 8 ended New Mexico’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 10 of his 11, sacks included.
Intercepted on 3rd and 8. First quarter, down 7-0. Ended New Mexico’s drive (int).
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
8 tackles, including 1 interception. His interception ended UNLV’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 7 of his 8, sacks included.
Intercepted. Second quarter, down 7-0. Ended UNLV’s drive (int).
2 tackles. The pressure he forced on 4th and 5 ended Wyoming’s drive (downs).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Hurried the quarterback on 4th and 5. Third quarter, up 20-0. Ended Wyoming’s drive (downs).
3 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.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 1 of his 2, sacks included.
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 5 for him; the box score credits 4.
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 -29 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
39tackles this seasonTFL rate
14%6 TFLSack rate
4%2 sacksPD rate
3%1 pass breakups39 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 1.5 sacks · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 7.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 8.0 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Polasek
Pass share
40.7%
236 pass / 344 run
Plays / game
64.4
9 games
Team sack rate
4.1%
266 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
