Former safety at UAB. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.
6′1″ · 210 lb · Columbus, GA
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The story
Former safety at UAB. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearRay Thornton III
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Across five seasons and three programs, three head coaches: Dabo Swinney, Jeff Scott and Trent Dilfer. The receipt: 9 tackles against Tulane — Week 6, 2024.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Five seasons at UAB, 68 tackles — his college career is complete.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Bill Clark, Bryant Vincent, and Trent Dilfer. Multi-era developmental context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2024 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 3.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Alex Mortensen
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2024
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | UAB | 24 | 12 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | UAB | 20 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | South Florida | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Clemson | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Clemson | 15 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 68 | 39 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5 | -- | -- |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 6 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | L 27-37@ Arkansas | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 18-41vs Navy | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 20-71vs Tulane | 9 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 25-35@ South Florida | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 40-14vs Rice | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 27-29@ Charlotte | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 12 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2024 production profile sits closest to Diamond Harrell’s 2021 season.
Matches Diamond on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to James Gordon Iv's graduate season at South Florida (2024).
Matches James on
Player DNA