Ru'Quan Buckley is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Michigan State.
Buckley wins the gap play after play. The four seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Scott Frost, Matt Rhule and Jonathan Smith. A game that shows it: 5 tackles and 1 sack against Iowa — Week 13, 2025.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
13 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2 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.
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| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Michigan State | 13 | 11 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | Michigan State | 9 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 | Nebraska | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Career | 24 | 15 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | W 41-24vs Youngstown State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 31-45@ No. 25 USC | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-38vs UCLA | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 13-38@ No. 3 Indiana | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 20-31vs No. 25 Michigan | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-28vs Penn State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-20@ Iowa | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 14 | W 38-28vs Maryland | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 11 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
15%2 TFLSack rate
15%2 sacksHurry rate
8%1 hurry13 tackles · 2 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jonathan Smith
Pass share
49.7%
378 pass / 382 run
Plays / game
63.3
12 games
Team sack rate
8.0%
424 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 2 schools: Scott Frost, Mickey Joseph, Matt Rhule and Jonathan Smith.
