Sam Mays

Senior wide receiver for Illinois. 2018: 29 catches, 331 receiving yards.

WR · Illinois · Sr. · #9

6′3″ · 200 lb · Missouri City, TX

Illinois 2018 alumnus

The story

4 wide receiver for Illinois. 2018: 29 catches, 331 receiving yards.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Illinois, 563 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 69 yds at Northwestern.Northwestern · L 16-242018

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Illinois

2015–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2015–2018

2 coaches

2015

Bill Cubit

Illinois

2016–2018

Lovie Smith

Illinois

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Bill Cubit → Lovie Smith. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2015Illinois5-7HC: Bill Cubit · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2016Illinois3-9HC: Lovie Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2017Illinois2-10HC: Lovie Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2018Illinois4-8HC: Lovie Smith · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score percentiles

5 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: rec tds (7th percentile).

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#287 / 550 · 47th pct

Rec yards#333 / 550 · 39th pct

331

Yards / catch#378 / 550 · 30th pct

11.4

Long catch#453 / 550 · 17th pct

Rec TDs#476 / 550 · 7th pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2018 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.7	29.0	11.1	0.0
Road4g	2.5	32.0	11.7	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.7	29.3	11.3	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	2.6	31.0	11.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	Illinois	29	331	11.4	0	--
2017	Illinois	--	-4	--	0	--
2016	Illinois	13	158	12.2	1	--
2015	Illinois	7	78	11.1	1	--
Career		49	563	11.5	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2018

W 34–14

vs Western Illinois

4 rec · 42 yds

With B. Hayes — 41 AVG · 5 IN 20 · 51 LONG · C. McLaughlin — 54 LONG · 100 PCT · 10 PTS

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2018 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 31-24vs Kent State	4	47	11.8	17
Wk 2	W 34-14vs Western Illinois	4	42	10.5	16
Wk 3	L 19-25vs South Florida	1	13	13.0	13
Wk 4	L 24-63vs Penn State	3	26	8.7	11
Wk 6	W 38-17@ Rutgers	2	11	5.5	7
Wk 7	L 7-46vs Purdue	2	37	18.5	30
Wk 9	L 33-63@ Maryland	2	16	8.0	10
Wk 10	W 55-31vs Minnesota	2	14	7.0	9
Wk 11	L 35-54@ Nebraska	2	32	16.0	17
Wk 12	L 0-63vs Iowa	3	24	8.0	12
Wk 13	L 16-24@ Northwestern	4	69	17.3	28	Season-high 69 yds
Total		29	331	11.3	30

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology