Tahj Sykes: DL · Southern Miss · #3.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Tahj Sykes
Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Played for three head coaches in four seasons at Southern Miss. First career honor, 2020: All-Conference USA. On tape: 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against North Texas, Week 10, 2021.
Play style
The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
20 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 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.
SuperTalk Mississippi Media Oct 23Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Southern Miss | 20 | 10 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | Southern Miss | 26 | 9 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | Southern Miss | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2018 | Southern Miss | 9 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Career | 58 | 24 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 37-0vs Grambling | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 9-21vs Troy | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 14-63@ No. 1 Alabama | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 19-24@ Rice | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 13-26vs UTEP | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 0-34vs UAB | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 10-35@ Middle Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 14-38vs North Texas | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 12 | W 35-19@ Louisiana Tech | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 37-17vs Florida International | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 10 | 2.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
12%2 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
15%3 hurries20 tackles · 2.5 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Will Hall
Pass share
38.8%
286 pass / 451 run
Plays / game
61.4
12 games
Team sack rate
11.3%
328 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2021
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Four seasons at Southern Miss, 1 sacks — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 28 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE USA
All-Conference USA mention (2020)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2021
4 coachesPlayed under 4 different head coaches: Jay Hopson, Tim Billings, Scotty Walden, and Will Hall. Multi-era developmental context.
