Tavares Thomas: RB · Middle Tennessee · #21.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Tavares Thomas
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. Two seasons in the Middle Tennessee backfield to date. On tape: 42 rushing yards and 37 receiving yards against Marshall, Week 6, 2018.
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
The closer
17.8% of carries overall (80/450) → 20.5% of Q4-with-lead carries (16/78) — 62.5% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
11 of 13 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (84.6%). 8 of the team's 22 inside-the-5 carries (36.4%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Middle Tennessee | 80 | 239 | 3.0 | 5 | 19 |
| 2017 | Middle Tennessee | 93 | 507 | 5.5 | 9 | 33 |
| Career | 173 | 746 | 4.3 | 14 | 33 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Middle Tennessee | 38 | 283 | 7.4 | 4 | 44 |
| 2017 | Middle Tennessee | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 0 | 19 |
| Career | 43 | 337 | 7.8 | 4 | 44 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2018 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-35@ Vanderbilt | 8 | 32 | 4.0 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 5 | W 25-24vs Florida Atlantic | 12 | 30 | 2.5 | 1 | 19 | |
| Wk 6 | W 34-24@ Marshall | 15 | 42 | 2.8 | 1 | 17 | Season-high 42 yds |
| Wk 7 | L 21-24@ Florida International | 10 | 26 | 2.6 | 2 | 7 | |
| Wk 8 | W 21-13vs Charlotte | 10 | 36 | 3.6 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 9 | W 51-17@ Old Dominion | 6 | 24 | 4.0 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 10 | W 29-10vs Western Kentucky | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-32@ UTEP | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 1 | 6 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-34@ No. 20 Kentucky | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Wk 13 | W 27-3vs UAB | 4 | 21 | 5.3 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 14 | L 25-27vs UAB | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | 0 | 2 | |
 Bowl | L 13-45vs App State | 6 | 13 | 2.2 | 0 | 7 | |
| Total | 80 | 239 | 3.0 | 5 | 19 |
Week 6 · 2018
W 34-24
at Marshall
42 rush yds (15 car) · 1 TD · 2 rec · 37 yds · 1 TD
With B. Stockstill — 317 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · 31 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD · M. Bonadies — 44.7 yards per punt · 3 punts · 1 inside the 20
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
40%74 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds3.0 yds/carry on 80 carries · 6% explosive (10+ yds) · 40% success rate.
2 seasons under Rick Stockstill, all balanced offenses — 15-12 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2018 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 17.6 | 2.2 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 23.0 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 28.6 | 2.8 | 0.8 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 13.7 | 2.6 | 0.1 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rick Stockstill
Pass share
49.4%
483 pass / 495 run
Plays / game
69.9
14 games
Team sack rate
8.1%
530 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2018
About as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
How it ended
Two seasons at Middle Tennessee, 746 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2015–2018
1 coachPlayed every college season under Rick Stockstill.
