Van Fillinger: DE · Utah · #7.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Van Fillinger
Turns pressure into sacks — pressures become finishes. Five seasons in the Utah defensive front to date. First career honor, 2024: All-Big 12. On tape: 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against UCF, Week 14, 2024.
Play style
Turns pressure into sacks — when he gets there, he finishes.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
43 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 8 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.
The Salt Lake Tribune Nov 2
KJZZ Oct 29The Salt Lake Tribune Oct 27
KUTV Oct 23Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-0vs Southern Utah | 3 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 2 | W 23-12vs Baylor | 5 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-21@ Utah State | 8 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 2 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 4 | W 22-19@ No. 14 Oklahoma State | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 10-23vs Arizona | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 19-27@ Arizona State | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 7-13vs TCU | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-17@ Houston | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 21-22vs No. 9 BYU | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 14 | W 28-14@ UCF | 7 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 43 | 22 | 8.0 | 5.0 | — | 5 |
Week 1 · 2024
W 49-0
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 49-point win at home against Southern Utah.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
12%5 sacksTFL rate
19%8 TFLHurry rate
2%1 hurryPressure-to-sack conversion
83%5 of 6 pressures43 tackles · 8 for loss · 5 sacks.
5 seasons under Kyle Whittingham — 36-22 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Road5g | 5.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.7 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 3.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kyle Whittingham
Pass share
47.6%
358 pass / 394 run
Plays / game
62.7
12 games
Team sack rate
6.5%
370 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2024
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #114 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Utah, 19 sacks — the college career is complete.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG 12 · 2ND TEAM
All-Big 12 2nd team (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kyle Whittingham.
