Wayne Matthews III is a linebacker who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Michigan State.
Matthews is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Played for two head coaches at two programs in five seasons: Ricky Rahne and Jonathan Smith. First career honor, 2023: All-Sun Belt. One game to point at: 10 tackles against Youngstown State — Week 3, 2025.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
73 tackles. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 4.5 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Michigan State | 73 | 32 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | Michigan State | 33 | 18 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Old Dominion | 135 | 40 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 3 | -- |
| 2022 | Old Dominion | 13 | 6 | 0.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Old Dominion | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 255 | 96 | 14.0 | 4.5 | 4 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 23-6vs Western Michigan | 6 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 42-40vs Boston College | 8 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-24vs Youngstown State | 10 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 31-45@ No. 25 USC | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 27-38@ Nebraska | 5 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-38vs UCLA | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 13-38@ No. 3 Indiana | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 20-31vs No. 25 Michigan | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 20-23@ Minnesota | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-28vs Penn State | 8 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-20@ Iowa | 9 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 38-28vs Maryland | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 73 | 32 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
73tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%4 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksPD rate
1%1 pass breakups73 tackles · 4.5 for loss · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 7.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 5.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 6.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
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
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #274 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #36 of 72 Big Ten LBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
The No. 2,280 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Big Ten as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-SUN BELT
All-Sun Belt mention (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Ricky Rahne and Jonathan Smith.
