6′2″ · 240 lb · Asheville, NC
5 stories in the last 30 days, from 6 outlets.
Utah State’s Asher Cunningham Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
Cache Valley Daily +1 Oct 13
Asher Cunningham
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. On tape: 17 tackles and 2 tackles for loss against Washington State, Week 6, 2026.
51 tackles · 1.5 sacks
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Utah State | 51 | 22 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Career | 51 | 22 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 6): 17 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 6 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-29vs Idaho State | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-16@ No. 19 Washington | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 0-33@ No. 17 Utah | 9 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 21-10vs Troy | 6 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 18-37@ No. 22 Boise State | 11 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 17-16vs Washington State | 17 | 7 | 2.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 17 tackles |
| Total | 51 | 22 | 6.0 | 1.5 | — | 1 |
Oct. 9 · W 17-16 vs Washington State, play by play
17 tackles, including 2 more for loss.
Sacked the quarterback for a 9-yard loss on 3rd and 4. Third quarter, down 16-10.
Against his own season: his best backfield disruption game of the season so far.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 6 tackles for loss, 1 of them a sack, in the 6 games with play by play.
How Utah State’s defense played that day
Washington State’s 13 drives: 9 stopped (2 takeaways) · 4 scored. While the game was within a score they held 6 of 10. His sack came with Utah State down 6.
11 tackles.
6 tackles, including 1 more for loss. He hurried the quarterback once.
9 tackles, including 1 more for loss, 1 pass broken up.
3 tackles, including 1 sack.
Sacked the quarterback for a 7-yard loss. Third quarter, down 10-7.
5 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -12 to +19 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
51tackles this seasonTFL rate
12%6 TFLSack rate
3%2 sacksPD rate
2%1 pass breakups51 tackles · 6 for loss · 1.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 9.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 7.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 8.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bronco Mendenhall
Pass share
50.8%
200 pass / 194 run
Plays / game
65.7
6 games
Team sack rate
9.1%
220 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
51 tackles in 6 games, more tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
from 6 outlets
Utah State’s Asher Cunningham Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
Cache Valley Daily +1 Oct 13 · 2 outlets
Utah State University Athletics +1Asher Cunningham Named Walter Camp Foundation National Defensive Player of the WeekOct 13
Yahoo SportsLaNorris Sellers, Asher Cunningham earn major award after Week 6Oct 13from 6 outlets
Utah State’s Asher Cunningham Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
Cache Valley Daily +1 Oct 13 · 2 outlets
Utah State University Athletics +1Asher Cunningham Named Walter Camp Foundation National Defensive Player of the WeekOct 13Yahoo SportsLaNorris Sellers, Asher Cunningham earn major award after Week 6Oct 13
Deseret NewsEach week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Oct 24.
2026 is in progress.
