#21

Ben Kopenski

Senior defensive lineman for Tulsa. 2023: 8.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, 52 tackles.

DL · Tulsa · Sr. · #21

6′1″ · 255 lb · Mckinney, TX

CFB Index 78 · #57 of 418 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamTulsa 2023 alumnus

The story

4 defensive lineman for Tulsa. 2023: 8.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, 52 tackles.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Tulsa, 13 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

202311 games

All-AACfirst

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2021–2023

2 coaches

2021–2022

Philip Montgomery

Tulsa

2023

Kevin Wilson

Tulsa

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Philip Montgomery → Kevin Wilson. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Oklahoma State12-2HC: Mike Gundy · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Oklahoma State7-6HC: Mike Gundy · Balanced, fast tempo

2023Tulsa4-8HC: Kevin Wilson · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

78All-Conference level #57 of 418?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (99th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (98th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#24 / 2842 · 99th pct

8.5

Tackles for loss#43 / 2842 · 98th pct

13.5

Forced fumbles#4 / 710 · 96th pct

QB hurries#230 / 2842 · 89th pct

Solo tackles#523 / 2842 · 81st pct

Tackles#530 / 2842 · 81st pct

Passes defended#1751 / 2842 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	5.7	1.8	1.1	0.0
Road5g	3.6	0.6	0.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	4.4	1.1	0.9	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	1.3	0.7	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tre Lamb

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

78 · #57 of 418 edge rushers

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Tulsa	52	30	13.5	8.5	--	--	1
2022	Oklahoma State	11	6	3.5	3.5	1	--	--
2021	Oklahoma State	3	3	2.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		66	39	19.0	13.0	1	--	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2023

W 42–7

vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff

1 QB HUR · 2 TFL · 2 SACKS

Dominant 35-point win at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

With C. Williams — 233 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.6 · -9 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD · J. Ford — 110 rush yds (19 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 42-7vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff	10	2	2.5	2.0	—	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 3	L 17-66vs Oklahoma	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 22-14@ Northern Illinois	3	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 48-26vs Temple	3	0	1.0	0.5	—
Wk 6	L 17-20@ Florida Atlantic	4	3	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 8	L 10-42vs Rice	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 10-69@ SMU	4	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	L 26-33vs Charlotte	9	5	3.0	1.0	—	3.0 TFL
Wk 11	L 22-24@ Tulane	5	4	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 28-35vs North Texas	7	6	4.0	3.0	—	3 sacks
Wk 13	W 29-27@ East Carolina	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Total		52	30	13.5	8.5	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Ben Kopenski

202311 games

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

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