CFB Zeitgeist Score
92
Elite in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 89th percentile.
Cade Uluave
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
97 TACKLES · 3 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to BYU
2025California
2026BYU
LB · CALIFORNIA · ACC
Cade Uluave
- 3
- 6-1 | 235 lb
- South Jordan, UT
Heisman Heat
#8348
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP LB AWARD
Butkus
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
3 seasons on the ladder
2023
California · LB
—
2024
California · LB
—
★
2025
California · LB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
California
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3-star | 0.8656 | No. 956 recruit | HighSchool |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | California -> BYU | 4-star | 0.9400 | Immediate |
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to —
Composite
0.8656
#956 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on Cade Uluave
Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal
The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.
Cohort divergence map
Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Cade Uluave
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 12g
97Tackles
12Tackles for loss
3Sacks
Per game
8Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
105Tackles
13Tackles for loss
3.2Sacks
✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 97.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 97): needs 3/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 3): needs 3/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 3): needs 7/game over remaining 1.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Cade Uluave is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on California's defense, with 3.0 sacks, 12.0 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
DEF season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
97 99th
SOLO
42 96th
TFL
12.0 99th
SACK
3.0 94th
QBH
4 85th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
4 84th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-15@ Oregon State | 10 | 4 | 2.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 2 | W 35-3vs Texas Southern | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 27-14vs Minnesota | 9 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 0-34@ San Diego State | 10 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 28-24@ Boston College | 6 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 21-45vs Duke | 12 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 21-18vs North Carolina | 10 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 9 | L 34-42@ Virginia Tech | 19 | 9 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 19 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 21-31vs Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-31@ Stanford | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 38-35vs SMU | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | L 31-35@ Hawai'i | 9 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 97 | 42 | 12.0 | 3.0 | — | 4 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023California6-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning
2024California6-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced
2025California7-6HC: Justin Wilcox · Pass-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | California | 97 | 42 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 4 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | California | 68 | 28 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | California | 67 | 38 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 232 | 108 | 21.5 | 5.5 | 9 | 3 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 97 | #57/4942 | 99th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 12.0 | #51/4972 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 3.0 | #292/4972 | 94th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 4 | #340/2184 | 84th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 4 | #291/1878 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 42 | #165/4584 | 96th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Butkus award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 7.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Road6g | 9.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins6g | 7.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Losses6g | 8.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 8.7 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 7.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
92Elite
Elite: tackles for loss (98th). Strength: tackles (98th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · LB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Cade UluaveCaliforniaRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 97% simCaden FordhamNC State· 96% simMatt RoseStanford· 95% sim
Tackles for loss
Tackles
Solo tackles
Sacks
QB hurries
Passes defended
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Every-Down Linebacker
Leads the team in tackles and rarely leaves the field.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Blake Carroll’s 2021 season.
Blake Carroll
82%match
All-Sun Belt
#2
Zack Woodard
80%
#3
C.J. Allen
80%
#4
Marlowe Wax
80%
#5
Teddye Buchanan
NFL Rd 4
79%
Matches Blake on
Weight
PD rate
Tackle volume
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to C.J. Allen's junior season at Georgia (2025).
C.J. Allen
81%match
#2
Taye Brown
All-Big 12
80%
#3
Amare Campbell
All-Big Ten
80%
#4
Maverick Baranowski
79%
#5
Rasheem Biles
All-ACC
78%
Matches C.J. on
Class year
PD rate
Sack rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Justin Wilcox
Pass share
57.0%
502 pass / 379 run
Plays / game
67.8
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
8.2%
353 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023
Justin Wilcox
California
2024
Justin Wilcox
California
2025
Justin Wilcox
California
Played his entire career under Justin Wilcox.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownSouth Jordan, UT
Height6'1"
Weight235 lb
Class3
PositionLB
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamCalifornia
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-ACC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-ACC | all_conference | California | ACC | BEDN |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | California | LB3 | #8348 | #8713 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
| 2023 | California | LB3 | #9997 | #10514 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Pac-12 |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | California | ACC | LB | 3 | 6-1 | 235 lb | South Jordan, UT |
| 2024 | California | ACC | LB | 3 | 6-1 | 235 lb | South Jordan, UT |
| 2023 | California | Pac-12 | LB | 3 | 6-1 | 235 lb | South Jordan, UT |