Liberty · L 15-51
No catches.
Kent State · L 13-26
No catches.
Toledo · L 24-39
No catches.
Massachusetts · L 30-31
No catches.
Nelson has catches in 5 of Ball State’s 9 games: none in the other 4.
Dashed line: 100 yards.
CJ Nelson
The two seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Dana Holgorsen and Mike Uremovich. One game to point at: 59 receiving yards and 6 receptions against Bowling Green — Week 7, 2026.
90 receiving yards · 12 catches · 0 receiving TD
Play style
Moves the chains on third down.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The game on Nov 4 is in the game log; its play by play comes with the next update.
Against Sacramento State on Oct. 24: 1 catch for 7 yards. In the 5 games drawn here: 12 catches for 90 yards. Ball State has thrown to CJ Nelson 18 times in 166 passes.
Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when the play moved the chains.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ball State | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 23 |
| 2022 | Houston | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Career | 14 | 97 | 6.9 | 0 | 23 |
| Season | Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ball State | 2 | 15 |
| 2022 | Houston | -- | -- |
| Career | 2 | 15 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 6 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 3-56@ No. 1 Ohio State | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 2 | W 41-17vs Stony Brook | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Wk 6 | L 14-45@ Northwestern | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 7 | W 32-31@ Bowling Green | 6 | 59 | 9.8 | 0 | 23 | Season-high 59 yds |
| Wk 8 | W 34-17vs Sacramento State | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 10 | L 30-31@ Massachusetts | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 12 | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 23 |
Week 7 · 2026
W 32-31
6 rec · 59 yds
Edged out Bowling Green on the road in a shootout.
With K. Luster — 195 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 71.2 · 125 rush yds (17 car) · 1 TD · C. Stumbaugh — 41 yards per punt · 4 punts · 56 long
The plays that mattered most
839th in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position
Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often the receiver is targeted, and how well it works
Targets
197% of team targetsCatch rate
63%12 of 19 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
63% catch rate on 19 targets · 7% of the team's targets.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 2.5 | 19.2 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 2.8 | 20.8 | 6.8 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 0.5 | 3.5 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mike Uremovich
Pass share
48.5%
277 pass / 294 run
Plays / game
63.4
9 games
Team sack rate
5.4%
313 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #459 at the position.
2026 is in progress.
The snaps went the other way.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Dana Holgorsen and Mike Uremovich.
