South Florida · L 2-29
No tackles.
Sacramento State · L 10-31
2 tackles
The other 7 games average 3 tackles. This one was 1 below.
Jackson has tackles in 8 of Kent State’s 9 games: none against South Florida.
Derrick Jackson
Second year in the Kent State secondary. One game to point at: 6 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Western Michigan — Week 6, 2026.
26 tackles · 1 sack
Play style
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
26 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 3 tackles for loss, 1 of them a sack, in the 8 games with play by play.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Kent State | 26 | 16 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Kent State | 48 | 27 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 |
| Career | 74 | 43 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 4 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 pass breakup, 2 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-57@ South Carolina | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 36-15vs Wofford | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 3-59@ No. 6 Ohio State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 26-13vs Ball State | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 10-13vs Ohio | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 7-38@ Western Michigan | 6 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 35-20vs Akron | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 10-31@ Sacramento State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 26 | 16 | 3.5 | 1.0 | — | 2 |
Week 2 · 2026
W 36-15
vs Wofford
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 21-point win at home against Wofford.
Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
8%2 pass breakupsTackle volume
26tackles this seasonTFL rate
13%4 TFL26 tackles · 3.5 for loss · 1 sack · 2 pass breakups.
2 seasons under Mark Carney — 8-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 3.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Carney
Pass share
48.2%
271 pass / 291 run
Plays / game
62.4
9 games
Team sack rate
4.8%
310 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #292 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-MAC
Based on 2025: #21 of 40 Mid-American DBs
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%).
2026 is in progress.
