#97

Dion Novil

Senior defensive lineman for North Texas. 2021: 5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 51 tackles.

DL · North Texas · Sr. · #97

6′4″ · 330 lb · Abilene, TX

CFB Index 81 · #37 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-ConferenceNorth Texas 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

2★

DT recruit

No. 2664 nationally · Signed with North Texas

Statement game8 tackles · 5 TFL · 1 sackvs Rice (FBS) · W 27-17

Top 0.1% tackles for loss game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for North Texas. 2021: 5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 51 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to North Texas in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at North Texas, 12 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2017

Signed with North Texas2-star out of Wylie

20208 games

The role got bigger.

All-Conference USAfirst

202112 games

All-Conference USAsecond

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2664 national

CFB

College

North Texas

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

6 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 2ND TEAM

All-Conference USA 2nd team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Seth Littrell

North Texas

Played his entire career under Seth Littrell.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Seth Littrell — 32-30 over that span.

2017North Texas9-5HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2018North Texas9-4HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced, fast tempo

2019North Texas4-8HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2020North Texas4-6HC: Seth Littrell · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021North Texas6-7HC: Seth Littrell · Run-heavy, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

81All-Conference level #37 of 370?

Medium confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (94th percentile). Strength: sacks (94th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles for loss#141 / 2743 · 94th pct

10.0

Sacks#151 / 2743 · 94th pct

5.0

QB hurries#323 / 2743 · 84th pct

Tackles#587 / 2743 · 78th pct

Solo tackles#813 / 2743 · 69th pct

Passes defended#735 / 2743 · 67th pct

Forced fumbles#59 / 673 · 46th pct

Interceptions#320 / 824 · 31st 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

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.5	1.0	0.4	0.2
Road6g	3.2	0.3	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.7	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	1.2	0.6	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Neal Brown

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

81 · #37 of 370 edge rushers

Two-star recruit. Now #37 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	North Texas	51	25	10.0	5.0	2	1	--
2020	North Texas	37	22	8.0	2.5	--	--	--
2019	North Texas	61	28	13.0	3.5	1	--	--
2018	North Texas	33	13	7.0	0.5	2	--	--
2017	North Texas	3	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		185	90	38.0	11.5	5	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2021

W 44–14

vs Northwestern State

3 TOT · 2 SOLO

Dominant 30-point win at home against Northwestern State.

With D. Torrey — 244 rush yds (25 car) · 3 TD · J. Ruder — 131 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 23.4 · 23 rush yds (3 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 44-14vs Northwestern State	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 12-35@ SMU	1	1	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 3	L 6-40vs UAB	5	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 17-24@ Louisiana Tech	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 35-48@ Missouri	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 21-49vs Marshall	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 26-35vs Liberty	5	3	1.5	1.5	—	0
Wk 9	W 30-24@ Rice	10	2	0.5	0.5	—	1	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 10	W 38-14@ Southern Miss	2	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 20-17vs UTEP	7	4	2.5	1.0	—	1	2.5 TFL
Wk 12	W 49-7@ Florida International	1	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 13	W 45-23vs UTSA	5	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Total		46	23	8.0	3.5	1	2

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