James Patterson: LB · Buffalo · #8.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
James Patterson
Ranges from hash to hash and finishes the tackle. The five seasons at Buffalo span two head coaches: Lance Leipold and Maurice Linguist. That makes three straight seasons on the honors list: All-MAC again in 2022. A game that shows it: 16 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Ohio — Week 10, 2022.
Play style
Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
109 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interception. 11 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 10-31@ Maryland | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 31-37vs Holy Cross | 11 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 26-38@ Coastal Carolina | 9 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 50-31@ Eastern Michigan | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-20vs Miami (OH) | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-7@ Bowling Green | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-7@ Massachusetts | 7 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 34-27vs Toledo | 11 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 24-45@ Ohio | 16 | 7 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 16 tackles |
| Wk 11 | L 27-31@ Central Michigan | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 27-30vs Kent State | 10 | 6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 23-22vs Akron | 11 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 109 | 65 | 11.0 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
109tackles this seasonTFL rate
10%11 TFLSack rate
1%2 sacksPD rate
2%2 pass breakups109 tackles · 11 for loss · 1.5 sacks · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 9.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road7g | 8.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 7.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 11.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Maurice Linguist
Pass share
45.8%
419 pass / 496 run
Plays / game
70.4
13 games
Team sack rate
6.3%
458 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #78 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Buffalo, 396 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM
All-MAC 2nd team (2022)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2021)
2 career weekly honors across 2 seasons
Coaching lineage · 2018–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lance Leipold → Maurice Linguist. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
