John Pupel: DB · Boston College · #35.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
John Pupel
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. On tape: 9 tackles against Virginia Tech, Week 11, 2023.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
81 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Atlantic Coast Conference Oct 22
Sports Illustrated Oct 22
247Sports Oct 16Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Boston College | 81 | 55 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Career | 81 | 55 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 24-27vs Northern Illinois | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 31-28vs Holy Cross | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 29-31vs No. 3 Florida State | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 28-56@ Louisville | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 27-24vs Virginia | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-24@ Army | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 38-23@ Georgia Tech | 8 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 21-14vs UConn | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 17-10@ Syracuse | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 22-48vs Virginia Tech | 9 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 16-24@ Pittsburgh | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-45vs Miami | 5 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 23-14vs No. 17 SMU | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 81 | 55 | 5.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
1%1 pass breakupsTackle volume
81tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%6 TFL81 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 1 pass breakup.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 6.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 7.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 6.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 6.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jeff Hafley
Pass share
40.5%
361 pass / 531 run
Plays / game
68.6
13 games
Team sack rate
4.7%
360 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
81 tackles in 13 games, more tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
One season at Boston College, 81 tackles — the college career is complete.
