5′11″ · 220 lb · Daleville, AL · Enterprise
He has 3 sacks through 8 games, tied with Trent Hendrick's 2025 for the most by a James Madison linebacker since 2014.
JT Hooten
Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles. A game that shows it: 10 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against Georgia State — Week 7, 2026.
52 tackles · 3 sacks
Play style
Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
52 tackles. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | James Madison | 52 | 30 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | 52 | 30 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 8): 9 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.
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 | W 20-13vs Liberty | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 87-3vs Wagner | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 26-13@ San Diego State | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 46-20@ Old Dominion | 6 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 45-17vs Marshall | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-24@ Georgia Southern | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 49-22vs Georgia State | 10 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 8 | L 31-34@ App State | 9 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 52 | 30 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 |
Oct. 22 · L 31-34 at App State, play by play
9 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
No game thread archived for this game yet.
Sacked the quarterback for a 2-yard loss. First quarter, up 7-0.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 5 tackles for loss, 3 of them sacks, in the 8 games with play by play.
How James Madison’s defense played that day
App State’s 15 drives: 8 stopped · 7 scored. While the game was within a score they held 8 of 14. His sack came with James Madison up 7.
10 tackles.
6 tackles.
8 tackles.
6 tackles, including 1 sack. He hurried the quarterback once.
Sacked the quarterback for a 11-yard loss. Second quarter, up 30-7.
6 tackles, including 1 sack, 1 interception. His interception ended San Diego State’s drive (int).
Intercepted. Second quarter, up 13-0. Ended San Diego State’s drive (int).
Sacked the quarterback for a 10-yard loss. Fourth quarter, up 26-7.
3 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
4 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -13 to +8 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
52tackles this seasonTFL rate
11%6 TFLSack rate
6%3 sacksPD rate
2%1 pass breakups52 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 3 sacks · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 6.2 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 6.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 6.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 9.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Billy Napier
Pass share
45.5%
248 pass / 297 run
Plays / game
68.1
8 games
Team sack rate
3.0%
267 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
52 tackles in 8 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Fans first named him at San Diego State.
