Marquez Cooper: RB · San Diego State · #15.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Marquez Cooper
Does a little of everything without one standout trait. The five seasons span three programs and two head coaches: Sean Lewis and Mike Neu. All-Mountain West in 2024 made it four straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 223 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards against East Texas A&M — Week 1, 2024.
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 15.2% of the season's rushing yards came on the 5 best carries — remarkably even — and the back is stuffed on 14.5% of carries. 17 carries for 77 yds vs Washington State; 27 for 225 vs East Texas A&M.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
75.3% of carries overall (289/384) → 61.0% of Q4-with-lead carries (25/41) — 88.0% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
18 of 27 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (66.7%). 15 of the team's 17 inside-the-5 carries (88.2%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | San Diego State | 292 | 1,274 | 4.4 | 12 | 47 |
| 2023 | Ball State | 227 | 1,043 | 4.6 | 4 | 39 |
| 2022 | Kent State | 285 | 1,331 | 4.7 | 13 | 46 |
| 2021 | Kent State | 241 | 1,205 | 5.0 | 11 | 66 |
| 2020 | Kent State | 57 | 266 | 4.7 | 5 | 19 |
| Career | 1,102 | 5,119 | 4.6 | 45 | 66 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | San Diego State | 20 | 137 | 6.8 | 2 | 21 |
| 2023 | Ball State | 19 | 164 | 8.6 | 0 | 26 |
| 2022 | Kent State | 8 | 94 | 11.8 | 0 | 27 |
| 2021 | Kent State | 10 | 95 | 9.5 | 0 | 20 |
| 2020 | Kent State | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Career | 58 | 504 | 8.7 | 2 | 27 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-14vs East Texas A&M | 27 | 223 | 8.3 | 2 | 47 | Season-high 223 yds |
| Wk 2 | L 0-21vs Oregon State | 13 | 53 | 4.1 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 3 | L 10-31@ California | 22 | 87 | 4.0 | 0 | 17 | |
| Wk 5 | L 21-22@ Central Michigan | 34 | 111 | 3.3 | 1 | 47 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-24vs Hawai'i | 30 | 109 | 3.6 | 2 | 31 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-24@ Wyoming | 25 | 87 | 3.5 | 1 | 26 | |
| Wk 9 | L 26-29vs Washington State | 18 | 78 | 4.3 | 2 | 20 | |
| Wk 10 | L 24-56@ No. 15 Boise State | 16 | 94 | 5.9 | 1 | 42 | |
| Wk 11 | L 16-21vs New Mexico | 35 | 123 | 3.5 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 12 | L 20-41@ UNLV | 26 | 97 | 3.7 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-41@ Utah State | 23 | 118 | 5.1 | 1 | 14 | |
| Wk 14 | L 20-31vs Air Force | 23 | 94 | 4.1 | 2 | 18 | |
| Total | 292 | 1274 | 4.4 | 12 | 47 |
Week 1 · 2024
W 45-14
223 rush yds (27 car) · 2 TD · 3 rec · 10 yds
Dominant 31-point win at home against East Texas A&M.
With D. O'Neil — 214 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 35.8 · 18 rush yds (5 car) · T. Pastula — 36.7 yards per punt · 3 punts · 40 long
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How the yards come, and how often it works
Success rate
37%288 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.4 yds/carry on 292 carries · 11% explosive (10+ yds) · 37% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 113 | 4.6 | 1.3 |
| Road6g | 99.0 | 4.2 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 112 | 4.5 | 1.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 101 | 4.4 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Sean Lewis
Pass share
46.9%
375 pass / 424 run
Plays / game
66.6
12 games
Team sack rate
7.1%
396 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
First team in the league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #110 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Kent State, Ball State and San Diego State, 5,119 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM
All-Mountain West 1st team (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 3 schools: Sean Lewis and Mike Neu.
