Owen Carney Jr.: LB · Illinois · #99.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Owen Carney Jr.
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. The five seasons at Illinois span three head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith and Bret Bielema. On tape: 6 tackles against UTSA, Week 1, 2021.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
44 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 7.5 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.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-22vs Nebraska | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 30-37vs UTSA | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-42@ Virginia | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-20vs Maryland | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 9-13@ Purdue | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-14vs Charlotte | 4 | 2 | 2.5 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 6 | L 0-24vs Wisconsin | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-18@ No. 7 Penn State | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-20vs Rutgers | 5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 14-6@ Minnesota | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-33@ No. 18 Iowa | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 47-14vs Northwestern | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 44 | 19 | 7.5 | 6.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
44tackles this seasonTFL rate
17%8 TFLSack rate
14%6 sacksPD rate
0%0 pass breakups44 tackles · 7.5 for loss · 6 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
41.0%
321 pass / 462 run
Plays / game
65.2
12 games
Team sack rate
6.3%
378 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #466 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Illinois, 112 tackles — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2017–2021
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
