Sam Benjamin is a defensive lineman at San Diego State who has not played in San Diego State's 9 games this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025.
San Diego State lists 16 defensive linemen this season.
San Diego State is 4-5. Next: vs Utah State, Sat Nov 14.
Benjamin wins the gap play after play. Played for two head coaches across three seasons and two programs. A game that shows it: 3 tackles and 1.5 sacks against New Mexico — Week 14, 2025.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
18 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 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.
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| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | San Diego State | 18 | 6 | 3.0 | 1.5 |
| 2024 | San Diego State | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | Arizona State | 5 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Career | 27 | 11 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-0vs Stony Brook | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-36@ Washington State | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-0vs California | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 6-3@ Northern Illinois | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 45-24vs Colorado State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 44-10@ Nevada | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 12 | W 17-7vs Boise State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 25-3vs San José State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 17-23@ New Mexico | 3 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 47-49vs No. 23 North Texas | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 6 | 3.0 | 1.5 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
17%3 TFLSack rate
8%2 sacksHurry rate
11%2 hurries18 tackles · 3 for loss · 1.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Sean Lewis
Pass share
35.3%
290 pass / 532 run
Plays / game
63.2
13 games
Team sack rate
5.9%
289 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Pac-12
Based on 2025: #27 of 35 Mountain West DLs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%). It was measured on players who stayed in the same conference and is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Kenny Dillingham and Sean Lewis.
