CFB Zeitgeist Score
69
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 95th percentile.
Garrick Ponder
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
37 TACKLES · 4.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Southern Miss for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · Southern Miss
Returning around him
- 52% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- Transfer portal: +9 net (37 in / 28 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Southern Miss · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #83 · 2026 recruiting class #105
LB · SOUTHERN MISS · SUN BELT
Garrick Ponder
- 3
- #30
- 6-2 | 250 lb
- St. Petersburg, FL
Heisman Heat
Awaiting
Not on the live Heisman board this week.
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
—
TOP LB AWARD
Butkus
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 1 · 2-deepR04 · Rotational
Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Southern Miss
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| No recruiting profile is on file for this player. | ||
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| No transfer portal moves on file for this player. | ||
Heisman Lens
Where the model places this player relative to the rest of the Heisman field.
Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on Garrick Ponder
Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal
The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.
Cohort divergence map
Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Garrick Ponder
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 12g
37Tackles
11.5Tackles for loss
4.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
1.0Tackles for loss
0.4Sacks
Projected (13g)
40Tackles
12.5Tackles for loss
4.9Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 37): needs 43/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 37): needs 63/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 4.5): needs 1.5/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 4.5): needs 5.5/game over remaining 1.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Garrick Ponder is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Southern Miss's defense, with 4.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
DEF season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
37 80th
SOLO
16 71st
TFL
11.5 99th
SACK
4.5 97th
QBH
4 85th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 38-20vs Jackson State | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-22vs App State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 20-30@ Louisiana Tech | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 42-25vs Jacksonville State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 38-35@ Georgia Southern | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 22-10@ Louisiana | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 49-21vs UL Monroe | 6 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 11 | W 27-21@ Arkansas State | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-41vs Texas State | 4 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 35-42@ South Alabama | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 18-28vs Troy | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | L 16-27vs Western Kentucky | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 16 | 11.5 | 4.5 | — | 0 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2025Southern Miss7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 37 | 16 | 11.5 | 4.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 1 loaded season | 37 | 16 | 11.5 | 4.5 | -- | -- | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 37 | #1007/4942 | 80th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 11.5 | #62/4972 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 4.5 | #136/4972 | 97th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 4 | #291/1878 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 16 | #1348/4584 | 71st pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16
Why he’s here
Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.
What moves him up
What moves him down
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Butkus award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins7g | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Losses5g | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
69Solid starter
Elite: tackles for loss (97th). Strength: sacks (94th). Concern: passes defended (17th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · LB · 2025
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Garrick PonderSouthern MissMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 79% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 77% simAmare CampbellPenn State· 75% sim
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Tackles
Solo tackles
Forced fumbles
Passes defended
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Thumper
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Brad Spence’s 2025 season.
Brad Spence
69%match
#2
Tyler Guidry
66%
#3
Sidney Houston Jr.
64%
#4
Yhonzae Pierre
63%
#5
Bryan Thomas Jr.
62%
Matches Brad on
Class year
TFL rate
Sack rate
Differs from Brad on
Weight (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to CJ Rias's sophomore season at South Alabama (2022).
CJ Rias
85%match
#2
Amir Siddiq
All-Conference USA
78%
#3
Nelson Ceaser
78%
#4
Brennon Scott
74%
#5
Dillon Springer
73%
Matches CJ on
TFL rate
Sack rate
Tackle volume
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Charles Huff
Pass share
49.9%
454 pass / 456 run
Plays / game
70.0
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
6.3%
315 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2025
1 coach2025
Charles Huff
Southern Miss
Played his entire career under Charles Huff.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownSt. Petersburg, FL
Height6'2"
Weight250 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey30
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamSouthern Miss
ConferenceSun Belt
Joined2025
Career arc1 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
No formal honors on the ledger yet
All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned. | ||||
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This player hasn’t appeared on a Heisman ballot tracked by the model. | |||||||||
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | Sun Belt | LB | 3 | No. 30 | 6-2 | 250 lb | St. Petersburg, FL |