CFB Zeitgeist Score
32
Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by rush tds at the 50th percentile.
Matt Jones
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
325 RUSH YDS · 4 RUSH TD · 82 CARRIES
2026 Outlook
Returning to Southern Miss for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Running back · 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
RB · SOUTHERN MISS · SUN BELT
Matt Jones
- 4
- #5
- 6-0 | 202 lb
- Jackson, MS
Heisman Heat
#1253
<1% win probability
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
<1%
TOP RB AWARD
Doak Walker
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR06 · Starter
Starter. A locked-in starting role.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2022–2025+10733%
Up 10733% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
2 teams
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 · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman 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 Matt Jones
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
50
Mixed Sentiment
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=3
- Rivals · n=18
- National · n=2
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Matt Jones
Obsession score 12
Rival mentions 18
Weeks on radar 2
Peak moment Week 0 · 9 mentions
Grudging respect 0% Neutral 100% Mockery 0%
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 rushing totals stand
Through 13g
325Rush yards
82Carries
4Rush TDs
Per game
25Rush yards
6Carries
0Rush TDs
Final
325Rush yards
82Carries
4Rush TDs
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Matt Jones's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Southern Miss, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
RB 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?
Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Rushing
CAR
82 72nd
YDS
325 66th
YPC
4.0 34th
TD
4 79th
Receiving
REC
12 68th
YDS
86 65th
YPR
7.2 55th
TD
0 70th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-34vs Mississippi State | 5 | 11 | 2.2 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-20vs Jackson State | 7 | 16 | 2.3 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-22vs App State | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 4 | L 20-30@ Louisiana Tech | 12 | 36 | 3.0 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 5 | W 42-25vs Jacksonville State | 8 | 45 | 5.6 | 0 | 9 | Season-high 45 yds |
| Wk 7 | W 38-35@ Georgia Southern | 4 | 29 | 7.3 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 8 | W 22-10@ Louisiana | 9 | 37 | 4.1 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 9 | W 49-21vs UL Monroe | 12 | 42 | 3.5 | 2 | 10 | |
| Wk 11 | W 27-21@ Arkansas State | 8 | 44 | 5.5 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-41vs Texas State | 6 | 26 | 4.3 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 13 | L 35-42@ South Alabama | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 14 | L 18-28vs Troy | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 4 | |
| Bowl | L 16-27vs Western Kentucky | 4 | 11 | 2.8 | 0 | 6 | |
| Total | 82 | 325 | 4.2 | 4 | 17 |
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
2022Ole Miss8-5HC: Lane Kiffin · Run-heavy, fast tempo
2023Ole Miss11-2HC: Lane Kiffin · Run-leaning
2025Southern Miss7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 82 | 325 | 4.0 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Ole Miss | 12 | 79 | 6.6 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Ole Miss | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 97 | 407 | 4.2 | 7 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 12 | 86 | 7.2 | 0 | -- |
| 2023 | Ole Miss | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -- |
| 2022 | Ole Miss | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 13 | 85 | 6.5 | 0 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.
How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 325 | #250/735 | 66th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 4 | #154/739 | 79th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 4.0 | #489/735 | 34th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receptions | 12 | #180/552 | 68th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 86 | #195/548 | 65th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.12 | #173/362 | 52nd pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 71 weighted playsvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Role share | 9.7% | #326/738 | 56th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Carries | 82 | #205/739 | 72nd pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 17 | #434/733 | 41st pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 27 | #142/540 | 74th pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 7.2 | #250/548 | 55th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 0 | #169/552 | 70th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Rush share | 15.9% | #328/738 | 56th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 10.6% | #318/738 | 57th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 10.5% | #337/738 | 54th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 10.3% | #348/738 | 53rd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 8.3% | #275/738 | 63rd pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 7.5% | #313/738 | 58th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Pass share | 4.1% | #227/738 | 69th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS RB |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 21.5 | 3.5 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 30.6 | 5.4 | 0.4 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins7g | 32.3 | 4.7 | 0.6 |
| Losses6g | 16.5 | 3.7 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 23.0 | 3.9 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 27.3 | 4.5 | 0.5 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
32Below cohort
Concern: long run (7th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · RB · 2024
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.
wepa_rushing0.12Low (p25–p50) (n=178)
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Matt JonesSouthern MissTae MeadowsTroy· 69% simSeth McGowanKentucky· 68% simKamari MoultonIowa· 65% sim
Rush TDs
Receptions
Rec yards
Carries
Rush yards
Yards / carry
Long run
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Balanced Back
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Alex Fontenot’s 2021 season.
Alex Fontenot
83%match
#2
Ronald Awatt
72%
#3
Frank Peasant
78%
#4
Jalen Holston
77%
#5
Juma Otoviano
76%
Matches Alex on
Weight
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Yards / reception
Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Miles Reed’s path through Stephen F. Austin.
Miles Reed
100%match
#2
Rakeem Boyd
96%
#3
Damonta Witherspoon
94%
#4
Harry Trotter
94%
#5
Jawaun Northington
93%
Matches Miles on
Yards per carry
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Juma Otoviano's senior season at Rice (2023).
Juma Otoviano
82%match
#2
Frank Peasant
81%
#3
Jordan Mcdonald
74%
#4
Reese White
72%
#5
Dean Connors
71%
Matches Juma on
Yards / carry
Total rush EPA (college ability)
EPA / carry (adj)
Differs from Juma on
Height (higher)
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 · 2022–2025
2 coaches2022
Will Hall
Southern Miss
2023
Will Hall
Southern Miss
2025era →
Charles Huff
Southern Miss
Coaching transition mid-career: Will Hall → Charles Huff. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownJackson, MS
Height6'0"
Weight202 lb
Class4
PositionRB
Jersey5
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamSouthern Miss
ConferenceSun Belt
Joined2025
Career arc5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ole Miss | RB4 | #1253 | #1025 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | SEC |
| 2023 | Ole Miss | RB4 | #567 | #440 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | SEC |
| 2022 | Ole Miss | RB4 | #1855 | #1649 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | SEC |
| 2021 | Ole Miss | RB4 | #1756 | #1306 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | SEC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | Sun Belt | RB | 4 | No. 5 | 6-0 | 202 lb | Jackson, MS |
| 2024 | Ole Miss | SEC | RB | 4 | No. 5 | 6-0 | 202 lb | Jackson, MS |
| 2023 | Ole Miss | SEC | RB | 4 | No. 5 | 6-0 | 202 lb | Jackson, MS |
| 2022 | Ole Miss | SEC | RB | 4 | No. 5 | 6-0 | 202 lb | Jackson, MS |
| 2021 | Ole Miss | SEC | RB | 4 | No. 5 | 6-0 | 202 lb | Jackson, MS |