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Alex Kirschner believes there’s a scandal that’s “hidden in plain sight” playing out at the G5 level of college football. His theory involves Old Dominion, whom he thinks is shamelessly padding stats during home games.
The Monarchs defense boasts the sport’s leading tackler in each of the last two seasons. Last year, linebacker Jason Henderson racked up 170 takedowns. He had 186 the year prior.
That total puts him well ahead of the next closest contender, but digging deeper into those numbers is somewhat eye opening.
Of his 356 tackles over the last two campaigns, 246 are assisted. Less than a third of his recorded takedowns have been solo tackles.
Taking it one step further, Henderson’s outputs see a massive jump when he’s playing at home.
According to Kirschner, he averaged eight assisted tackles per game when playing away from Old Dominion’s friendly confines. At home, that number skyrockets to 13.5.
“What’s the difference between road games and home games?” Kirschner asks. “It’s the official scorer, who is an Old Dominion employee. This s— is ridiculous… Old Dominion’s official scorer is totally distorting the national tackling leaderboard in college football.”
It’s an inside job! Or at least the writer believes it to be.
Kirschner notes that while Jason Henderson has topped the sport in total tackles each of the last two years, he ranked just 46th and 75th in solo takedowns during that time.
Assisted tackles relate to “when two or more defenders tackle an opponent at the same time.” It is up to the home team’s statistician to determine which player, if any, gets a solo tackle on a play and who is given an assist on a tackle.
Essentially, it’s a judgement call if a player is in the area.
Kirschner says Henderson’s getting the benefit of the doubt more times than not when Old Dominion’s scorer is logging stats.
It’s far from the first supposed stat padding scandal in major US sports. In the NBA, Memphis was recently accused of boosting Jaren Jackson’s numbers to help him win Defensive Player of the Year. Other leagues have experienced similar situations.
A number of Old Dominion fans have retorted Kirschner’s theory, though he’s stuck to his guns for the most part. It will be interesting to see if Henderson’s numbers change at all in 2024.
The senior will play out his final season after being named an All-American last year.