Biography
CAREER
Games/Starts: 40/15
Bison debut: at Okla. Baptist (9/5/16)
First career start: vs. Henderson St. (8/31/17)
Stats: 187 tackles, 19.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 4 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery; 11 special teams tackles
Redshirt: 2014
AWARDS
2017 AP All-America (second team)
2017 D2CCAÂ All-America (first team)
2017 D2CCAÂ Super Region 3 (first team)
2017 All-GACÂ (first team)
2016 Academic All-GAC
2017 Academic All-GAC
2017
Games/Starts:Â 15/15
Position:Â LB
Stats:Â 130 tackles, 13.0 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 4 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery; 1 special teams tackle
HU Leader:Â Tackles (130), interceptions (3), forced fumbles (4)
HU Single-Season Rankings: t-3rd in forced fumbles (4), t-14th in tackles (130), t-17th in TFL (13.0)
GAC/NCAA Rankings: 1st/58th in forced fumbles (0.27), 4th/55th in solo tackles (5.0), 3rd/60th in total tackles (8.7)
Best Games:Â 14 tackles at Ouachita Baptist (10/7) ... 13 tackles at Ashland (11/25) ... 12 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass breakup vs. Southwestern Okla. (10/21) ... 11 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery at Arkansas Tech (11/11) ... 10 tackles, 1 forced fumble vs. Henderson St. (8/31) ... 10 tackles, 2.0 TFL at Okla. Baptist (9/23).
2016
Games/Starts: 14/0
Position: LB, ST
Stats: 34 tackles, 4.5 TFL; 5 special teams tackles
Best Games: 8 tackles, 0.5 TFL at Henderson St. (10/8); 2 tackles, 2.0 TFL vs. Okla. Baptist (9/3)
2015
Games/Starts: 11/0
Position: LB, ST
Stats: 23 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.0 sack; 5 special teams tackles
Best Game: 4 tackles, 1.0 TFL vs. Southern Nazarene (9/12)
PREVIOUS SCHOOL
A 2014 graduate of Union High School in Tulsa, Okla.
Position: DB
Stats: 104 tackles, 2.0 sacks as a senior
Honors: first-team All-State ... first-team All-District ... first-team All-Metro ... team captain ... FCA president ... Wendy's High School Heisman Finalist ... his uncle, Bill Blankenship, was the head coach at the University of Tulsa from 2011-14
Coach: Kirk Fridrich
PERSONAL
Born: Sept. 30, 1994 in Plano, Texas
Major: Finance
Parents: Joe and Rosa Blankenship ... has one brother (Malachi) and nine sisters (Annie, Aaliyah, Amy, Glory, Erica, Jerusha, Lottie, Hannah, and Miriam)
CAREER HIGHS
All-purpose yards: 17, at Indianapolis, Nov 18, 2017
Interceptions: 1, at Ferris State, Dec 02, 2017 ; at Indianapolis, Nov 18, 2017 ; at Northwestern Okla., Oct 14, 2017
Long interception return: 16, at Indianapolis, Nov 18, 2017
Tackles: 14 Â [t-10th], at Ouachita Baptist, Oct 07, 2017 (10-4)
Sacks: 1.0, East Central, Nov 04, 2017 (1-0); at Arkansas Tech, Nov 11, 2017 (1-0)
Tackles for loss: 3.0 Â [t-19th], at Ferris State, Dec 02, 2017 (2-1)
Fumbles forced: 2 Â [t-1st], at Arkansas Tech, Nov 11, 2017
Fumbles recovered: 1 Â [t-4th], at Arkansas Tech, Nov 11, 2017
Pass breakups: 1, Southwestern Okla., Oct 21, 2017
