Mat Ball Class: RS Senior Hometown: Dixon, CA High School: Dixon Height / Weight: 6-6 / 285 Position: DE Birthdate: 01/04/1981 Experience: 3V

UCLA — Mat enters Fall camp as the top candidate at the left end position … An outstanding athlete with exceptional speed … He plays with great leverage and has become an efficient pass rusher … Has found a home at defensive end … Moved to the defensive line in the Spring of 2002 after playing outside linebacker in 2001 … Saw action on the defensive line in 2000 … Has six career starts, two at linebacker.

2002 — Made a smooth transition back to defensive end from linebacker and totaled a career-best 18 tackles, including six tackles for loss … Saw action in all 13 games … Made one tackle against Colorado State … Had two tackles at Oklahoma State … Recorded one sack versus Colorado … Had one stop at San Diego State … Was not credited with a stop at Oregon State … Had one tackle for loss versus Oregon … Totaled one stop at Cal … Credited with three tackles in the Stanford game, including one for loss … At Arizona, he made one sack, a 16-yard loss … Had one stop against USC … Totaled two tackles, one for loss in the Washington State game … Had two tackles in the bowl win over New Mexico.

2001 — This was his first season at strongside linebacker, making the switch during Fall camp … He started versus Alabama and made one tackle at his new position … He came off the bench at Kansas and made three tackles, including one for loss, had one assist off the bench versus Ohio State, two solo tackles in the win at Oregon State and a season-high four tackles (two solos) at Stanford … He started the finale versus Arizona State and made two tackles (one solo), including one-half sack … He played in all 11 games, nine off the bench, and made 12 tackles … Saw at least 20 plays of action in seven games with a high of 26 plays in games versus Oregon State, Washington and Stanford.

2000 —Ball made his first career start against Oregon State … He made two tackles, both for losses, and scored a touchdown, picking off a pass deflected by Tony White and running 15 yards for the score … He started at Washington and made five tackles, tipped one pass, and added two tackles in his start versus USC … In the Sun Bowl against Wisconsin, he started and made three tackles … On the year, he played in seven games defensively, starting four times, and played at least 40 snaps five times, including 68 versus Oregon State, 66 at California and 61 at Washington.

1999 — Did not play in his first season in the program and has one season of eligibility remaining.

HIGH SCHOOL — Earned three varsity letters in football as a defensive end and offensive lineman for coach Tom Crumpacker at Dixon High in Dixon,CA … PrepStar All-American and rated the No. 13 defensive lineman in the Western Region by PrepStar … Ranked fifth (tied) among strongside defensive ends by the National Recruiting Advisor … Cornwell All-American … SuperPrep All-Far West (No. 54 player in the California/Arizona/Hawaii) … Member of Tacoma News-Tribune Western 100 … In SuperPrep’s pre-season issue, he ranked 40th among defensive linemen and 26th among all players in the California/Nevada/Hawaii area … PrepStar pre-season All-West Region … As a senior, he played in only four games due to injuries … Totaled four sacks, 30 tackles, five tackles for loss … Also scored 16 points as a placekicker … As a junior, he was selected all-area and all-league … Made 80 tackles, including 14 quarterback sacks, 19 tackles for loss … Also accounted for four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, one interception, seven pass break ups and five blocked passes … Team won the SCAL championship, finished second in the Section and sixth in the State (Division III) … Also lettered three years in basketball for coach George Skezas … As a senior, he averaged 18 points and 13.2 rebounds per contest … As a junior, he played forward and center while averaging 19.2 points and 13 rebounds per game … Three-time all-league selection, SCAL Most Valuable Player (senior) … Team won four straight league championships and was rated as high as fourth in the Section.

PERSONAL — Full Name: Mathew Duncan Ball … Born: January 4, 1981 in Fairfield, CA … Parents: Robert and Elizabeth Ball … Has a twin brother, Dave, also on the football team, and an older sister, Lisa … Biggest athletic thrill was beating arch rival Vanden High School, 35-14, in front of 8,000 fans when both teams were 9-0 … Former NFL star Dick Butkus is the famous athlete he admires most and patterns his style of play after … Earned spot on the Director’s Honor Roll in Spring 2000 (3.30 GPA), Winter 2002 (3.23), Spring 2002 (3.10) and Fall 2002 (3.20) … History major.

b>Varsity Statistics - M. Ball
Tackles

Career Highs
Tackles: 5 vs. Washington, 2000; 4 vs. Stanford, 2001