Missouri safety Jalen Catalon has played a lot of college football.
When the Tigers welcome No. 3 Texas A&M to Columbia on Saturday for a major SEC matchup, Catalon won't be likely to blink. He's been there before -- and then some.
Catalon's collegiate career started in 2019 at Arkansas, where he played four games, redshirting as a freshman. He spent three more seasons with the Razorbacks, gaining additional eligibility throughout -- COVID-19 altered the 2020 campaign and injuries ended his 2021 and 2022 seasons prematurely.
His next step after Arkansas was Texas, where he spent another injury-impacted season before transferring to UNLV in 2024. Finally, after a standout year in Las Vegas, Catalon transferred one last time, to Missouri for 2025.
Across seven years, four teams and three conferences, this weekend's showdown with the Aggies will mark the eleventh game the veteran defensive back has played against a top-10 opponent in his collegiate career. From facing off against the likes of Matt Corral, Bo Nix and Jalen Milroe to an offer from a national champion coach you might not expect, Catalon's career has had plenty of twists and turns.
Here are some of the wild numbers behind the safety's journey to Week 11's ranked mid-afternoon showdown.
299: Combined tackles
Unsurprisingly, Catalon has racked up a lot of stats across his 51 career games. His most productive tackling year came when he first broke out in his second season at Arkansas. The safety posted 51 solo tackles along with 48 assisted tackles (as well as two tackles for loss), earning All-SEC honors.
After injuries limited his production for the next three years, Catalon saw another stat sheet surge with UNLV in 2024. Across 14 games for the Rebels, he amassed 61 solo tackles and 35 assisted tackles -- though his biggest impact came in pass defense, with his five interceptions tying a conference high.
18: Games against ranked opponents
Catalon is no stranger to tough opposition -- just over 35% of his games played in college have come against a ranked opponent. He has come out on the winning end of only six of those contests, but it is worth noting that a number of those games came between overmatched Arkansas teams (the Razorbacks went 5-17 across his first two seasons) and dominant SEC foes. Catalon's record is stronger in games like Saturday's -- in which both teams playing will be ranked -- with a 4-6 mark in such matchups.
11: Drafted quarterbacks played against
Having been in college football since 2019, Catalon has faced no shortage of notable quarterbacks. Eleven signal-callers who have later heard their name called in the NFL draft have played against Catalon -- nine as starters and two off the bench. Somewhat remarkably, Catalon faced eight different future draftee quarterbacks in 2020 -- whose selections were spread out across four different drafts. Catalon's draftee opponents have combined for 27,978 career NFL passing yards as of Nov. 6.
In an interesting twist, in addition to future pros, Catalon has also faced off against a number of notable fellow collegiate journeyman quarterbacks. JT Daniels, Zach Calzada, Casey Thompson and TJ Finley all have called four or more schools home -- and all have played against Jalen Catalon at one of their stops.
3: Matchups with Alabama... on three different teams
The Crimson Tide have been a constant for Catalon throughout his career. A player matching up against another team three different times isn't all that extraordinary in itself, but one tidbit about Catalon's matchups with Alabama is unique: He has never played the Tide for the same team twice.
Catalon's first game against Alabama came at the end of his breakout redshirt freshman season in 2020. Injuries prevented him from taking part in Arkansas' next two games against the Crimson Tide, but he got another crack soon enough. In 2023, he recorded six solo tackles in Texas' statement win in Tuscaloosa. Finally, earlier this fall, he faced off against Alabama one last time -- this time as a Tiger -- posting six total tackles.
1: Offer from Bob Stoops
A consensus four-star recruit coming out of high school, Catalon had no shortage of options when it came to where he wanted to start his collegiate career. Boasting offers from a number of top programs, one of Catalon's first offers came from the University of Oklahoma in January 2017.
Sooner fans would likely notice that offseason as a notable date in the school's recent football history -- longtime head coach Bob Stoops retired in June 2017 as the program's all-time winningest head coach after 18 seasons. A lot has changed around Norman since Catalon's initial offer -- Stoops retired, Lincoln Riley took over, won 55 games, decamped for USC, Stoops returned to coach a bowl game and now Brent Venables is in the midst of his fourth season on the job.