2022 Football Roster
Jersey Number 12
Taijh Alston
- Position:
- Defensive Line
- Height:
- 6-4
- Weight:
- 255
- Class:
- Redshirt Senior
- Hometown:
- Lumberton, N.C.
- High School:
- Union Pines
- Prev School:
- Copiah-Lincoln CC
- Has played in 16 career games, including 12 starts
- Preseason All-Big 12 Conference Fourth Team (Athlon Sports)
2021 (r-Jr.)
- Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Honorable Mention selection
- Played in 13 games, including 12 starts
- Finished with 37 tackles, including 23 solo stops, five sacks and 11 tackles for loss
- Ranked No. 2 on the team in tackles for loss (11)
- Recorded three tackles, including a tackle for loss and a forced fumble, in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Minnesota
- Had three tackles against Texas
- Registered his fifth sack of the year at Kansas State
- Had three tackles against Oklahoma State and assisted on a tackle for loss
- One of his two tackles against Iowa State was for a loss
- Recorded three tackles at TCU
- Had five tackles against Texas Tech, including 2.5 behind the line for TFLs
- Finished with a pair of sacks at Oklahoma, a career high
- Tallied 1 1/2 sacks against Virginia Tech to go along with four total tackles
- Earned his first career start at Maryland and had five tackles, including a TFL
2020 (COVID)
- Worked his way back from his previous year’s injury and played against Army in the Liberty Bowl
2019 (r-So.)
- Played in two games before sustaining a season-ending knee injury at Missouri
- Finished with a sack against James Madison
- Enrolled at West Virginia in January
2018 (r-Fr.) – Copiah-Lincoln CC
- Played for coach Glen Davis at Copiah Lincoln Community College
- First team All-Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC)
2017 (Fr.) – East Carolina
- Redshirted
- Enrolled at East Carolina in January but transferred to Copiah-Lincoln in the summer
High School
- Three-year varsity starter as a defensive end for coach Ryan Riggan at Union Pines
- Earned All-Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference First-Team honors
- Charlotte Observer ranked him as a top-25 recruit in North Carolina
- Three-star rating per 247Sports and Scout
- Also a standout in basketball
Personal
- Son of Donald Fairley and Chrystal Dowd
- One of eight children (4 brothers, 3 sisters)
- Graduated in December 2020 with his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies and is pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in sport management
- Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
- Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll
Coal Rush Miners' Tribute 2025
Friday, October 24
Coal Rush Miners' Tribute
Friday, October 24
TCU Game (Coal Rush) Uniform Reveal
Friday, October 24
United Bank Playbook: TCU Preview
Wednesday, October 22
