Notes: Became second person in his family (brother Justin ''09) to win an Ivy title for Yale football... Career total of 21.5 sacks are 3rd best at Yale...
2017: Buck Buchanan Award Finalist for FCS Defensive Player of Year... Bushnell Cup (Ivy Defensive MVP) Winner... Walter Camp Football Foundation FCS First Team All-America... AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Second Team... Phil Steele and CSM Third-Team All-America... First-Team All-Ivy League and All-New England linebacker... New Haven Gridiron Club''s James DeAngelis Iron Man Award... Led league in sacks with 11.5 and was 2nd in FCS with average of 1.15 per game... 11.5 sacks are 2nd most for a Yale player... Team-high 14.5 tackles for lost yards... Three sacks vs. Holy Cross including a safety... Caught a point-after pass against Penn during a road win.
2016: Honorable Mention All-Ivy League... Played in every game, but had best outing in season finale win at Harvard with 5-2-7... Made 41 overall tackles.
2015: Started 10 games… Honorable Mention All-Ivy… Two-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Week… ECAC Player of the Week for 11 solo tackles against Lehigh… Led team with five sacks and seven tackles for loss… Had 42 solo tackles and 23 assisted tackles for a total of 65… Recorded six pass break ups… One forced fumble.
2014: Recipient of the Charles Loftus Award for most valuable freshman at Yale... Played in every game... Recorded 29 solo tackles... Led all freshmen with 48 total stops... Also had three sacks and 7.5 tackles for a loss... Picked off one pass... Top performance was 9-2-11 vs. Dartmouth.
At Delbarton: Captain of both football and track teams… Ten-time letter winner between football (3), track (4) and lacrosse (3)… 2013 stats included 130 tackles, seven interceptions, 20 TFLs, 17 TDs, 1,200 yards receiving… Maxwell Player of the Year… Daily Record Player of the Year… First-team all-state… Three-time conference champions… Two-time state finalist… All-county in track… Two-time conference champions in lacrosse… State sectional champions… Headmaster''s list… Highest honors.
Personal: Matthew is the son of Stephen and Missy Oplinger… Brother, Justin ''09, played OLB at Yale… Sister, Lauren, played ice hockey at Holy Cross... Had summer job working for Franklin Templeton as an analyst researching oil companies... Oplinger family has worked with Healing the Children, where they foster kids from other countries who need surgeries... Economics major.
