{"id":451833,"date":"2026-09-03T04:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/451833\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T04:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:50:10","slug":"is-luke-wafle-the-key-to-ending-uscs-run-defense-struggles-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/451833\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Luke Wafle the key to ending USC\u2019s run defense struggles? \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Defensive coordinator Gary Patterson has had a saying about USC\u2019s freshman class since they arrived in spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy this time of the year, freshmen will be freshmen no more,\u201d defensive lineman Floyd Boucard recalled. \u201cI could feel the freshmen took that into consideration. If one of them has to step up as an older dude, I\u2019m still going to listen. We don\u2019t have no ego.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freshmen on the defensive side of the ball are being held to the same standard as every other player, and it seems that defensive tackle Luke Wafle is already overachieving.<\/p>\n

He was used heavily in USC\u2019s run defense in Saturday\u2019s season opener against San Jos\u00e9 State. He was on the field for 41.1% of the Trojans\u2019 defensive plays, including 58.3% of third and fourth downs, according to stats from Hudl IQ.<\/p>\n

As a whole, the Trojans\u2019 defense limited the Spartans to 102 rushing yards and just six rushing first downs in a 42-26 win<\/a>. Pro Football Focus gave him an 80.3 grade in run defense, which was the third-highest mark on the team.<\/p>\n

Head coach Lincoln Riley sees an upside for him in the pass rush, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I like about Luke is he\u2019s an every-down style of player,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the thing I liked the most about him on Saturday is he didn\u2019t hesitate. He went in there and played aggressive. He was around the ball. He was around the quarterback. He made some plays for us, and he was really close to making a bunch of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s run defense was one of its weaker links last season, ranking 12th in the Big Ten Conference and giving up 143.23 rushing yards per game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wafle was brought in from Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, as part of a solution. He was the top-ranked Class of 2026 edge and the seventh-ranked player overall in the nation, and the intrigue about him only heightened with rumors that he hasn\u2019t had a soda in six years.<\/p>\n

Defensive end Braylan Shelby \u2013 who ranked second in sacks last season \u2013 and stud defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart did not play against San Jos\u00e9 State. Stewart is dealing with a foot injury, and Riley did not disclose the reason for Shelby\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

Even if Wafle\u2019s usage rate drops when those players return, he\u2019s still going to be a key to building depth that can get USC through a challenging Big Ten season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a true freshman in his first start, he was really good,\u201d Riley said, \u201cand I think he\u2019s going to be a high-impact player for us not only this year, but for the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

TROJANS ON NFL ROSTERS<\/p>\n

NFL teams have released their initial 53-man rosters and multiple USC players from last season have made the cut.<\/p>\n

Receiver Makai Lemon, the 20th overall draft pick, is on the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 roster and Ja\u2019Kobi Lane, another receiver, made the cut for the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

Safety Kamari Ramsey qualified for the Houston Texans\u2019 roster and is one of five former Trojans on the team, along with running back Woody Marks, cornerback Jaylin Smith, safety Calen Bullock and defensive end Solomon Byrd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super happy for (Ramsey),\u201d redshirt senior safety Prophet Brown said. \u201cHe had a great preseason interception. I love that guy. We talk all the time. Super happy for him and for the USC Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed two USC products to their practice squad: safety Bishop Fitzgerald and tight end Lake McRee. Fitzgerald, a first-team All-American, originally signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie free agent after the draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 Defensive coordinator Gary Patterson has had a saying about USC\u2019s freshman class since they arrived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[178581,10990,1321,1327,88,90,89,127,11320,125696],"class_list":["post-451833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-about-us","tag-big-ten-conference","tag-college-football","tag-college-sports","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-sports","tag-usc-football","tag-usc-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}