2018 USC Football Roster
Roster
Talanoa Hufanga
- Position:
- Safety
- Height:
- 6-1
- Weight:
- 215
- Class:
- Freshman
- Hometown:
- Corvallis, OR
- High School:
- Crescent Valley HS
CAREER: He has 203 tackles, including 16.5 for losses (with 6.5 sacks), plus 8 deflections, 4 interceptions and 4 forced fumbles in his career. He has appeared in 24 games in his career, with 21 starts.
2020: Hufanga proved to be one of the nation’s top safeties while starting at strong safety as a 2020 junior. Overall in 2020 while starting all 6 games, he had a team-high 62 tackles, including 5.5 for losses of 33 yards (with 3 sacks for minus 19 yards), plus a team-best 4 interceptions for 90 yards (22.5 avg), a team-high 2 forced fumbles and a deflection. He was second nationally in interceptions (0.7, first in Pac-12), 16th in forced fumbles (0.3, sixth in Pac-12) and 18th in tackles (10.3, fourth in Pac-12). He had an interception in 4 consecutive games in 2020 (Arizona, Utah, Washington State, UCLA), the first Trojan to do so since Sammy Knight in 1996. He was named the 2020 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and AP Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, as well as to the AP All-American first team, Walter Camp All-American first team, Sporting News All-American first team, ESPN.com All-American first team, CBSSports.com All-American first team, The Athletic All-American first team, USA Today All-American first team, Pro Football Focus All-American second team, Phil Steele All-American third team, All-Pac-12 first team, AP All-Pac-12 first team, Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 first team and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team. He was the 2020 Polynesian Co-College Player of the Year, is a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and and was a semifinalist for the Witten Award.
He had a team-best 10 tackles (0.5 for loss) and a forced fumble against Arizona State, then had 4 tackles and an interception at Arizona. He had 10 tackles, an interception and a deflection at Utah, then had a game-high 9 tackles (with a sack) against Washington State and also returned an interception 37 yards to set up a USC TD. He had a game-high 17 tackles at UCLA (he had 18 against the Bruins in 2019), including 2 for losses, plus an interception and a forced fumble that USC recovered to earn Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, Bednarik Award National Defensive Player of the Week, Thorpe Award National Defensive Back of the Week, CollegeSportsMadness.com National Defensive Player of the Week, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and CollegeSportsMadness.com Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. He had 12 tackles with 2 sacks against Oregon.
2019: Hufanga started most of 2019 at strong safety as a sophomore in 2019. Overall in 2019 while starting all 10 games he played (all but Washington, Colorado, Oregon), he had 90 tackles (second on USC), including 7.5 for losses of 37 yards (with 3.5 sacks for minus 28 yards), plus 3 deflections and 2 forced fumbles. He suffered a concussion against Utah and missed the Washington game, then sprained his right shoulder against Arizona and missed the Colorado and Oregon games. He had post-season surgery on the shoulder. He made 2019 All-Pac-12 second team Phil Steele All-Pac-12 third team and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 second team. He was USC’s Co-Defensive Perimeter Player of the Year. He missed the last half of 2019 spring practice after re-breaking his right collarbone.
He had 8 tackles against Fresno State, a game-high 10 tackles (1 for loss) against Stanford, a team-best 10 tackles with a deflection at BYU and a game-best and then-career-high 14 tackles, including 1.5 for losses (with 0.5 sack), against Utah. He had 6 tackles and a deflection at Notre Dame and 3 tackles against Arizona. He had 4 tackles and forced a fumble at Arizona State, 3 tackles (with a sack) at California and 18 tackles (including 2 for a loss, with a sack) and a deflection against UCLA (the most tackles by a Trojan since Troy Polamalu’s 20 against Utah in the 2001 Vegas Bowl) to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors. He had a game-high 14 tackles, including 2 for losses (with a sack), and a forced fumble against Iowa.
2018: Hufanga, who enrolled at USC in the spring of 2018 after graduating a semester early from high school, saw action in USC’s first 8 games at strong safety and on special teams as a first-year freshman in 2018. He even started 5 times (Washington State, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Arizona State) before breaking his right collarbone against Arizona State and missing the rest of the season. Overall in 2018, he had 51 tackles, including 3.5 for losses of 7 yards, and 4 deflections.
He had a tackle against UNLV, then 3 tackles (0.5 for loss) at Stanford and 3 tackles and a deflection at Texas. Then as a starter, he had 9 tackles and a key fourth-quarter deflection against Washington State, then 5 tackles at Arizona, 7 tackles against Arizona, 12 tackles (0.5 for loss) and a deflection at Utah and a game-high 11 tackles (2.5 for losses) against Arizona State before breaking his collarbone late in the fourth quarter.
HIGH SCHOOL: He made 2017 Polynesian High School National Player of the Year, PrepStar Dream Team, Max Preps All-American second team, Tacoma News Tribune Northwest Nuggets and USA Today All-Oregon first team as a senior safety and wide receiver at Crescent Valley High in Corvallis (Ore.). In 2017, he had 44 tackles, with 7 for losses, 4 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked field goal on defense and 35 receptions for 696 yards (19.9 avg) with 11 TDs plus 490 yards on 39 carries (12.6 avg) with 7 TDs on offense.
As a 2016 junior, he made USA Today All-Oregon second team as he had 19 tackles, with 3 for losses, 3 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery on defense and 643 yards on 74 carries (8.7 avg) with 17 TDs plus completed 35-of-75 passes (48.0%) for 846 yards with 7 TDs and 2 interceptions on offense.
He also played basketball at Crescent Valley.
PERSONAL: He is a communication major at USC. His brother, T.J., was a linebacker at Oregon State in 2013 and 2014. His cousins are USC defensive linemen Marlon and Tuli Tuipulotu.
