No. 16 USC Trojans’ star defensive lineman Luke Wafle continues to pick up steam as the Trojans reach the midway point of the season. The true freshman will look to continue his impressive first year with another road challenge against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Main Defensive Key Against Wisconsin Badgers’ Offense
The Trojans’ defense will have to face a weakness of theirs once again in Week 8 – a mobile quarterback.
In Week 2, Louisiana’s Lunch Winfield was able to complete 16-of-22 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 91 yards and two more scores on the ground. Then in Week 5, the unit was able to redeem themselves when they racked up five sacks and limited Washington's Demond Williams Jr. to 26 rushing yards and 198 passing yards (57.7 completion percentage).
Penn State’s transfer signal caller Rocco Becht, who's known to use his legs, was limited to 20 rushing yards as well, but he was able to complete 21-for-32 passes, finishing with 289 passing yards and a score. Wafle acknowledged that defending the quarterback run is a main key for the defense against Wisconsin.
“Contain the quarterback, don't let him scramble. Our mentality is to not allow rushing touchdowns in the red zone. So those are two big ones I would say,” Wafle said.
Badgers quarterback Colton Joseph – 1,198 passing yards, 54.7 completion percentage, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions – is Wisconsin’s lead rusher with 333 yards and four scores on the ground. The offense may have had issues putting drives together in their Week 7 loss to UCLA, but Joseph’s legs can still cause problems for the Trojans.
“Yeah, he's definitely a mobile threat,” Wafle said about Joseph. “Just got to be aware of it and we got to trust one another as a D-line unit and have true pass pass rush lanes.”
Making the Madison Crowd a Non-Factor
Southern Cal completely tuned out Penn State’s White Out crowd thanks to the help of their new crowd noise simulator at the Bloom Football Performance Center. The team will be using the gadget once again to tame the Madison crowd. This time around, House of Pain’s “Jump Around” has been blaring non-stop.
“Home teams play or do certain rituals to affect the away team, but when you use their ritual it becomes a non-factor,” Wafle said. “So, we're not phased when it comes to the ‘Jump Around’ or ‘Mo Bamba’ or anything like that.”
Safety Alex Graham, who's a fan of the song, also credited the crowd simulator for getting the defense prepared this week.
Tough Three-Game Stretch
Now that the Trojans have rested, they kick off a grueling second half of the season. Following the road game at Wisconsin, they will be hosting the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (Oct. 31). Then they’ll be back on the road against the defending champs, No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers (Nov. 14). The regular season finale will be a showdown with the No. 9 UCLA Bruins.
“Yeah, just focus on – like today's Wednesday, we focus on Wednesday, and tomorrow we'll focus on Thursday,” Wafle said about Wisconsin week. “Just having that mentality and being perfect from our standpoint and fixing, cleaning up all of our little details. That's kind of just how we take it.”
The Buckeyes currently have a question mark at the quarterback position while the Hoosiers suffered their first loss of the season in Week 7, leaving both future opponents in a vulnerable state. Despite this, the Trojans remain focused on one game at a time.
“It's both. The coaches do it and the coaches encourage players to have self player discipline,” Wafle said when asked if this mindset was instilled by the coaching staff or taken on by the players themselves.
Earning Midseason All-American Awards
On Oct. 21, Wafle was named to the Midseason True Freshman All-American team by On3/Rivals, 247Sports and The Athletic. The Associated Press also named Wafle to their Big Ten Midseason Awards as Top First-Year Freshman. Following the Trojans’ 31-23 win over Penn State, Wafle won Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week due to his five tackles, two tackles for loss and sack in the game.
“I say it's cool, but we're just focused as a team to get a [win] on Saturday and we're where our feet are,” Wafle said about the accolades.
Heading into Week 8, the young pass rusher is currently tied with the most quarterback pressures (16) among FBS freshmen. He also has 27 total tackles, six tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, a pass breakup with a pressure rate of 11.8 percent.
The Impact of Jide Abasiri
Heading into the Penn State game, junior defensive tackle Jide Abasiri was dealing with a leg injury but was able to muster up the strength to suit up for the pivotal game. He may not have put numbers in the boxscore, but his presence and determination was enough to inspire the defense.
“Yeah it's definitely inspiring, his competitiveness. To have a guy, have a leader like that in my specific position room, it's really grateful to have him,” Wafle said about Abasiri. “It's cool to see his competitive spirit come out in the middle of the season.”
Practicing in the Rain and Playing in the Cold
“It's a lot of fun. I don't think the Cali guys are used to it as much. But yeah, that little rain football, it heals the soul,” the New Jersey native said about California’s recent weather.
The weather forecast for the Wisconsin game (Oct. 24) is currently at 65 degrees by kickoff (7:30 p.m. ET), partly cloudy skies with 10 mph and gusts of 17 mph. Later in the night, temperatures are expected to drop to the low 50’s.
“I’m excited…that's what I like to play in,” Wafle said about the Trojans’ upcoming game. “I think it's catered more towards the defense because a lot of the offensive skill guys don't like getting hit in the cold, which I've been on the other side of.”
Preparing for Another Road Trip
“I would say our philosophy is you got to go take every game. No one's going to give it to you at their home stadium. So yeah, just go have the mentality to take every snap.”
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