Hale Motu'apuaka: DT · Utah State · #8.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Hale Motu'apuaka
Wins the gap play after play. Played for three head coaches in five seasons at Utah State. One game to point at: 6 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against San José State — Week 8, 2023.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
33 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Utah State | 33 | 14 | 5.5 | 3.0 |
| 2022 | Utah State | 33 | 14 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| 2021 | Utah State | 26 | 10 | 8.0 | 2.5 |
| 2020 | Utah State | 8 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | Utah State | 13 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Career | 113 | 45 | 21.0 | 10.5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-24@ No. 25 Iowa | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 21-39@ Air Force | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 38-45vs James Madison | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-33@ UConn | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 44-24vs Colorado State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 32-37vs Fresno State | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 21-42@ San José State | 6 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 32-24@ San Diego State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 41-24vs Nevada | 5 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-45vs Boise State | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 44-41@ New Mexico | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Total | 33 | 14 | 5.5 | 3.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
17%6 TFLSack rate
9%3 sacksHurry rate
12%4 hurries33 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 3 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Road6g | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Blake Anderson
Pass share
46.8%
436 pass / 495 run
Plays / game
71.6
13 games
Team sack rate
8.3%
470 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #43 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Utah State, 113 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 45 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Gary Andersen, Frank Maile, and Blake Anderson. Multi-era developmental context.
