#26

Kana'i Mauga

Junior linebacker for USC. 2021: 92 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · USC · Jr. · #26

6′2″ · 245 lb · Waianae, HI

CFB Index 74 · #92 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceUSC 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

OLB recruit

No. 308 nationally · Signed with USC

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 linebacker for USC. 2021: 92 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to USC in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at USC, 193 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20186 games

Signed with USC4-star out of Waianae

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#308 national

CFB

College

USC

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

2 coaches

2018–2020

Clay Helton

USC

2021

Donte Williams

USC

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Clay Helton → Donte Williams. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018USC5-7HC: Clay Helton · Balanced

2019USC8-5HC: Clay Helton · Pass-leaning

2020USC5-1HC: Clay Helton · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2021USC4-8HC: Donte Williams · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

74Quality starter #92 of 578?

High confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (98th percentile). Strength: tackles (97th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#58 / 2743 · 98th pct

Tackles#89 / 2743 · 97th pct

Tackles for loss#514 / 2743 · 80th pct

5.5

Passes defended#735 / 2743 · 67th pct

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

Interceptions#320 / 824 · 31st pct

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	8.3	0.4	0.0	0.0
Road5g	6.8	0.5	0.2	0.4

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	6.2	0.7	0.2	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	9.2	0.2	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

46.0%

97 pass / 114 run

Plays / game

70.3

3 games

Team sack rate

2.0%

102 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

74 · #92 of 578 LBs

Former four-star. Now #92 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	USC	92	56	5.5	1.0	2	1	--
2020	USC	30	11	1.5	0.0	--	1	--
2019	USC	59	30	7.0	3.0	2	1	--
2018	USC	12	3	1.0	0.0	2	--	--
Career		193	100	15.0	4.0	6	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 45–14

at Washington State

2 TFL · 1 SACKS · 2 SOLO

Dominant 31-point win on the road against Washington State.

With J. Dart — 391 yds · 4 TD · 2 INT · QBR 81.3 · 32 rush yds (6 car) · G. Bryant Jr. — 3 rush yds (1 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 30-7vs San José State	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 28-42vs Stanford	4	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 45-14@ Washington State	4	2	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 27-45vs Oregon State	6	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 37-14@ Colorado	8	7	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	L 26-42vs Utah	11	8	2.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 16-31@ Notre Dame	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 41-34vs Arizona	10	7	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 16-31@ Arizona State	11	10	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 33-62vs UCLA	14	4	0.5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 14 tackles
Wk 13	L 31-35vs BYU	9	3	0.5	0.0	1	0
Wk 14	L 14-24@ California	4	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		92	56	5.5	1.0	1	2

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Kana'i Mauga

20186 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

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