Malik Dorton: DL · USC · #44.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Malik Dorton
Wins the gap play after play. Three seasons in the USC defensive front to date. A game that shows it: 5 tackles against Arizona State — Week 9, 2018.
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
25 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2 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.
247Sports Nov 2
USA Today Nov 1
On3 Oct 21
Yahoo Sports Oct 16Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2018 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 43-21vs UNLV | 4 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 3-17@ No. 10 Stanford | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 14-37@ Texas | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 39-36vs Washington State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-20@ Arizona | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 31-20vs No. 19 Colorado | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 28-41@ Utah | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 35-38vs Arizona State | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 12 | L 27-34@ UCLA | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-24vs No. 3 Notre Dame | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 10 | 2.0 | 1.5 | — | 3 |
Week 1 · 2018
W 43-21
vs UNLV
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 4 tackles
Dominant 22-point win at home against UNLV.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
8%2 TFLSack rate
6%2 sacksHurry rate
4%1 hurry25 tackles · 2 for loss · 1.5 sacks.
3 seasons under Clay Helton, all balanced offenses — 26-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2018 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Clay Helton
Pass share
51.6%
400 pass / 375 run
Plays / game
64.6
12 games
Team sack rate
6.1%
442 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2018
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at USC, 5 sacks — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 30 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2014–2018
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Steve Sarkisian → Clay Helton. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
