Merrill Taliauli: DL · BYU · #54.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Merrill Taliauli
Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Third year in the same defensive front at BYU. On tape: 4 tackles against Boise State, Week 10, 2018.
Play style
The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
13 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 0 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.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2018 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 18-21vs California | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 24-21@ No. 6 Wisconsin | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 30-3vs McNeese | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 7-35@ No. 11 Washington | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 49-23vs Hawai'i | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 6-7vs Northern Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 16-21@ Boise State | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 11 | W 35-16@ Massachusetts | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 49-18vs Western Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
0%0 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries13 tackles.
3 seasons under Kalani Sitake — 20-19 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2018 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalani Sitake
Pass share
44.2%
373 pass / 471 run
Plays / game
64.9
13 games
Team sack rate
7.1%
408 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2018
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at BYU — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 25 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2013–2018
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Bronco Mendenhall → Kalani Sitake. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
