Taniela Latu is a linebacker who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at San José State.
Latu carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Played for two head coaches in three seasons at San José State. The first career honor came in 2024: All-Mountain West. On tape: 9 tackles against Utah State, Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
65 tackles. 3 passes defended. 1 interception. 6 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | San José State | 65 | 36 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | San José State | 71 | 31 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2023 | San José State | 44 | 20 | 5.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 180 | 87 | 18.0 | 2.0 | 5 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-16vs Central Michigan | 7 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | L 7-38@ No. 7 Texas | 8 | 5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 31-28vs Idaho | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 29-30@ Stanford | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 35-28vs New Mexico | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | L 28-35@ Wyoming | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 25-30@ Utah State | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 45-38vs Hawai'i | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 16-26vs Air Force | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-55@ Nevada | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 3-25@ San Diego State | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 14-41vs Fresno State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 65 | 36 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 3 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
65tackles this seasonTFL rate
9%6 TFLSack rate
2%1 sackPD rate
5%3 pass breakups65 tackles · 6 for loss · 1 sack · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 5.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road6g | 5.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 5.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ken Niumatalolo
Pass share
61.1%
486 pass / 310 run
Plays / game
66.3
12 games
Team sack rate
1.7%
518 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #184 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot to repeat All-Mountain West
Based on 2025: #11 of 45 Mountain West LBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST
All-Mountain West mention (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Brent Brennan → Ken Niumatalolo. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
