Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
10/23Inside-5 share
10 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (43.5%).
Vavae Malepeai
Vavae Malepeai: RB · USC · #6.
Similar players
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Vavae Malepeai
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series. The five seasons at USC span two head coaches: Clay Helton and Donte Williams. A game that shows it: 107 rushing yards and 8 receiving yards against California — Week 14, 2021.
Style of play
Style of play
Play style
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
Fans
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
USC in the news
- Simeon Jones Jr. commits to USC
247Sports Nov 2 - USC fans storm field after upset win
USA Today Nov 1 - Top-150 recruit commits to USC
On3 Oct 21 - $70M buyout talk for Riley
Yahoo Sports Oct 16
Where to follow
Career stats
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Game log
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 11 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-7vs San José State | 14 | 65 | 4.6 | 0 | 27 | |
| Wk 2 | L 28-42vs Stanford | 15 | 94 | 6.3 | 0 | 20 | |
| Wk 3 | W 45-14@ Washington State | 9 | 9 | 1.0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-45vs Oregon State | 4 | 12 | 3.0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 5 | W 37-14@ Colorado | 10 | 36 | 3.6 | 1 | 9 | |
| Wk 6 | L 26-42vs Utah | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Wk 9 | W 41-34vs Arizona | 6 | 17 | 2.8 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 10 | L 16-31@ Arizona State | 5 | 8 | 1.6 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 12 | L 33-62vs UCLA | 10 | 49 | 4.9 | 3 | 15 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 13 | L 31-35vs No. 13 BYU | 20 | 99 | 5.0 | 1 | 35 | |
| Wk 14 | L 14-24@ California | 18 | 107 | 5.9 | 0 | 24 | Season-high 107 yds |
| Total | 114 | 502 | 4.4 | 6 | 35 |
Signature game
Week 12 · 2021
L 33-62
vs UCLA
49 rush yds (10 car) · 3 TD · 1 rec · 14 yds
With J. Dart — 325 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 33.2 · G. Bryant Jr. — 9 rec · 161 yds · 1 TD
Signature plays
The plays that mattered most
- Week 13 · BYU · 4th and 2 · Q3 · EPA +2.85Vavae Malepeai run for 2 yds for a TD, (Parker Lewis KICK)
- Week 12 · UCLA · 2nd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +2.46Vavae Malepeai run for 7 yds for a TD (Alex Stadthaus KICK)
- Week 13 · BYU · 3rd and 6 · Q4 · EPA +2.44Vavae Malepeai run for 10 yds to the BYU 44 for a
- Week 5 · Colorado · 2nd and 2 · Q3 · EPA +2.07Vavae Malepeai 2 Yd Run
- Week 6 · Utah · 2nd and 2 · Q4 · EPA +2.07Vavae Malepeai 2 Yd Run (Kedon Slovis Pass to Tahj Washington for Two-Point Conversion)
- Week 12 · UCLA · 3rd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +1.97Vavae Malepeai run for 15 yds to the UCLA 25 for a
4 more plays
- Week 13 · BYU · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +1.90Vavae Malepeai run for 35 yds to the BYU 23 for a
- Week 10 · Arizona State · 3rd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +1.88Vavae Malepeai run for 7 yds to the ArzSt 37 for a
- Week 10 · Arizona State · 1st and 20 · Q3 · EPA −1.63Vavae Malepeai run for a loss of 4 yards to the USC 49
- Week 1 · San José State · 3rd and 4 · Q2 · EPA +1.49V.Malepeai rushed to SJS 9 for 27 yards. Tackled by T.Jenkins at SJS 9.
Teams and coaches
2017USC11-3HC: Clay Helton · Balanced
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
Our ratings
Splits
Home and road splits, scheme and staff
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 48.9 | 4.1 | 0.7 |
| Road4g | 40.0 | 3.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 37.0 | 3.4 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 56.0 | 4.0 | 0.8 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Donte Williams
Pass share
51.5%
593 pass / 558 run
Plays / game
95.9
12 games
Team sack rate
3.4%
553 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Awards
Player standing · 2021
Starter
114 carries and 12 catches in 11 games, about as many touches a game as a typical FBS running back who plays every week.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
44 · #170 of 315 RBs · 2021
Former four-star. Now #170 at the position.
Five seasons at USC
- 2021 USC WilliamsYear 5 · 11 games
- 2020 USC HeltonYear 4 · 5 games
- 2019 USC HeltonYear 3 · 8 games
- 2018 USC HeltonYear 2 · 12 games
- 2017 USC HeltonYear 1 · 11 games
- High school MililaniMililani, HI · Class of 2016Four-star, No. 215 in the 2016 class. Signed with USC.Also from Mililani: Wynden Ho'Ohuli (Hawai'i), Treston McMillan (Washington), Gavin Hunter (Arizona) and 4 more.
How it ended
Five seasons at USC, 2,005 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 47 games over five seasons.
2016
- Signed with USCFour-star, out of Mililani
Coaching lineage · 2017–2021
2 coaches2017–2020
USC
2021era →
Donte Williams
USC
Coaching transition mid-career: Clay Helton → Donte Williams. Worth noting in scheme + development context.