USC safety Talanoa Hufanga named Pac-12 defensive player of the year

Hufanga is the first Trojan to win the award since Adoree' Jackson in 2016.

Talanoa Hufanga was a presence all over the field as a junior, and the USC safety was honored for his season on Tuesday as he was named the Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year.

Hufanga is the first Trojan to win the award, voted on by the conference’s head coaches, since Adoree’ Jackson in 2016.

As a junior, Hufanga was named to the preseason All-Pac-12 first team, and he lived up to that hype by leading USC with 62 tackles (third-most in the Pac-12), 5.5 of which were for a loss. He had three sacks, one pass breakup, two forced fumbles and a Pac-12-leading four interceptions.

Prior to this season, Hufanga did not have a single interception in his career. But he picked off passes in four straight games this season, the first Trojan to accomplish that streak since Sammy Knight in 1996.

Hufanga’s trademark performance came against UCLA, in which made 17 tackles, forced a fumble and had an interception. The tackles were Hufanga’s second-most in his career, topped only by his 18 against the Bruins in 2019.

USC had five players make the All-Pac-12 first team on Tuesday, with quarterback Kedon Slovis, receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, offensive tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker and defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu joining Hufanga.

Slovis followed up his 2019, in which he won Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, by completing 67% of his passes for 1,921 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Seven of those touchdowns went to St. Brown, the former Mater Dei standout who caught 41 passes for 478 yards as a junior.

Vera-Tucker returned to USC after briefly opting out to prepare for the NFL Draft and moved from right tackle as a sophomore to left tackle as a junior. Tuipulotu had a breakout junior season, with two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble, making a big impact in new defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s first year with the Trojans.

USC also placed four players on the All-Pac-12 second team: Linebacker Drake Jackson, cornerback Chris Steele and receivers Drake London and Tyler Vaughns. Seven Trojans earned honorable mention: DL Nick Figueroa, CB Olaijah Griffin, P Ben Griffiths, K Parker Lewis, OL Jalen McKenzie, OL Brett Neilon and safety Isaiah Pola-Mao.