#21

Isaiah Pola-Mao

Junior safety on USC's 2021 roster.

S · USC · Jr. · #21

6′4″ · 205 lb · Phoenix, AZ

CFB Index 47 · #285 of 509 safetiesMedium confidenceUSC 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

S recruit

No. 113 nationally · Signed with USC

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 safety on USC's roster.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to USC in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at USC, 173 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2017

Signed with USC4-star out of Mountain Pointe

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#113 national

CFB

College

USC

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

2 coaches

2017–2020

Clay Helton

USC

2021

Donte Williams

USC

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Clay Helton → Donte Williams. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

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

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

47Rotational starter #285 of 509?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (90th percentile). Strength: tackles (83rd percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Solo tackles#254 / 2743 · 90th pct

Tackles#459 / 2743 · 83rd pct

Passes defended#1085 / 2743 · 49th pct

Tackles for loss#1821 / 2743 · 28th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th pct

Sacks#1435 / 2743 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	5.0	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road5g	5.4	0.0	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	5.6	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	0.2	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

46.0%

97 pass / 114 run

Plays / game

70.3

3 games

Team sack rate

2.0%

102 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

47 · #285 of 509 safeties

Former four-star. Now #285 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	USC	57	41	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
2020	USC	34	18	2.5	0.0	4	1	--
2019	USC	73	45	5.5	1.5	2	4	1
2018	USC	8	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2017	USC	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		173	109	9.0	1.5	7	5	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 45–14

at Washington State

2 SOLO · 4 TOT

Dominant 31-point win on the road against Washington State.

With J. Dart — 391 yds · 4 TD · 2 INT · QBR 81.3 · 32 rush yds (6 car) · G. Bryant Jr. — 3 rush yds (1 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	L 28-42vs Stanford	4	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 45-14@ Washington State	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 27-45vs Oregon State	11	6	0.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 5	W 37-14@ Colorado	5	3	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	L 26-42vs Utah	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 16-31@ Notre Dame	5	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 41-34vs Arizona	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 16-31@ Arizona State	3	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 33-62vs UCLA	5	3	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 31-35vs BYU	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 14-24@ California	10	9	0.0	—	0
Total		57	41	1.0	—	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Isaiah Pola-Mao

2017

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Box Safety

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