6′6″ · 265 lb · Middletown, NJ · Hun School
He was the 6th-ranked recruit in the country in the 2026 class.
2026 games, tackles for loss per game. W and L: his team’s results.
“Need to stop dropping Wafle into coverage”
3 stories this week, from 3 outlets.
Luke Wafle
Holds up snap after snap without a weakness to attack. A game that shows it: 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Louisiana — Week 2, 2026.
27 tackles · 2 sacks
Play style
No single standout number, but nothing missing either — competent across the board.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 6 tackles for loss, 2 of them sacks, in the 7 games with play by play.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | USC | 27 | 19 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1 |
| Career | 27 | 19 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 6): 1 sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, 5 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-26vs San José State | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 1 | W 39-0vs Fresno State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 49-30vs Louisiana | 7 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 3 | W 42-35@ Rutgers | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-41vs No. 20 Oregon | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 25-21vs Washington | 5 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-23@ Penn State | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 19 | 6.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 |
Week 5 · 2026
W 25-21
vs Washington
1 sack · 2 tackles for loss · 5 tackles
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -9 to +19 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
7%2 sacksTFL rate
22%6 TFL27 tackles · 6 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
50.0%
238 pass / 238 run
Plays / game
68.0
7 games
Team sack rate
2.7%
256 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
27 tackles in 7 games, more tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former five-star. Now #72 at the position.
from 3 outlets
Five-Star USC Edge Commit Mekai Brown Reveals What He Thinks of Luke Wafle
On3 Oct 18 · 1 outlet
from 9 outlets
USC freshman star Luke Wafle’s football roots date back nearly a century
AOL.com +2 Sep 17 · 3 outlets
AOL.com +2USC freshman star Luke Wafle’s football roots date back nearly a centurySep 17
247SportsLuke Wafle has competitive juices flowing on and off the field for USCSep 11
Sports IllustratedHow USC's Luke Wafle Is Building Close Relationships With TeammatesSep 12On3Luke Wafle, Mark Bowman and Trent Mosley Aren’t the Only USC True Freshmen Making an ImpactSep 17247Sports +1USC’s Alex Graham and Luke Wafle Named to Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Watch ListAug 26247SportsThe making of Luke Wafle: How a 19-year-old became one of USC's most important playersSep 18
USC AthleticsUSC’s Mark Bowman, Trent Mosley and Luke Wafle Named Midseason True Freshman All-AmericansOct 21USC AthleticsAOL.com +2Sports Illustrated
Los Angeles Times247Sports +1Sports IllustratedEach week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Oct 24.
Fans first named him vs San José State.
His career
