Todd Orlando has 15 years of experience as a collegiate defensive coordinator, including the past 3 seasons at Texas. His defense forced 65 turnovers during his time in Austin, among the best in the Big 12. In 2017 in his first season, the Longhorns improved 61 spots in the national rankings in scoring defense and 53 spots in total defense from 2016. Texas was in the national Top 10 in rushing defense , third down defense, fourth down defense, defensive touchdowns and interception TDs in 2017. He coached the 2017 Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year and unanimous All-American and Thorpe Award finalist, DeShon Elliott.In 2015 and 2016, Orlando was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Houston.The Cougars’ 2015 scoring defense was 20thnationally, as 12 of their 14 opponents were held under their scoring average, and UH’s rushing defense was eighth.Houston topped the nation in takeaways in 2015. Then in 2016, UH was fourth nationally in rushing defense and 13thin total defense, as well as 14thin sacks and tackles for loss.He has also been a defensive coordinator at Utah State, Florida International and Connecticut.
Senior nose tackle Marlon Tuipulotu earned Pac-12 Defensive Lineman ofthe Week after his performance in USC’s victory over Arizona State. He recorded 8 tackles against the Sun Devils,including getting 2 stops for losses with USC’s only sack. He has recorded 20 tackles with 3.5 of them being tackles for loss for 22 yards, including 2 sacks for 19 yards throughout three games.Junior safety Talanoa Hufanga leads the team with 24 tackles over three games. He has also recorded 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, one pass breakup and 0.5 tackles for loss for 0 yards through three games.Sophomore linebacker Drake Jackson has tallied three tackles for loss for 21 yards, including two sacks for 17 yards. He’s recorded 10 tackles and one interception throughout USC’s three games.Sophomore defensive lineman Nick Figueroa has been a disruptive force in the trenches with his 12 tackles, including three tackles for loss for 9 yards and 0.5 sacks for two yards through three games.
The USC defense has recorded 8 sacks for 59 yards throughout the 3 completed games of the 2020 season. Also in the 2020 season, USC’s defense has allowed an average of 4.71 fewer points per game than the 2019 season. Additionally, the staunch defense has improved in opponent 3rddown conversions allowed (37.50% in 2020 compared to 40.45% in 2019) and opponent 4thdown conversions allowed (40.00% in 2020 compared to 52.63% in 2019).USC’s defense has held opponents to 175.7 average rushing yards per game and 212.00 average passing yards per game. They have held opponents to an average of 387.7 yards of total offense per game.