Penn State lands another UCLA DT in portal

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After landing his former teammate a couple of days ago in Keanu Williams, the Penn State Nittany Lions just bagged yet another UCLA defensive tackle in Siale Taupaki…a guy going into his eighth year in college football.

Taupaki may have one of the craziest stories in all of college football, starting his career in 2019 as a redshirt. 2020 saw him play seven games, meaning an extra year of eligibility earned due to COVID. However, the next two years saw him only appear in two games, both in 2022. That earned him yet another redshirt season, although it is unclear when he received it.

2023 saw a position change for Taupaki as he switched to the offensive line as a reserve. He switched back to defense in 2024, where he played for the next two seasons, starting all 24 games. Across his career at UCLA, he played in 40 games, notching 38 tackles, three for loss, and two sacks.

Taupaki is now the 27th addition to a loaded Penn State transfer portal class and is now the sixth non-former Iowa State signee. He joins a group of D-line trasnfers that includes former teammate Keanu Williams, Oklahoma State transfer Armstrong Nnodim, Iowa State transfer Alijah Carnell, and just recently, Utah defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State lands another UCLA DT in portal

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