LOS ANGELES -- Oluwole Betiku readily admits that when he arrived on campus at USC a little over a year ago, he didn’t care much for the X's-and-O's aspect of football. The thought of spending extra time in the film room just didn’t appeal to him.
“I didn’t really embrace it,” he said. “I didn’t really like it.”
That can be a problematic approach for any high school player making the jump to big-time college football, but it was even more so for Betiku, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria in 2013 and had played only two years of organized football. He quickly became one of the nation’s prized recruits at nearby Serra High School, but his immediate success had everything to do with raw, natural ability.
At 6-foot-3 and approaching 250 pounds, Betiku was blessed with size and speed that few high school offensive linemen are equipped to deal with and was primarily tasked with rushing the passer. It’s that skill -- getting to the quarterback -- that resulted in scholarship offers from all over the country, but he was so good at it that it masked some real deficiencies.
Dropping in coverage? Forget it. Recognizing formations and blocking schemes? No chance. In spring practice a year ago, he was forced to process so much new information that it became clear very quickly to the coaching staff that if he were to have a chance to play as a true freshman, it would be in a very specialized role.
“You think about his background and where he came from,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “Some kids have been playing since they were 5 years old. He was playing catchup as far as learning the game.”
USC kept Betiku out of the first five games of the season, but elected to burn his redshirt against Colorado in early October. The Trojans were 2-3 headed into the game and were in dire need of an improved pass rush. Betiku, the coaching staff figured, could carve out a niche on third downs, but it didn’t pan out that way. He did not record a tackle while appearing in five of the final eight games of the season.
Linebackers coach Johnny Nansen says now that he wishes they would have redshirted Betiku or found more ways to get him playing time, but what's done is done. Plus, USC was 8-0 after removing his redshirt, so it would be nitpicking to be too critical of the defensive rotation.
Next year, though, Betiku seems destined for a significant role. Not necessarily as a starter, since he still figures to be behind Porter Gustin and Uchenna Nwosu on the depth chart at outside linebacker, but he has definitely made his case for meaningful snaps. There have been times during spring practice when he has looked like USC’s best pass-rusher, and, perhaps not coincidentally, he has become a regular in the film room.
“Now I love it,” Betiku said of learning the finer points of the game.
In between classes, after classes, whenever he can steal time, Betiku makes his way to the football building to further his understanding of the game. He’s leans heavily on Gustin and Nwosu and is quizzed almost daily by Nansen, who calls what Betiku is still going through “Football 101.”
“It started with formations, knowing when it’s 12 personnel, 11 personnel, 10 personnel,” Betiku said. “And now [Nansen] makes me come on the board and draw a play and draw the blocking scheme of the offense and draw a power play. Draw an over formation. Draw a counter against our under defense.”
A year ago, those phrases might have seemed foreign to him, but now he’s at a point where he’s identifying formations to determine what kind of blocking scheme to expect, and how to react accordingly. For him, it’s all about not having to think so he can start playing fast.
“When you look at him when he first got here to now,” Nansen said, “it’s like night and day from a technique standpoint and an overall understanding of defenses.”
“He’s more in tune, as far as the situations we’re in and what to expect on certain situations. He’s starting to study the game like he’s supposed to.”
USC concludes spring practice with its spring game on Saturday.