Who is Victor Aiyewa?

Victor Aiyewa, 46, pressures the USC punter Greg Woidneck last season, resulting in a blocked punt by Roy Lewis, 28. Photo courtesy Daylife.

With gameday less than 20 days away, we thought it appropriate to begin a position-by-position look at new faces at the top of the Husky depth chart. What better place to begin then the secondary, which has been overhauled by new D-Coordinator Ed Donatell.

I was listening to Softy's show on KJR this morning, and for the second time in three days Mahler interviewed the hard-hitting sophomore from Texas. After noting that both of Aiyewa's parents are of Nigerian descent, Softy dubbed Aiyewa "The Nigerian Nightmare" (with apologies to Christian Okoye, I'm sure) and proceeded to tell his audience to expect stardom from the second-year defensive back.

Aiyewa told Softy that he was a true student of the position, siting the fact that he'd read Jack Tatum's book and studied tape of Sean Taylor, Bob Sanders and Lawyer Milloy, among others.

Aiyewa played in all 13 games last season - mostly on special teams, but vaulted to the top of the depth chart (along with fellow sophomore Nate Williams) after a strong spring, displacing returning starters Jason Wells and Mesphin Forrester.

As we prepare for the Aug. 30 opener, we open our series detailing new projected starters with a look at "The Nigerian Nightmare".

Who: Victor Aiyewa, 19, Soph, Sugarland, TX.

Measurables: 6'1", 209 lbs

Prep background: Aiweya only played one year of organized prep football, but earned first team all-district honors at safety in highly competitive 5A Texas football.

Aiweya had strong high-level interest from several schools, with reported offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Louisiana Tech and UAB. Rated as the #89 safety prospect by Scout.com.

Husky stats: One of nine true frosh to see action last year, finished the season with nine tackles - six solo, three assists. Saw all of his action on special teams.

Quotes:

Ed Donatell stated in an ESPN interview that Aiweya "gave us some impacting hits (during Spring ball)".

Donatell has stated repeatedly that he prefers a bigger back line, which likely factored in the promotions of Aiweya and Williams. Donatell told Rivals the following:

"When you're bigger, you match up better with big people. Oregon has big people and USC has big people," explained Donatell. "Guys are willing and on a proper path of development. You can't just flip a switch, but they are improving. We have heard from our team leaders that they got some good reps in over the summer and that they have made yet another step."