Former UCLA DT Siale Taupaki Signs With Penn State

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Matt Campbell and his staff are not done adding defensive tackles, yet. Coming on the heels of Dallas Vakalahi’s signing earlier today, the Nittany Lions have also added veteran UCLA player Siale Taupaki.

Penn State has signed UCLA defensive line transfer Siale Taupaki, @chris_hummer and I have learned.

6-foot-4, 310-pounder who posted 38 tackles the last two seasons at UCLA. pic.twitter.com/LAVFGtEpRA

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 9, 2026

The 6-foot-4, 335-pound Taupaki recently completed his seventh season of college football with the Bruins and will be playing his eighth and final year as a Nittany Lion. Eighth year? How the hell is that possible? Well, he redshirted his freshman year in 2019, was given a blanket extra year by the NCAA in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was granted a medical redshirt in 2021, and received a waiver in 2022 after playing in only the first two games before missing the rest of the season.

The last two seasons, Taupaki has remained healthy enough to play through the entire season, racking up a total of 38 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery. Pretty good stats for a guy whose role is to be a massive space-eating DT. Look for him to continue in that role at Penn State, as the current coaching staff clearly shows a preference to get bigger and beefier on the D-line.

Siale gives PSU its fifth defensive tackle add from the portal, and the third Polynesian, joining Vakalahi and Keanu Williams.

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