Junior rover Paul Moala will miss the rest of the 2020 season after suffering an Achilles tendon tear against Florida State on Saturday night that will require surgery.
The backup to senior All-America candidate Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was recruited as a safety, as was Owusu-Koramoah, played five snaps on defense in the opener against Duke, 19 versus South Florida on Sept. 19 and six this weekend against Florida State prior to his injury.
The local product from nearby Penn High School also was on the punt coverage, kickoff coverage and punt return units on special teams. He recorded seven tackles this season, which was tied for seventh on the team.
Last year Moala played in 12 games, finishing with 14 tackles, one for loss, and also forced a fumble against Navy that he caught in the air and returned for a touchdown.
With Moala out, yet another former safety, Ohio State graduate transfer Isaiah Pryor, will be settling in as Owusu-Koramoah’s top backup at the hybrid position. Pryor was not listed with any defensive snaps versus the Seminoles but did play on all four special teams units.
In the past, a pair of current sophomore Buck linebackers, Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser, also had received some training at rover, as did junior Shayne Simon.
The 6-1½, 204-pound Pryor had been working behind sophomore Kyle Hamilton and junior DJ Brown at free safety.
“He’ll be getting a lot of the work there and as he’s learning the position we’ll also employ kind of what we did last year, a nickel situation …we can also play a third linebacker,” said head coach Brian Kelly of Pryor.
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