On Oct. 20, 1928, the William & Mary Indians and Catholic University of Washington Cardinals met under the lights at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Va. Just a year earlier, in 1927, the two football programs made history, taking part in the first night college football game played on the East Coast. Thousands had come to watch that night and marvel at the temporary lights illuminating the field.
Their rematch, by comparison, was largely lost to history. William & Mary used “a thrilling avalanche of forward passes” and “set their teeth grimly to stage a gigantic comeback” in the third quarter, according to a Newport News story at the time. But Catholic blocked the final extra-point attempt and prevailed 13-12.
The significance of their 1928 meeting, nearly a century later, really had nothing to do with the result. In fact, it wouldn’t be fully understood until much later, when the great-grandson of two men on opposite sides of that matchup emerged as one of college football’s most promising freshmen.
Best the Wafles can tell after sifting through family documents last year, Ferris Wafle had just begun playing at William & Mary in 1928, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He’d taken a year off college, to work, before William & Mary recruited him. He’d wrestled for the Indians in addition to his playing football.
Michael O’Conner, meanwhile, joined Catholic University of Washington, somewhat improbably, by way of Newark, N.J. He’d risen to a starting role at Catholic, as the left guard and defensive tackle, despite being just a 160-pound sophomore.
Whether the two opposing linemen actually met at the line of scrimmage that night in 1928 — or in 1929, when the schools played again — has surely been lost to history. What we do know is that 98 years later, Luke Wafle, their great-grandson, would debut at USC. And through just three games as a true freshman, Wafle is making his own imprint as a generational talent on the Trojans’ defensive line.
“My expectations for him are really high,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I think he’s going to be a high-high impact player for us, not only this year, but for years to come.”
Ferris Wafle and Michael O’Conner never got to meet their great-grandson. And at 6-6, 265 pounds as an 18-year-old freshman, Luke probably wouldn’t resemble his forebearers on the football field. But their aptitude and affection for the sport would be passed down through two different families in two different states, from one generation to the next, before reaching Luke and his brothers.
On Luke’s father’s side, especially, nearly everyone played college sports: Their father, David Wafle Jr., played defensive tackle at Duke. Their grandfather, David Wafle Sr., played basketball while at the University of Virginia. So it stood to reason that each of David Wafle Jr.’s three boys — Owen, Luke and Dylan — were so obsessed with sports from a young age that it seemed like it was in their DNA.
Owen, the oldest, couldn’t get enough of football. Luke’s first love, though, was basketball.
“He had a real jumper, I mean, before he was 2,” David recalls.
Before long, he was begging to join his big brother’s YMCA games. Sometimes, the coach would actually let him.
“If he couldn’t handle it, we wouldn’t expect [the coach] to make allowances for him,” David said. “But Luke, at 3 or 3½, was out there playing with 5-year-olds.”
Flag football entered the picture at 5, and from then on, sports were ever-present in the Wafle household, with all three boys playing something year-round. When they weren’t out competing, staying in the house wasn’t usually an option. So they ran routes in the frontyard or shot hoops in the driveway or rode bikes in the neighborhood, anything to stave off the inevitable draw of mindless videos on YouTube.
“Never an off day in the Wafle house,” Luke said. “We’re running every single sport you could think of.”
Even at a young age, there was a unique intensity about Luke, in particular. He was serious, driven, disciplined.
“Every game meant a lot to him,” David said. “It doesn’t matter which game it is, how easy or how tough it is, he had the same focus.”
Of course, the physical gifts didn’t hurt, either.
Todd Smith, Wafle’s head coach at the Hun School in New Jersey, remembers the first day he met Luke, watching him do a backflip off of his brother’s shoulders into the pool. He was in the fourth grade.
“We were driving home,” Smith said, “and I asked my wife. I’m like, ‘What is that family eating?’ Because there was just three gigantic boys in the pool, like, doing physical feats that you’ve never seen kids that size do.”
And yet, the Wafles didn’t let the boys lift weights until they were 13 years old. David, their father, figured they were constantly running, jumping and lifting things, anyway.
By the time Luke started on an actual weight training regimen, he was steadily growing two to three inches per year. He started thinking seriously about other ways to dedicate his body to football.
It was his idea to revamp his diet, cutting all sweets, processed foods and seed oils. Instead, Luke loads up on protein — including nearly a carton of eggs to himself every morning for breakfast. When spending the day at his coach’s house, Smith says, Luke would bring his own home-made lunch — usually, grilled chicken and rice with vegetables.
The discipline, over time, just became a part of his identity.
“I take my dream very seriously,” Luke said, “and I just try and do everything I can possible on and off the field to make my dream come true.”
It was the same sentiment that ultimately led Luke to transfer from Middletown South, where he started as a quarterback and linebacker, to the Hun School in nearby Princeton, N.J., where Smith would coach him the next three years. He settled in on the defensive line at Hun. But early on, Smith also let Luke moonlight as a bulldozing, super-sized running back.
He made it look even easier on the defensive end. When Riley, USC’s head football coach, first watched him on tape two years ago, Luke was so dominant that Riley found himself questioning the level of competition his school was up against. David, Luke’s father, said that USC actually entered the whole process later than most schools recruiting his son.
But as a junior, one of Luke’s best games came against Mount Carmel High out of Chicago, a perennial powerhouse in the state of Illinois.
“He took over the game,” Smith said. “Just a one-man wrecking crew.”
Another week, up against two four-star tackles playing for a high school in Georgia, Smith says, “it was like they weren’t even there.”
“Game after game, the game film was like highlight film,” Riley said. “Which is always a pretty good sign.”
But his mentality was what really sold Riley.
“There’s a certain old-school kind of toughness, there’s a professionalism and a maturity level with this kid that’s pretty unique for his age,” Riley said. “That’s honestly the thing that separates him. That’s pretty rare to find.”
Luke was viewed as a four-star prospect when he committed to USC in the summer of 2025. His family, David says, had just “clicked” with Riley. An unofficial visit on campus a few months earlier had really resonated with them.
It wasn’t until after he committed to USC that Luke became a household name as a prospect, breaking through with a 23-sack senior campaign. And after a standout showing at the All-American Bowl, Luke soared into the top rung of every major recruiting ranking.
He’s only continued that climb since coming to USC. Coaches have raved about his mindset and work ethic. Veteran teammates have been even looser with their superlatives. Fifth-year senior defensive end Zuriah Fisher went so far as to compliment the way he “eats at breakfast.”
The early praise barely seems to register with Luke, who led the Trojans in tackles (seven) last Saturday and ranks second on the team in pressures (five) this season.
“It’s just trying to stack weeks, trying to get better with my team,” he says.
Luke isn’t one to talk about himself, his father explains. And in that way, he’s a bit like his great-grandfathers. Ferris Wafle, after William & Mary, went on to be a school superintendent. Michael O’Conner, after Catholic, became a judge. Their families didn’t know the details of their college football careers, until they put the pieces together much later.
But in Luke’s case, it shouldn’t be long now before the whole world knows where his football career is headed.
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