[...] nobody wrote off the defensive lineman, least of all himself.
Because of injuries to other linemen, he was forced to play as a freshman when many of his classmates were redshirting to get bigger, stronger and more clued-in on the playbook.
According to head coach David Shaw, Shittu “only scratched the surface” of his full abilities.
Despite the injury last year and the taxing workload this year, he “made the best of everything,” defensive line coach Randy Hart said.
Considering his classroom success, football has been “icing on the cake,” Hart said.
In the rematch against USC — Stanford beat the Trojans 41-31 on Sept. 19 — Shittu will at one time or another be matched against everybody in the USC offensive line.
The outgoing Shittu is a psych major but, after what he hopes is an NFL career, he’d like to get an MBA and work for a sports-oriented company.
Shittu hopes to end his college career with a third Pac-12 championship.
Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
