This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Pita Taumoepenu may be a weapon for Utah, but he can no longer be called a secret weapon.
It's true that 17 Utes have more tackles, that Taumoepenu plays less than a third of Utah's defensive snaps, that at 6-foot-1, 240, he's Utah's least imposing defensive lineman.
Yet, "when I get in, the [tackle] starts hitting the [guard] like, 'Hey, that's him right there,'" Taumoepenu smiles, adding, "They probably want to kill me or something!"
When Taumoepenu speaks, he exclaims. When he laughs, and he often laughs, he does so breathlessly. And when he rushes a passer, "he comes off the edge with his hair on fire," said teammate Hunter Dimick.
Six of his eight tackles are sacks. Only two Pac-12 players — Oregon's DeForest Buckner (six) and Washington's Travis Feeney (6.5) — have as many, and both are every-down players and NFL prospects. Taumoepenu is a third-down specialist who four years ago put on his shoulder pads backward, then new to football, English and the United States.
You might not guess it anymore.
Raw ability allowed Taumoepenu to total 25 sacks as a senior at Timpview in 2012, striding into Kyle Whittingham's office wearing a smile that can seem to span the whole room.
That talent and fearlessness then compelled Whittingham to play Taumoepenu as a true freshman — "He was so fast off the edge that we thought we could utilize him right away," he said.
But it also obscured the difficulty of his adjustment. Whittingham now wonders if he oughtn't to have redshirted Taumoepenu, who moved to Monterey, Calif., and then to Provo, after growing up in Tonga.
He struggled with English. He became — by his standards, anyway — shy.
He kept his positive outlook, though, as well as the bottomless store of laughter that his mother, Kava Tuha, believes he inherited from his grandfather in Tonga.
"He never has doubts," she said. Sometimes, as he reassures her, she wonders, "Are you the mom, or am I the mom?"
Taumoepenu's English is much improved. Last year, he felt nervous talking to reporters, but he no longer leans on the joke that he's only told to "get the quarterback" — entertaining as it still may be — and is able to express his feelings about a range of topics.
Coaches are beginning to see a similar command of the principles of football. Taumoepenu came to the U. a "pawn," said defensive coordinator John Pease, and now sees purpose in the other pieces on the board.
Said Pease: "Instead of just 'Line up and just go like a madman,' he's learned, 'OK, I've got to have the quarterback on the option sometimes,' 'I've got to have the pitch,' 'I've got to contain the passer' — those kind of things. He's starting to get it."
Pease would like to see Taumoepenu gain weight, to 260. And he still has to slow down, said Jason Fanaika, to become an effective every-down player. Every play does not call for a bat out of hell. But as a pass-rusher, he reminds Fanaika of six-time Pro Bowler Robert Mathis.
"I've never seen Pita get cut before," he said. "And that's a tough thing to do with how fast he's coming off the edge, and you see the offensive tackles, they're big guys. Pita is usually either jumping around them, going inside, or just beating them off the edge."
For now, Taumoepenu plays his specialized role and soaks in what he can from Fanaika and Dimick, whom he looks toward as he joins them on passing downs, "like, 'Hey, let's race,'" he said.
Tuha was able to watch her son play in person for the first time in Fresno, Calif. "He didn't pay attention to anybody, he was just making sure I was OK, that I had fun, that I enjoyed the game. The feeling was just over the top."
They talk on the phone before every game, Tuha said. Close your eyes, she tells him, so they can pray for his success and for his health.
"Don't worry about me," he says. "Just worry about the quarterback, because he's the one I'm going to take down."
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
Pita Taumoepenu
Vitals • 6'1, 240, No. 50
Family notes • Taumoepenu was born in Euless, Texas, and moved to Tonga at 6 months old. He is a cousin of onetime Euless residents and current teammates Viliseni Fauonuku and Salesi Uhatafe, and even though the game of football is relatively new to him, his mother, Kava Tuha, is a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. His sister, Ruth, attends his games when she can, and plans to attend her third this season during Utah's road contest against Arizona.
Background • A rugby star in Tonga, Taumoepenu moved to live with family in Provo and recorded 25 sacks his senior year at Timpview High, playing for Kyle Whittingham's younger brother Cary on a team that included true current freshman wideout Britain Covey and won the state 4A title. He also ran track.
At Utah • After missing the first month of his freshman season due to the complexity of paperwork required from his high school in two countries, Taumoepenu played in seven games and finished with six tackles and a sack. As a sophomore, he had 17 stops and 5.5 sacks, and this year he's tied for second in the Pac-12 with six sacks through eight games, including a forced fumble. —
Utah at Washington
P Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
TV • Ch. 13