This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Provo • The group that oversees college football officiating acknowledged to BYU that outside linebacker Sae Tautu's late hit on Missouri quarterback Drew Lock last Saturday was not helmet-to-helmet and that Tautu should not have been ejected from the game for targeting.

Nevertheless, Tautu still must sit out of the first half of this week's game against Fresno State, College Football Officiating West (CFO West) determined after receiving an appeal from BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall on Monday.

Confused?

So are BYU coaches.

Outside linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga said Tuesday that although the CFO (an entity created by the NCAA and the College Commissioners Association (CCA) to oversee officiating) reviewed it and agreed it wasn't targeting, the organization said it still has to suspend Tautu because the call was on the field stood after an in-game video review.

The game was officiated by Big 12 officials, who belong to the CFO West, but SEC officials were in the replay booth.

"So I don't know how that all works out, but he will have to sit out the first half," Poppinga said, shaking his head. "By the second half, he will be out there."

Asked by The Salt Lake Tribune about the targeting call on Monday, Mendenhall said he sends in calls and rulings every week that he thinks are questionable and intended to send several from the Missouri game.

Thin at the position

Already thin at the outside linebacker positions, the Cougars will have to make some adjustments without Tautu in the first half, Poppinga said. Sophomore Lene Lesatele will get the start at weakside (will) linebacker, while freshman Moses Kaumatule has been moved from defensive end to will linebacker and will back up Lesatele.

"We are really thin at that spot," Poppinga said. "That leaves me now with two guys out of the 10 that I started fall camp with."

Takitaki trying to get back

Injuries have depleted the linebacking corps, and sophomore OLB Sione Takitaki was suspended for the remainder of the season after the Cincinnati game for what Mendenhall said was a violation of team rules but was so egregious that the university is also involved in the discipline.

"Sione is doing good right now," Poppinga said. "He is just getting his academics straight, and making sure he is eligible for the spring [semester], and is doing everything like a football player would do, except playing football."

Poppinga said the oft-troubled Takitaki "grew up in an area where he maybe wasn't taught the things he should have been taught" and that it is taking a group effort to get the young man back on the right track.

"There is not just myself and coach Mendenhall [helping Takitaki]," Poppinga said. "There are the academic guys, and the trainers, and our compliance guy. We have about 12 guys on this guy right now, and on probably three or four other guys that are like him in that situation that just need a little more help and some resources to help them be successful in life."

Taele could return

Defensive line coach Steve Kaufusi confirmed Tuesday that defensive end Logan Taele, who is listed as a senior, has another year of eligibility remaining if he chooses to take it because he didn't play in 2012 when it was earlier believed that he did. Taele, on the scout team in 2012, is trying to decide whether he will return or not.

Twitter: @drewjay —

Fresno St. at BYU

P Saturday, 1 p.m.

TV • BYUtv