Utes senior Sunia Tauteoli ejected in the first half for hit on Tanner Mangum

The officials ejected Utes starting linebacker Sunia Tauteoli from Saturday night’s game for targeting on a hit on BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum in the first minute of the second quarter.

Tauteoli became the first Utes player ejected this season due to a targeting call when he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Mangum that knocked Mangum’s helmet off and sent it rolling on the turf. Mangum had scrambled for 4 yards before sliding.

Tauteoli, who has started both games this season, made one tackle before he left the game. The 6-foot, 227-pound senior registered a team-high 10 tackles in the season opener against North Dakota.

BYU played the first half without starting strong safety Micah Hannemann due to a targeting call that earned him an ejection in the second half of last weekend’s game against LSU.

This past week, Utes defensive coordinator and former standout safety Morgan Scalley said he’d probably have gotten ejected multiple times in his career if the penalty had been enforced.

“It’s just the way of the world now in college football and – shoot – in the NFL and football in general,” Scalley said following Tuesday’s practice. “It’s protecting players. It makes it tough on the defender when he’s going a million miles per hour and he’s got to make that split-second decision. Hopefully, you practice enough that it doesn’t show up, but no one is immune to it and it’s going to happen.”

Man in the middle

Utes senior linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga started Saturday night’s game and had a fumble return in the first quarter wiped out by replay review. His status had been in doubt after he sustained a leg injury in against North Dakota in the season opener.

Luafatasaga, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior, the season-opening win over North Dakota. However, he came out of the game due to injury and finished the contest with his foot in a protective boot. He made three tackles in the win before leaving the game.

Last season, Luafatasaga played in all 13 games and started eight. He recorded 52 tackles (five tackles for loss) for the season, and he played his best late in the season.

Reinforcements at tight end

Senior tight end Siale Fakailoatonga played for the first time this season after sitting out the season opener due to an undisclosed injury sustained during preseason camp. A 6-foot-4, 257-pound Cottonwood High graduate, Fakailoatonga missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL during preseason camp.

Senior Harrison Handley, freshman Bapa Falemaka and sophomore Jake Jackson, a converted linebacker, all played in the season opener against North Dakota. Handley and Jackson each had catches.

Prior to suffering a season-ending injury in 2015, Fakailoatonga had 12 receptions for 120 yards in six games (five starts).