Huskies Need Big Push Up Front and Tuitele Is the Guy Who Might Supply It
Tuli Letuligasenoa ranges from silly to downright nasty in practice when toe-tapping to a Michael Jackson tune or calling out a preening freshman tailback. Taki Taimani can be playful at times, once spotted spinning an assistant coach around like a top. Jacob Bandes is known to show up to a workout singing.
Yet among these veteran University of Washington defensive linemen, Faatui Tuitele qualifies as the most serious of the bunch. He's the one usually deep in thought, overly reflective in his comments and sometimes down on one knee saying a pre-practice prayer.
Tuitele, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound redshirt freshman from Honolulu, Hawaii, also holds the distinction as one of the UW's most heavily recruited players on the active roster after once holding 40 scholarship offers, selecting the Huskies from a final five filled out by Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Texas.
What's next for the transplanted Islander is to play like the chosen one — and he's beginning to make that happen.
Against Arkansas State, Tuitele threw down the opposing quarterback flat on his back for a sack while stripping the ball free for teammate Bralen Trice to alertly scoop it up and go 72 yards for a touchdown without much trouble.
"I just ran to the ball and just tried to hit the quarterback and just force a bad throw, but he held onto the ball and I guess I hit the ball, and Bralen picked it up and took it to the house," said the bearded Tuitele, his hair tucked in the back. "It's a very surreal feeling for sure — something I've been waiting for for three years."
Last weekend against California, he shoved his way into the backfield and sacked quarterback Chase Garbers for a 3-yard loss on first-and-goal from the 7, his efforts helping prevent any Bears points on the drive.
Faatui Tuitele addresses the media covering the Huskies.
Dan Raley
As the Huskies (2-2 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) head into Corvallis, Oregon, this weekend to face resurgent Oregon State (3-1, 1-0), Tuitele is the only UW down lineman who has a sack among the seven registered by the team. Nickelback Bookie Radley-Hiles is the only other player with a pair of these.
He's starting to get comfortable after starting the past two games, whether it's been opening in a two- or three-man alignment across the defensive front.
The Huskies, while well stocked with prospective D-line talent, are still waiting on one of this next generation to emerge as a playmaker on the order of a Danny Shelton, Vita Vea or Greg Gaines, all former UW tackles currently in the NFL.
"I know Danny, Vita and Greg have set the bar for us; they've showed what D-lo is all about," Tuitele said, though wading in cautiously on this subject. "But we're just trying to be ourselves and just be our own person, and we're trying to make a good impression on those guys, as well."
The Beavers, after beating USC in Los Angeles last Saturday and enjoying a lot of rushing success this season, will require the best effort out of Tuitele and the others to slow them down.
Naturally a big man, Tuitele appears more muscular as he attempts to establish himself as more of a disruptive figure. He's needed to reshape his body some and build endurance to make a difference. Faatui is not fat.
"Definitely in the weight room is where I focused all my offseason," he said. "I wanted to change my body to be able to last in games, the conditioning, also to take the beating of a 12-game season, to get stronger."
Two years ago, Tuitele was a true freshman who made the trip to Oregon State and Reser Stadium, and suited up, but he didn't play. Still, he has vivid memories of the place. For instance, he hasn't forgotten that continual whirring sound that plays over the public-address system nonstop.
"That chainsaw is the first thing I remember about that stadium, hearing that chainsaw go off," he said.
As annoying as that little backwoods tradition is, it serves as a good metaphor for Tuitele. On Saturday, he'll once more try to cut down the tall timber in front of him, stack those guys neatly and go terrorize another quarterback.
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