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Suspended Peihopa Can't Fix His UW Situation, Enters Portal

The promising redshirt freshman defensive tackle played in just eight Husky games.
Dan Raley|
Suspended Peihopa Can't Fix His UW Situation, Enters Portal
Suspended Peihopa Can't Fix His UW Situation, Enters Portal

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Washington Huskies

Defensive tackle Kuao Peihopa was glib, funny, fearless, a University of Washington football player who Kalen DeBoer raved about during spring practice. 

But the good times didn't last between the 6-foot-3, 304-pound redshirt freshman and the new Husky coaching staff, with Peihopa given an indefinite suspension once the season began and on Sunday night the defensive tackle announced that he was entering the transfer portal.

"I would like to thank Husky Nation for allowing me to be part of a special place," Peihopa wrote on Twitter. "I will forever cherish my time as a Dawg."

Peihopa apparently crossed the point of no return when he mouthed off to a coach, according to a source, and he either couldn't or didn't want to repair the damage that was done.

He becomes the second Husky to enter the portal in a week's time, joining junior safety Cameron Williams.

From Makakilo, Hawaii, Peihopa distinguished himself once he graduated early from high school and showed up for Jimmy Lake's one and only month-long spring workouts in 2021.

The new kid immediately got into a fight with veteran offensive guard Nate Kalepo for everyone to see.

However, Peihopa was injured much of that spring and then into his first season, appearing in just four games.

Once DeBoer and his staff took over, Peihopa ran with the No. 1 defense much of this past spring, lining up at defensive tackle next to junior Tuli Letuligasenoa, with sophomore Faatui Tuitele sitting out all of the April workouts with an injury.

Letuligasenoa and Tuitele were named the starters once the season began, with Peihopa spelling them through four games before he was suspended.

Asked about the big Hawaiian last week, DeBoer said he preferred to wait until the season was over before addressing the situation.

Any UW discussion here on involving Peihopa, who should become a fairly decent player for someone else now, will be in the past tense.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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