Over the last few decades, Utah football has been known for producing some of the nation’s most dominant defensive linemen. Former Ute linemen Ma’ake Kemoeatu, Paul Soliai, Paul Kruger, Derrick Shelby and Sealver Siliga have all made names for themselves on NFL rosters and have proven that the U is a hotbed for defensive talent.
With a tradition of having such big and physical defensive lines, it’s not often that a true freshman defensive tackle is able to play his way into the upper portion of the depth chart at Utah. It’s also rare that a true freshman defensive tackle earns a sack in his first collegiate football game, but with a last name like Lotulelei, anything is possible.
Most Ute fans recognize the name from former Ute All-American defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, who was drafted with the 14th-overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in the 2013 NFL draft. In his final season at Utah (2012), Star finished with 42 tackles, including 11 for loss and five sacks. He also led the Pac-12 in fumbles recovered (four) and fumble recoveries per game (0.33).
Now in 2014, a new Lotulelei is looking to light up opposing offensive lines.
Freshman nose tackle Lowell Lotulelei is the younger brother of Star Lotulelei and, like his brother, had a wildly successful career at South Jordan powerhouse Bingham High School before making his way to the U.
However, unlike his big brother, Lowell was able to make his way onto the field for the Utes as a true freshman Thursday night when the Utes took on the Idaho State Bengals. Lowell finished the night with three tackles (one for loss), one and a half sacks and a forced fumble in the Utes’ 56-14 victory.
Lowell said he was pleased with his overall performance Thursday but admits he has a lot to work on in order to challenge for a starting role on the defensive line.
“Right now I’m just working on technique and trying to help out the team,” Lowell said. “Just doing whatever I can with the two’s [backups] and trying to make our offense better too.”
Lowell also said he’s been working on his conditioning and “firing off of the ball more.”
While it may be difficult to temporarily live in the shadow of his older brother, Lowell still reaches out to Star for guidance, and Star is happy to oblige.
“We talk pretty much daily,” Lowell said. “He knows the playbook, so I’ll ask him. It’s the same techniques and same plays, so he helps me a lot.”
Even though the Lotuleleis have walked similar paths so far in their football journey, Lowell is grateful that the Ute coaches and players have distinguished him from his brother.
“The coaches and the players, they treat me like I’m my own man. The coaches obviously expect me to do big things just like any other player, and I think that’s a good thing,” Lowell said. “It’s the same program, we both came here for the same thing, we both had the same goals coming here, but it’s not a competition with [Star].”
Defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki has seen Lowell put his brother’s advice to good use since he joined the Utes earlier this summer. Tuiaki said Lowell’s development will be a long process, but he’s been impressed by what he’s seen.
“He’s getting better with his technique, and his knowledge of the game has improved a lot,” Tuiaki said. “Little by little, day by day, he’s picking up something that makes him a better player.”
While Lowell has shown promise during camp and practice this season, Tuiaki said there are still improvements to be made before Lowell will be ready to compete for a starting role.
“It’s just little things, the way that some guys play with their hair on fire, he’s just got some habits that he brings from high school that he’s got to break as far as the intensity with which he plays and getting to the ball and all that stuff,” Tuiaki said. “It’s coming slowly, but he’s building good habits.”
Defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake agrees with Tuiaki’s assessments and hopes Lowell will make those improvements sooner rather than later.
“He’s going to be a really good player,” Sitake said. “I think he’s going to be an amazing player for us in the future and hopefully in the near future. We see some really good things from him. Coach Tuiaki’s done a great job with him, and he’s got a lot of ability so I think the sky’s the limit for him.”
When it came to his performance on Thursday, Sitake noticed some fixable errors in Lowell’s game but was impressed with his overall skill level as a true freshman.
“He made some freshman mistakes, nothing different from what we’ve seen from other freshmen, but I think in the long run, he’s made some big plays,” he said. “He’s going to have a lot of production, and I was really pleased, for the most part, with a lot of his technique.”
Sitake worked closely with Lowell’s brother, Star, during his time with the Utes. While he says the two are very similar in their size and playing style, he believes Lowell can be a far different player than his older brother.
“I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison,” Sitake said. “I think that Lowell has a lot of ability to be as good as he wants to be. He’s his own person, I think he’s going to be dominant in his own way, and I think he’ll make a big path for himself … I think Lowell’s still a young puppy, he’s going to grow into one of the great ones.”
While Sitake speaks quite highly of Lowell, he said that in order to crack the starting lineup, he’s going to have to fix the minor errors in his technique and fight it out with the starting tackles.
“Keep battling, you’ve got to eliminate the freshman mistakes,” Sitake said. “As we start going through the season, you’ll start to see him emerge. This is all still brand new to him, he’s still getting used to everything. I think he’s going to be just fine. I can’t tell the future or how things are going to roll, but if I had it my way, I think Lowell should be in the mix really, really soon.”
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