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The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Spotlight: Stevie Tu’ikolovatu Talks His One-in-a-Million Touchdown

Defensive tackles don’t score touchdowns most of the time. Most football players who play this position weigh in at about 270 pounds and are certainly not the fastest ones on the field. Utah’s Stevie Tu’ikolovatu, however, who weighs 320 pounds, showed everyone in the matchup against Fresno State that he, just like any other guy on the field, can run the ball into the endzone for six points.

Tu’ikolovatu is a junior this season, and last Saturday night, though he is still hazy about what actually happened on the field, he scored his first collegiate touchdown. This play came late in the first quarter when he recovered a fumble and then ran it back 37 yards for the score. This was pretty much a dream come true for him — he never imagined there would be a day when his name would be shown on the scoreboard.

“I’m still trying to remember what I did,” Tu’ikolovatu said. “It really felt like a dream, like I was going to wake up. I just got a lucky bounce and luckily Jason [Fanaika] was there to yell at me to keep running, and I just kept running.”

Fanaika noticed Tu’ikolovatu slowing down, but he also noticed the referees were not waving off the play. He wanted the touchdown for his teammate and knew this would be one of the few chances he would get in his career.

“Thankfully we didn’t have to outrun anybody,” Fanaika said. “It was really just being aware on his part, showing how much of an athlete he is to pick up the ball and to run it in.”

The former walk-on for the Utes said the whole thing was crazy from start to finish. After the fumble, almost all the players on the field stopped playing because they assumed the play was dead. Even the coaches stood on the sidelines with confused looks as to what was going on.

But once Tu’ikolovatu crossed the plane of the goal line, teammates quickly gathered around him, congratulating him on the seemingly impossible play.

“The only chance we get to score is in video games,” said Tu’ikolovatu. “The other D-tackle I was in with, Viliseni Fauonuku, was hitting me on my way off the field, surprised that I scored. I was also surprised.”

If there was anything he could change about that moment, it’s the fact that his wife was not in the stands. Once he was back home his sleeping wife made sure to wake up to congratulate him on a game well done.

Cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah is related to Tu’ikolovatu through his own wife, so to see a family member score meant more to him than anything else during that game. Although Shah won’t mention what exactly Tu’ikolovatu said on the sidelines after he scored, it gave Shah the biggest smile.

“It gave me great joy to see big Stevie run one down the field in the way that he did,” Shah said. “I was so fired up because to hear him come off the field and hear some of the things he said was even more hilarious, [like] the way he described his touchdown.”

Although it may have looked like Tu’ikolovatu was lagging, he was simply amazed at the situation playing out and didn’t really know how to react. He is positive that his 40-yard dash is nowhere near a 4.5, but he can look back and laugh at what transpired during the game.

“It [his 40-yard dash] is probably like a 9.40,” Tu’ikolovatu said. “I think just the shock slowed me down.”

6-foot-1 Tu’ikolovatu attributes his success on the field to what all his coaches have been teaching them: patience and focus. Leading up to Oregon, Tu’ikolovatu expects defensive coordinator John Pease to work on their conditioning.

The defense will have to go into Autzen Stadium with its head held high and cannot let anything, whether it’s the players lining up against them or the noise from the fans, affect the way they play.

Tu’ikolovatu surely won’t let it and will instead shift his attention to just playing ball, and although most players would prefer to see a backup quarterback behind center, Tu’ikolovatu wants the opposite. He welcomes the challenge Duck quarterback Vernon Adams presents and wants to face the best of the best on the field.

“I’m ready for whoever,” Tu’ikolovatu said. “I’m excited for Adams just so we can run around a little bit, chase him, get more exercise.”

As for another scoring opportunity, Tu’ikolovatu hopes he can do it, especially on Oregon’s home field. So does Fanaika.

“I hope he does [score] so he can do a real cool celebration,” Fanaika said.

[email protected]

@kbrenneisen

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