Tialavea back, ready to make an impact

Darnell Dickson - Daily Herald | Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 2:01 am

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall calls him "one of the great stories of the year." He's talking about junior Russell Tialavea's return from a serious knee injury suffered before the start of the 2007 season. Last year, the Cougars turned to true freshman Eathyn Manumaleuna to fill the nose tackle spot, with Rick Wofley and Mosese Foketi coming off the bench. But Tialavea is back and healthy, and Mendenhall couldn't be more pleased to have the big San Diego native anchoring the middle of the defense. "Russell has struggled on and off the field with his conduct, the classroom and his work ethic," Mendenhall said frankly. "He always had exceptional talent. He has declared himself committed by working hard and being consistent. I'm very proud of him. He's been one of the bright spots so far." Tialavea redshirted as a freshman in 2005 and made an impact the following season, starting seven games and logging 22 tackles (11 solo) and two blocked field goals. But his sophomore season never got started. He was injured during fall camp and sat out 2007. With the help of strength and conditioning coach Jay Omer, Tialavea made his way back to health. He lost 30 pounds (down to 300) and impressed coaches with his renewed commitment. "It feels really good to be out here," Tialavea said. "I missed it and I'm excited for this fall. I've been impressed with how I came out. Not so much like how it showed on the field but how my knee felt. I knew I had to work hard to come back from such a big injury. Coach Omer and Coach Mendenhall really helped me along the way." The nose tackle in BYU's 3-4 is often used to tie up blockers, not necessarily to make plays. Ironically, Manumaleuna made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the 2007 season with his blocked field goal that preserved BYU's win over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. After posting 25 tackles from the nose tackle spot, Manumaleuna is now serving an LDS mission. Mendenhall said Tialavea brings something extra to the nose tackle position. "He's a completely different player in terms of speed, quickness and explosiveness," Mendenhall said. "He's a playmaker and becomes more than a block occupier. He can make plays from B gap to B gap." For his part, the soft-spoken Tialavea raves about his teammates abilities rather than his own. "We can probably make a D-line for two teams right now," he said. "We have so many guys at all the spots that look good. I bring a little experience to nose, and a couple of other things. We'll see how it goes." The defensive line is as deep as any position on the team. Junior Jan Jorgensen, who said earlier this summer that Tialavea is often the best player on the field when he lines up, returns at one end after leading the MWC in sacks. Juniors Ian Dulan and Brett Denney will likely split time at the other end, with redshirt freshman Matt Putnam impressing coaches with his rush end ability so far in fall camp. Junior college transfers Tevita Hola and Bernard Afutiti have arrived to give BYU a lot of options on the line. But it's Tialavea who might make the biggest impact on game day. "I'd rather play nose than any other position," he said. "It's closer to the quarterback and more fun because there's a lot of fighting in there. I can't wait, especially playing with my boy Vic (linebacker Vic So'oto, who grew up with Tialavea in the San Diego area). That's what I'm most excited about. I'm glad he came over to the light side." • The old ball coach: BYU coaching legend LaVell Edwards was on hand Tuesday and chatted briefly with Mendenhall during practice. "He said it looks like we're making wise decisions on handling practice," Mendenhall said. "As a young coach, that's reassuring to hear. It's nice to have that wisdom." • Coming out, going in: BYU worked on situation specific 11-on-11 drills -- coming out from the goal line and going in from the 20, or blue zone. Max Hall had touchdown passes to tight ends Dennis Pitta and Andrew George from near the goal line. He also completed a third-down pass to senior wide receiver Michael Reed for a 25-yard touchdown and zipped a 32-yard completion to redshirt freshman Spencer Hafoka earlier in practice. "There was a lot of great teaching from coming out," Mendenhall said. "If the defense doesn't have sense of urgency, they'll give up field position. In the goal line scoring, the offense was very proficient today. That's not surprising because of who we have coming back on offense. We're a different football team with Dennis and Harvey (Unga) in there." • Fair caught: While Mendenhall had Unga returning punts and kicks during Tuesday's practice, don't expect to see the starting tailback doing it during games. The players who would have been returning punts were either being held out of practice or on the punt cover team during the drill. Mendenhall said junior wide receiver Austin Collie, senior wide receiver Reed White and sophomore wide receiver Luke Ashworth are his top three return men so far for both punt and kickoff returns. Younger players like true freshman O'Neill Chambers will also be developed for returns. • On the mend: Senior running back Fui Vakapuna (hamstring) was healthy enough to get his most work of fall camp. He had a couple of solid lead blocks that sprung Unga for nice gains during team drills. "He looked better," Mendenhall said. "It's fun to be able to see him move faster. He knows what to do and he's making progress, though it's probably slower than he or I would like. Today was the first sign of us being able to push him a little bit." • Early captains: Team captains won't be selected until the end of fall camp but Mendenhall announced three of the four special teams captains: Matt Bauman (punt), Jorgensen (kickoff return) and David Nixon (kickoff). As a point of emphasis after a poor performance in 2007, the punt return captain won't be picked until later. These captains, with the help of the coaches, pick personnel and decide on depth charts for their units. • A pat on the back: During special teams drills, walk-on defensive back Tana Uyema forced punter C.J. Santiago to abort a punt attempt by breaking through the blocking wall. Some 40 yards away, Mendenhall called Uyema over to tell him "nice job" and slapped hands with him. • Extra points: With David Tafuna out (concussion), redshirt freshman Jordan Pendleton has been getting some work at the Kat safety spot with the No. 1 defense. Mendenhall said Pendleton was in a three-way battle for the No. 4 safety spot with true freshman Shiloah Te'o and Daniel Sorensen. ... Junior linebacker Matt Ah You (bruised sternum) sat out of practice on Tuesday. Junior Shawn Doman played in his place. Bauman, who injured his foot riding a scooter before fall camp began, was back participating in all drills for the first time. ... The second unit offensive line consisted of sophomore Garrett Reden at center, JC transfer Jesse Taufi and sophomore Jason Speredon at guards and sophomore Nick Alletto and freshman Brock Stringham at tackles.