Trio of Trinity grads now pushing the pile for Utah

As is too often the case, lost in most of the reporting surrounding Utah’s eyebrow-raising 62-20 win at Oregon Saturday was the performance the offensive line. Of particular interest to folks in these parts should be the contributions from three members of that line, which has not allowed a sack of quarterback Travis Wilson in the last three games, all wins for the No. 10 Utes (4-0, 1-0 Pac 12).

Redshirt sophomore guard Salesi Uhatafe, junior tackle Sam Tevi and redshirt junior center Hiva Lutui, three of Utah’s most experienced linemen, have successfully made the transition from dominating on Friday nights at Pennington Field to making major contributions to the program on the rise in Salt Lake City. Utah moved into the top-ten in the Associated Press Top 25 this week from the No. 17 spot after the thrashing of then-No. 13 Oregon, and actually received one vote for first place in the poll.

None of that happens without your quarterback staying upright, and none of that happens without establishing a run game. The Trinity triumvirate know something about both, coming from Euless, where for 15 years coach Steve Lineweaver built his program and three state championships around winning the battle in the trenches.

That experience is something that Utah’s second-year offensive line coach Jim Harding appreciated as soon as he stepped on campus.

“Playing there in Texas, they’re used to big crowds, and they’re used to the anticipation for the games,” Harding said. “They bring a lot of athleticism to the line and they do a nice job of being great teammates. All three have been huge.”

Uahtafe, who goes by ‘Lekka,’ and Tevi are starters this year after being rotation players for the Utes a year ago, when Utah went 9-4 in its fourth season in the Pac 12 and beat Colorado State 45-10 in the Las Vegas Bowl. The most experienced of the three, Uhatafe got six starts last season and anchors the line at right guard in 2015.

He was a Star-Telegram Super Team first-team selection in 2012.

Trinity coach Chris Jensen, who was the trio’s offensive coordinator under Lineweaver, said Uhatafe’s combination of size (6-4, 315) and footwork brought him into the spotlight for Trinity during his senior season in 2012, after turning in two average seasons playing tackle as a sophomore and junior. Harding expects that development to continue over the next two years in college.

“He does not even realize how good he can be if he plays with consistency,” Harding said of Uhatafe. “When it’s a conscious decision, he plays with great pad level. Our expectations are for him to be an all-conference player by the time he leaves Utah.”

If the Utes can piece together a run to the Pac 12 title game this season or next, players like Uhatafe will be on voters’ radar.

Tevi has played all over the field in his young football career, perhaps making him the most likely candidate of the three for a future in coaching. He came to Jensen and Lineweaver in 2009 as a 6-4 freshman quarterback, and his father Motukia Tevi at the time wanted it to stay that way.

“But with his size, he more fit the role of a pocket passer, and that’s not really what we do,” Jensen said. “I told his dad, ‘Your son is going to college for free if we switch him over to defensive line.’ That made him a little more open to the move.”

But that wouldn’t be the only move for Tevi. The Star-Telegram Super Team second-teamer in 2012 was originally recruited to Utah as a defensive tackle and saw some playing time in his freshman year, even getting his first and only collegiate sack as a defensive tackle against Weber State.

“Playing on defense probably helped him have success on the offensive line,” Jensen said. “He has that understanding of defensive alignments and techniques.”

When Harding came on as offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator before the 2014 season, he immediately took notice of Tevi’s athleticism.

“He is extremely, extremely athletic,” Harding said. “He can get away with some smaller technical things based on his sheer athleticism, and he’s always in position in pass protection.”

It was the second move that Tevi (6-5, 300) would personally have just as soon forgone, but the junior has made a habit of going wherever his team needs him. After Utah graduated its starting left tackle entering this season, there was a hole in the line, and Tevi became the frontrunner to fill it during spring workouts. It became clear to Harding, the more snaps he watched and evaluated Tevi’s play, that the position would be his this year.

“They knew I’d suck it up and play,” Tevi said. “My job is to help the team win, and this is where they need me.”

Lutui (6-1, 295) , a year older than Uhatafe and Tevi, started at quick guard as a sophomore during Trinity’s most recent run to the Class 5A state title in 2009. He racked up numerous accolades on his way to Utah including AP first-team all-state nods in 2010 and 2011 and a Star-Telegram Super Team nomination in 2011.

“He’s just gifted. It might sound odd, but he was just so graceful, the way he moved, but he was still big enough to block man-to-man and to pull well,” Jensen said. “On top of that, he’s just an awesome kid.”

While technically listed as Utah’s backup center for the past two seasons, he rotates in on a near series-by-series basis this season.

“Hiva’s just a really intelligent player, so we feel comfortable putting him in any of the three interior line positions,” Harding said. “He provides leadership in our room, he’s very dialed in and conscientious. We trust him so much, we’ve just got to find a way to get him more snaps. It’s a comfort to know that if anyone in an interior line position goes down, he’s next up and he won’t miss a beat.”

All three attest that Salt Lake City and the Utah campus feel just like home and that the transition from playing at Trinity to playing at Utah went about as smoothly as it could have gone.

“Utah just felt like home as soon as I got here,” Lutui said. “The Trinity coaches had us playing tough, playing physical and focusing on that throughout high school. I feel like we were more up to speed as D1 athletes coming into the college game.”

It’s not just because both communities have a high concentration of Polynesian Americans, though.

“Our kids over the years have tended to have a lot of relatives both in Utah and California, and college coaches in those areas understand that,” Jensen said.

From Utah’s perspective, getting well-coached players from the nation’s premier outlet for high school football has often translated to success on the football field. Trinity has sent six recruits, all Tongan, to Utah since 2009.

“Texas is obviously that place where high school football is undoubtedly the best in the country. But also, culturally it’s a fit,” Harding said. “The ones we’ve gotten just love to play football. We’re tough on these guys in terms of footwork and hand placement. You can coach them hard and they respond.”

On the field, it seems to be working out for everyone thus far in 2015.

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Trio of Trinity grads now pushing the pile for Utah."