Countdown to Kickoff: No. 41 Hauati Pututau

With 41 days until kickoff, it’s time to talk about one of the more dependable backups during the Kyle Whittingham era. Hauati Pututau has started only four games during his time as a Ute, but he’s been a key cog in the defensive tackle rotation ever since 2017.

After initially serving an LDS mission and then redshirting in 2016, he’s gone on to record 38 tackles, seven TFL, eight pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.

Unfortunately for Hauati, he’s been behind guys like current NFLers Leki Fotu and John Penisini, and from there the talent at tackler has just been ridiculous for the Utes during his time on campus.

UteNation take

Regardless of whether he’ll be a starter or not, Pututau will have his time for delivering big moments in 2021. He’s especially shown that he’s effective on passing downs, with a knack for getting his hands up in the passing lanes.

It might be a tall task for him to beat out guys like Viane Moala, Devin Kaufusi and his cousin Tennessee Pututau. However, when Hauati’s number is called, the staff is confident that he’ll come through and produce.

Alex remembers Pututau’s recruitment

Back in late 2013, Howard (Hauati) Pututau was a lightly-recruited and unheralded linebacker out of Cottonwood High School. He was also the first of the Pututau family. His only other offers were from Utah State, Hawaii, and Idaho, so it was a no-brainer for him to choose the Utes. He was also being looked at by Washington State and Stanford. At that time, Kalani Sitake and Ilaisa Tuiaki had extended a Utah offer, solely based off of projection—he’s another example of the extensive evaluations that the staff does. Now, it's a gamble that looks to have paid off and the Utes are also reaping the rewards of an intriguing family pipeline.