Hometown: West Valley, UT
Major: Pre-Health & Kinesiology
The 2025 Utah Football season begins on the road in Pasadena on August 30 against former Pac-12 foe, UCLA, and today we begin the UteNation Countdown to Kickoff with no. 98, Dallas Vakalahi.
The 6-foot-2 and 313-pound sophomore saw action in nine games during the 2024 season, starting in three. He led true freshmen on the team with 16 total tackles (2.5 TFL, 2.0 sacks), and 5.5 third-down stops. Vakalahi will be a key returner with Aliki Vimahi in a defensive tackle room that will look to develop its young depth this fall now that Junior Tafuna, Simote Pepa, and Keanu Tanuvasa depart in the offseason.
Vakalahi was one of three Utes that BYU tried to lure into the transfer portal after spring ball, but that attempt failed.
UteNation Take
Vakahali’s experience as a true freshman will be leaned on heavily as the defensive tackle group looks to grow up fast under position coach Luther Elliss. However, Utah has their anchor, Vakalahi, on their defensive line back for what should be a big sophomore season.
The stout defender should see plenty of double-teams before others at the defensive tackle spot prove themselves, but that will create golden opportunities for those lined up with him. Look for Vakalahi to build off of a solid freshman campaign.
Remembering Dallas’ Recruitment
Vakalahi was a 3-star recruit out of West HS in Salt Lake City for the 2022 class before serving an LDS mission. The 2020 Region 2 Defensive MVP held 15 offers out of high school, including Utah, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Stanford, TCU, UCLA, and Wisconsin.
Ultimately, it came down to Utah and Oregon State for the longtime Utah-lean. Originally not a huge position of need in his recruiting cycle, Vakalahi will now look to establish his mark as part of the history of great defensive line play at Utah.
