Football | 8/18/2025 8:30:00 PM

The Utah Tech Football 2025 season preview continues on the defensive side of the ball, specifically the defensive line. 
 
Utah Tech has 13 linemen in fall camp, and it's a veteran-laden group with nine returning players, along with four transfers, all of whom have put in the work to improve the Blazers' run defense and to create havoc in the opposing team's pass game. 
 
"The number one thing for our defensive line is that we've got to be stout in the run game," said defensive line coach Ben Robertson. "The way we play, we ask our guys to strike blockers, knock people back and squeeze space. We don't avoid confrontation we invite it.
 
"For us it's learning the techniques of playing square, playing with a good base, the details of our hands, and we've made a ton of progress," Robertson added. "We are so much farther ahead right now than we were a year ago today. 
 
"I'm pretty excited about what we've got going this year, I think you'll see a big improvement in our run defense," he went on to say. "The back half of last year we made significant strides, and we expect to take a step forward from that play some pretty good run defense."

RETURNEES
The Trailblazers have three redshirt seniors and five total upperclassmen in the defensive line room, which is anchored by redshirt senior Laytan Tanuvasa (6-1, 312), who racked up 24 total tackles with seven solo stops and one sack last season. Tanuvasa played in all 12 games with seven starts, six of which came at nose tackle. 

"It's good to have Laytan back," said Coach Robertson. "He played a bunch last year and he's kind of the leader of the group. He can play all the spots, he's super reliable, and he's really good at holding the point in our odd fronts. He's a hard guy to move."
 
He, along with fellow redshirt seniors Cody Carlson (6-2, 282) and Micah Vuki (6-3, 265), along with junior Ulisoni Angilau (6-2, 270), saw a lot of playing time in 2024. Carlson played in all 12 games and tallied 29 total tackles along with two QB hurries and two fumble recoveries.
 
Meanwhile, Vuki enjoyed a breakout season last year, during which he collected 13 total tackles and 1.5 TFLs in 11 games, while Angilau was credited with 14 tackles along with three total TFLs and two sacks in his first season as a Trailblazer. 
 
"Cody is not far behind, he's pushing [the position group] every day in practice and he's really improved his run defense a lot this past spring and fall," Coach Robertson said. "Uli has made a lot of progress this fall. We're putting him into some different spots to free him up a little bit on the edge. He's just so explosive and fast and we've got to get him more on the edge and less out of the middle.
 
"Micah has played a lot of football, he can play any of our spots, and he could play outside linebacker if we needed him too," Robertson added. "He's very smart, he knows exactly what to do, and he can do just about anything for us. Micah is also going to be on some special teams [situations] because mentally he can handle that."
 
Utah Tech also welcomes back redshirt junior Fasitootai Sagapolu (6-2, 305), who returns to action after missing the entire 2024 campaign due to injury. "Marley" Sagapolu enjoyed a banner 2023 campaign, during which he started in nine of the 11 games he played in at nose tackle and racked up 30 total tackles (18 solo) with 2.0 TFLs. 
 
"Marley came back and went through all of spring ball and looked really good," Robertson exclaimed. "Expectations are high for Marley – he's a big, strong guy, he leads the group in terms of effort and playing hard. I expect him to pick up right where he left off [in 2023], I'm sure the fans remember him as being a super-active guy, and what we expect out of him is more of that."
 
Four redshirts will also look to make an impact entering their second seasons in the system, including sophomore Mubarak Odubiyi (6-1, 245), and freshmen Zayden Cook (6-2, 275), Brandon Jackson (6-1, 295), and Noa Yamauchi (6-0, 275).
 
"Brandon got to play some towards the end of last season, and he has come a long way in spring and [fall] training camp and he's going to play a lot of snaps for us," says Robertson. "Kind of the same story for Zayden. He would've been on the same track as Brandon last season, but because of that last season injury we shelved him. He came back in the spring and had a good [spring] camp and has had a good training camp. Zayden is a big, strong guy who is hard to move and he's physical. He loves to play and loves the physical nature of the position.
 
"Noa is very reliable, he can play any spot and he knows everything we're doing up front," said Robertson. "You'll certainly see him on punt [formations] but don't surprised if you see him in the rotation out there as well.
 
"Rak has probably made the most progress in our room in the last year," Robertson went on to say. "He's always been strong and explosive. You'll see that when he plays. We're looking to knock people back and Rak has probably knocked as many people back this training camp as anyone else has. He's fighting for a spot on the bus, he's come a long way and he's earned some significant playing time [during camp]."
 
NEWCOMERS
All four newcomers to the defensive line are transfers, two out of the portal and two more from the junior college ranks.
 
Juniors Isai Perez (6-3; 310) and Jackson Stein (6-1, 275) are the most seasoned of the newcomers. Perez transferred from Morehead State after two years at Los Angeles Valley College, where he was a 2023 NJCAA all-America and SCFA Pacific League Defensive Player of the Year honoree. That season he amassed 45 total tackles with 11.0 TFLs and 2.5 sacks in only 10 games. 

Meanwhile Stein spent three seasons at the College of the Canyons, where he played in 19 career games and finished with 36 total tackles, 11.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks. In fact, Stein posted 24 of those stops along with 7.5 TFLs and all three sacks during his 2024 season. 
 
"If we played tomorrow, Jackson would probably be out there with the first group in base," noted Robertson. "JUCO guys usually need a spring and a fall to really be good to go, which is what Jackson got.
 
"Isai got here a little late to [fall] camp, so he's a little behind in terms of what we're doing in all the positions, but he's mainly sticking at the nose tackle position," Robertson noted. "Just getting him trained up in that one spot, and it's all about the details for the defensive linemen. There's not a whole lot of alignments and assignments, but there's a lot of variability, and we've just got to keep bringing him along. He's a big kid and when he plays with good pad level, he's another one who is hard to move."
 
Utah Tech also brought in sophomore transfer Damien Burgueno (6-2, 285) from Fullerton College, where he turned heads after posting 25 total tackles with 9.5 TFLs, 4.0 sacks and one forced fumble as a freshman in 2024, and redshirt freshman Tyson Simmons (6-3, 265), who originally signed to play at Montana.  
 
"Damien has been a pleasant surprise for us, he's come a long way, but he still has not played a snap of Division I football yet," said Robertson. "He's got a ton of upside and he's well on his way. He works hard and the guys in the room really like him.
 
"Tyson is an exciting player for us because he's super-talented, he's long, he's strong, he's athletic and he plays really hard," Robertson continued. "He also made the change from outside linebacker to the line, and that happened in the middle of [spring], so he's got about half a spring [camp] and fall camp at defensive line. He's made a lot of progress."
 
Utah Tech kicks off its sixth season of NCAA D-I FCS play on Saturday, August 30, when the Trailblazers welcome Big Sky Conference power No. 7/8 UC Davis to Greater Zion Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m.