Letuligasenoa Will See What He's Got Left in the Tank Against Oregon

LAS VEGAS — Tuli Letuligasenoa will get in a stance as a University of Washington defensive tackle with a lot of wear and tear on him for who knows for how many plays in Friday's Pac-12 championship game against Oregon.

He's sort of like that high-mileage, gas-guzzling car sitting off to the side in some used-car lot just off the Strip, waiting for someone to make an impulse buy and see how far they can get him down the road.

At least that's how UW co-defensive William Inge seemed to sum up the squatty 6-foot-1, 292-pound sixth-year senior when asked about his performance that was limited to 5 plays on the final defensive series of last weekend's 24-21 Apple Cup victory over Washington State.

"We had to have the turbos and Lamborghinis in because of the offense," Inge said, cackling loudly. "He's more of your limousine when he's on the field. He's an old-school caddy."

What that actually translates to is Letuligasenoa is one beat-up football player, ready to appear in his 52nd Husky game, with 31 starts behind him, sort of doing whatever he can, whenever he can.

When the season ended a year ago, the California native had surgery and he largely was unavailable for spring practice. So he's been through this sort of thing before.

This season, Letuligasenoa seemed to be holding up well until an Arizona State player hit him from behind and took out his legs, rendering him unavailable for a couple of games or, in the case of WSU, on a strict pitch count.

"It's old man stuff," Chuck Morrell, the other UW defensive coordinator, said. "He's been playing a lot of college football." 

Letuligasenoa has just 14 of his 108 career tackles this season, hanging in there in a times. Yet in the 22-20 victory at Oregon State played in a monsoon two weeks ago, Morrell noted the importance to getting Letuligasenoa back on the field after he had been out a while.

"I think he was quietly the key to our victory," the coach said.

With Oregon up next, the Huskies will try to squeeze whatever else is in Letuligasenoa's football tank in what promises to be an overly physical game. 

He's brings something important to a UW defense that needs all hands on deck for the Ducks and quarterback Bo Nix.

"He's dominant," Morrell said. "There's a thousand things, but it starts first of all with his block destruction. You watch end-zone tape on 91 and you're going to find him separating blocks and in the backfield a lot."

Letuligasenoa is that car with the broken antenna and scrapes on the door, with the engine still turning over, trying to carry the Huskies to victory.