BYU’s Moroni Laulu-Pututau | Courtesy BYU Athletics
Cougars’ oft-injured tight end says he’s finally 100% healthy after knee and foot injuries kept him out of last two games against Utah State, explains why Aggies dislike BYU so much
LOGAN — Even if he finally has that breakout game he’s been searching for since he returned from a season-ending knee injury last year, BYU tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau insists that Saturday’s rivalry game at Utah State won’t be about him.
“This one is all about the team, and getting some payback for the last couple of years,” said the Cache Valley native who grew up in Hyrum, 10 miles south of USU’s Logan campus.
That’s saying something, because Laulu-Pututau didn’t play in those rare Aggie beatdowns of the Cougars, 40-24 in Logan in 2017 and 45-20 in Provo last year. The senior known as “MLP” missed the 2017 game with a Lisfranc foot injury suffered in fall camp and the 2018 game because it was the game after he sustained a season-ending ACL injury at Washington.
He didn’t record a stat in BYU’s 51-28 win in 2015 when he was a freshman returned missionary and caught just one pass, for 15 yards, in the Cougars’ 28-10 win in 2016 in Provo.
“I haven’t really done much against them,” he said.
Still, MLP is excited about his final trip to Logan. His parents and several siblings still live in the valley, and he is looking forward to catching up with lots of former neighbors, classmates and friends from his time at Mountain Crest High.
“Mostly, it is just a chance for us as a team to go out and kinda keep our momentum going,” he said.
Despite being a three-year starter on MC’s football and basketball teams, a hurdles champion in track and one of the best all-around prep athletes the Cache Valley has ever produced, MLP didn’t receive a lot of recruiting attention from Utah State.
“Honestly, BYU was more interested in me than Utah State was,” he said. “BYU coaches started talking to me way before Utah State. The Aggies never really showed that much interest. BYU was always a better fit for me and it wasn’t really on the table that I would go to Utah State.”
Laulu-Pututau caught three passes for 27 yards against Toledo, but didn’t record a reception the past two games as persistent knee pain slowed his progress. He said Wednesday he feels a lot better this week.
“I feel 100%, health-wise,” he said. “As far as conditioning and getting those fine details ironed out, I can always get better. … I hope this is my week (to break out), but you have to be patient with this game, because there are so many ups and downs. I am trying to stay focused and not worry about the results too much.”
The construction management major has no animosity toward Utah State or its fans, but he does like to weigh in on why the Aggies seem to hold so much hatred for the Cougars and their fans.
“People up there, man, they just have a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “We are kinda separated from everybody else. We are in our own little bowl up there. So I feel like they feel the need to, I dunno, stay close and protect their own.”
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