Senior noseguard Ma'ake Kemoeatu, who until this year had been almost as legendary as Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala for being a silent Hawaiian, may be one reason the Ute footballers haven't yet had one of those dreaded letdowns.
The quiet 6-foot-5, 300-pounder, initially at coach Ron McBride's urging, has turned into a raging inspiration in the pre-game locker room for the past several games. McBride especially credited Kemoeatu's enthusiasm for helping Utah start fast and stay up in its last game, a 52-21 win over South Florida Oct. 6.
Sophomore Josh Savage, who plays alongside Kemoeatu as a starting defensive end, agrees about Kemoeatu's karma. "Everybody, as a team, feeds off Ma'ake's energy," he says. "He's a good leader. He's pretty quiet, but he does his own little ritual thing getting everybody pumped up in the locker room right before the game and at halftime, telling everybody to pick things up."
Savage says Kemoeatu tells his teammates "it's his greatest pleasure to be playing with us as a team and going to battle with us. I think a lot of people look up to Ma'ake as a great leader."
Even though McBride laughs that Kemoeatu "didn't say a word for about three years," the players follow him "because they all know that he's earned his stripes. They know he plays like a warrior, and he's tough. They'll respond to a guy who's proven himself," he says. "He's a beautiful kid."
When McBride first asked Kemoeatu to shake things up before games, he responded in his typical, economy-of-word fashion: "OK, coach, I'll do it," McBride recalls.
Kemoeatu was surprised at the request. "I don't know why he picked me," he said. But he's a good soldier. "When the coach says, 'I need you to hype the team up,' that's what I'm going to do."
Now, he seems to relish the job. "I'm just doing what the coaches tell me to do — all the coaches. I'm going to start charging $5 apiece," Kemoeatu says. To rev his teammates, "I just get at them, scream, hit people on the head. I don't really write out something to get ready for it," he says, adding, "It seems to be good so far.
"I'm just trying to get all the guys fired up before the game, get the butterflies out of their stomachs. A lot of guys get nervous before the game, (so I try to) get it out of their system. Hey, it worked for me in high school, so I figured it would work again," he says.
BYE BYE — NOT: The bye week told McBride he's not ready for the rocking chair. "When I retire, or they fire me, I always wondered what I was going to do. I'll get bored real fast. Saturday was all right. Sunday, I was really bored," he said. So much so that he was ready to go to the office, turn out the lights and watch game film — "anybody's film."
BITS 'N PIECES: Sam White had hoped to be Utah's starting right guard after missing last season and spring ball with creaky knees, but he had to give in to the knees and quit football. Now working in a Wyoming oilfield, the graduate was in town and drove by to watch practice Tuesday with his wife, Katie, and infant son. White likes to work with his hands and be outside, so his new job is perfect . . . Junior running back Marty Johnson wore civilian clothes for Tuesday's practice. He's been out since being hit in the chest by a helmet part-way through the season opener. Still having pain from cracked bone and cartilage in the sternum, Johnson expects to apply for a second medical hardship year. He had one prior to junior college because of a knee . . . Offensive linemen Doug Kaufusi and Ed Ta'amu began practicing again this week after using the bye week to heal sprained ankles . . . Center Dustin McQuivey sprained a foot twisting the wrong way during Tuesday's practice but is expected to be OK.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com