He crashes through gaps and buckles runners.
He tackles like he’s launched from a rocket pad. It’s like he’s got crab claws on hydraulics. He latches on, and ball carriers are mostly done.
He’s become Ilaisa Tuiaki’s hammer in BYU’s defense. His mistakes are few; his big plays are many. Butch Pau’u is fast becoming the most consistent defensive weapon the Cougars have because he’s seemingly everywhere.
On a team that’s 1-2 heading out to play West Virginia this week, he’s been one of the biggest bright spots and a key reason the Cougars have had a chance to win all of those games.
Last Saturday, Pau’u had double-digit tackles just after halftime against UCLA. At the end of the game, he had 19 total tackles, 11 of them solo tackles. His 11 solo tackles were more than anybody else for either BYU or UCLA had in combined tackles.
They came in a variety of plays. He chased down runners, he had head-on hits, he made plays sideline to sideline.
And after he laid guys out on the grass, he helped them up, smiling like a cat with feathers poking out of its mouth.
He’s becoming a remarkable story with those tackles and toothy grins. Lots of bright smiles are actually in his future — Pau’u wants to be a dentist.
Pa’uu is a diminutive middle linebacker by most major college standards. But pound for pound, he’s delivered as many athletic plays as anybody on the field through three games.
It may be too early to make comparisons, but in September, he reminds one of Shay Muirbrook of that 1996 Cotton Bowl team. He plays smart like a Brandon Ogletree. He amasses numbers like Uani ‘Unga. A local TV guy, Dusty Lister, says he plays like former Wisconsin star Chris Borland. I agree.
His 19 tackles Saturday night against the Bruins tied for the most by a BYU defender since 2013 with ‘Unga against Notre Dame.
In his first college start in Phoenix against the University of Arizona, he led the Cougar defense in tackles with nine, seven of them solo. He had one sack and forced a fumble.
Out of highly competitive Servite High School in Anaheim, California, Pau’u was a four-star football player who had plenty of offers, including attention from USC. He was team captain on a squad that went 11-2 where he was the defensive MVP. He chose BYU because of his family's devotion to what it stands for.
“I’ve been a BYU fan since before I was created,” Pau’u said this summer.
He was named after his father’s linebacker coach at Saddleback Community College, Doni Butcher. It is a custom in his Polynesian culture for a sister of the father to name her nieces and nephews. Butch’s father, Upehi, didn’t like the idea of leaving the naming of his first son to someone else, and he decided to name him Doni Butch Pau’u.
At Servite High, he was nicknamed the Servite Butcher for his ferocious style of play.
When Butch was 4 years old, a missionary living with the Pau’u family in Southern California used to roughhouse with the little tyke. He’d throw him in the air and wrestle with him, and Butch loved it. “He’s always been a kid that is smiling, playing rough. He’s a tough kid,” said the former missionary, Justin Sperry.
“I remember one day we were playing rough and he went tumbling down some stairs and hit the Sheetrock hard, putting a dent in it. I thought to myself, ‘Oh, no, this is bad. He’s going to start crying and we’ll be in trouble.’ Instead, Butch bounced right back up in true linebacker form, smiling and laughing. And wanting more,” said Sperry.
Bending over running backs. Knocking people down?
It’s a lifelong hobby for Butch.
EMAIL: dharmon@deseretnews.com.
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