The last time BYU played a Big 12 opener at home, then-freshman safety Tommy Prassas scooped up a fumble forced by linebacker Jack Kelly and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown in a 38-9 win over No. 13 Kansas State in 2024 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Prassas earned the nickname “Touchdown Tommy” for the big play, and his future in Provo appeared bright. A few games later, Prassas had an interception and a career-high five tackles in a 38-35 win over Oklahoma State.
Since then, however, Prassas has not done much in a Cougar uniform. Injuries limited him to four regular-season games last year, and an appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Having only played in four regular-season games, he redshirted.
Which brings us to 2026. An injury suffered by starting strong safety Raider Damuni — he will be out for about a month — means that Prassas is back in the starting lineup, just in time for a visit from his home-state team.
Saturday, No. 15 BYU (1-0) hosts Arizona (1-0) at 1:30 p.m. MDT in the Big 12 opener for both schools. Prassas prepped at Arizona’s Basha High and is from the town of Chandler, outside of Mesa.
“It is exciting to play against them,” Prassas said Wednesday. “This is probably the most family I’m gonna have to come to a game all season, because it’s an Arizona team. So it kind of hits more at home for me, but I treat every game the same. This one’s just more fun to play (in) because they’re from my home state.”
A three-star recruit at Basha, per 247Sports, Prassas was recruited by Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford and a lengthy list of Group of Six schools before choosing BYU. He said he wasn’t really a fan of ASU or Arizona growing up, but acknowledges most of his family members rooted for the Sun Devils.
Arizona slot receiver Giovanni Richardson and Prassas were high school teammates. Prassas and his current teammates will be tested Saturday by not only Richardson and some of the best receivers in the Big 12, but quarterback Noah Fifita, a fifth-year signal-caller.
“He’s definitely very mobile. He scrambles a lot to make big plays down the field, and he’s got a good wide receiver corps around him, so it’ll be a good challenge for us,” Prassas said.
Fifita famously said at Big 12 media days that the Wildcats have had the BYU game circled on their calendars for months, but Prassas claimed this week to not have noticed any of the Arizona talk about payback for five straight BYU wins over the former Pac-12 program.
“No, I haven’t been paying attention,” he said.
Monday, while announcing that Damuni would be out for a while, BYU coach Kalani Sitake said Prassas would be up to the task.
“Tommy is ready for this moment. Tommy has been a guy who started for us before, and he’s worked really hard, and he’s been mentored by Raider,” Sitake said. “We have a lot of talent there at the safety position, and I feel good about their abilities. This is going to be a lot of fun to see them play, and for Tommy to have his opportunities.”
“Tommy has been a guy who started for us before, and he’s worked really hard, and he’s been mentored by Raider. We have a lot of talent there at the safety position, and I feel good about their abilities.”
— BYU coach Kalani Sitake on safety Tommy Prassas
Defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga confirmed that Prassas will get the starts in Damuni’s absence.
“Tommy will be getting the reps. Those guys were rotating … so Tommy will step in. I think Kennan Pula will get some reps there, too. We are pretty deep at safety.”
Prassas played in all 13 games as a freshman in 2024, and was given Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honorable mention accolades.
“Tommy is hungry. After not playing for a season and having the freshman year that he had … I think he’s out to prove he’s as good as the other players, if not better now, with the experience that he has,” Poppinga said. “I thought he played really well on Saturday. He’s had two really good practices this week. He’s an Arizona kid, so I know he has some pride in this game to show well against the state where he’s from.”
