"I respect those guys. They've been through all the things I haven't been through." He considers himself a combination speed and power running back. He is the most flexible back in the Cougar arsenal now that freshman J.J. Diluigi will likely redshirt following foot surgery.

"It was hard coming off an injury last year. You just try and get in a groove, get healed and improve every day."

The entire group should benefit from a solid offensive line, according to Vakapuna. "I think they are one of the best in the nation. From last year to this year, they have really come on.

"Sete Aulai is an amazing center. We have amazing guards who can pull and great tackles on the ends in Dallas Reynolds and Dave Oswald. They have mastered their skills and they will get better as every day does by."

Position coach Lance Reynolds acknowledges the backfield will miss junior Tonga in the opener against Arizona. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall suspended Tonga for the first game back in July when he was pulled over and jailed for non-payment of traffic warrants and mis-identifying himself to a Provo police officer.

"He's a good player and we will miss him, no doubt about it.

He has a big impact on what he does. I don't know how to describe that to you," said Reynolds. "If you look at his individual play, he's not the fastest guy, he's not the biggest guy, but he is very efficient, very reliable, always doing the right thing, always where he belongs and he's very talented."

In one of BYU's early practices, the offense started slow.

"Things weren't as sharp as they needed to be, but Manase didn't say a word and just started playing harder. He responds to difficulty. He is an important leader on our team, not vocally, but the way he plays.

"He is one of the most poised players on our team. He is not shaken by the surroundings or the score. He displays great confidence. To me, that really helps anchor us in the backfield. He shows others how to run the plays and what the right work ethic needs to be."

Reynolds has often taken something Tonga has done in practice and shown film of it during a team meeting to say, "Here, look, this is the way it must be done."

So, asks Reynolds, "Is Tonga critical? Huge. Will we miss him in that first game? Yes, anytime you take a guy like that out of the lineup, you are going to miss him. Does it mean we can't go on? No, we will go on."

Reynolds said Vakapuna (foot surgery) is almost all the way back. His remaining hurdle is gaining confidence in playing on his foot.

"As we go through this, he'll continue to get back more to where he was last year."

The coach said Unga is looking very good. "He's really sharp, reliable and very athletic for a big dude. He catches the ball very easily.

"Those guys (Vakapuna, Tonga, Unga) and Joe will be our four, then after those four we'll take a look at the next group, including Wayne," said Reynolds, who has given Latu a lot of reps the first two weeks, and will likely see more with Diluigi sidelined.

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2007 college RBs

This week, the Deseret Morning News previews the running-back situation at each school:

Today: BYU

Friday: Utah

Saturday: Weber St., SUU

Sunday: Utah St.

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com