BYU football: Te'o moving from offense to defense

PROVO — BYU lost its all-time leading rusher, Harvey Unga, after he withdrew from school for an honor code violation. Now redshirt freshman Malosi Te'o won't be carrying the ball this fall for the Cougars, either.

That's because Te'o has been moved to the defensive side of the ball. When BYU opens fall camp in August, he'll suit up with the linebackers, running backs coach Lance Reynolds told the Deseret News.

Though the Cougars lack experience at running back, they do boast depth. Switching Te'o to linebacker could give the 5-foot-10, 199-pounder a better shot to make an impact in 2010, according to Reynolds.

"Malosi is such a nice athlete who can run well and do many things athletically, that we wanted to get more of those guys on the field. He can run the ball and play running back. That's not the issue. This enables us to get more good players involved in more places."

Te'o, who played at Kahuku High in Hawaii, signed with UNLV out of high school. During his mission to New York, he decided to transfer to BYU. Te'o joined the Cougars during the winter of 2009 and redshirted last season.

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com