BYU football: So'oto found his home at defensive end

PROVO —Over the last couple of years, Vic So'oto has been a nomad on BYU's roster, wandering from tight end to linebacker to defensive end.

According to coach Bronco Mendenhall, So'oto, who weighed 240 pounds as a tight end and now tips the scales at 268 pounds, has finally found a home on the defensive line. "After seeing (Vic) there, it's where he belongs. It's really a good spot for him."

So'oto was moved from linebacker to the trenches after starting defensive lineman Ian Dulan decided to go on a mission.

"He's doing a really nice job," Mendenhall said of So'oto. "Even from fundamentals, he's getting better each day. His stance still doesn't look like a great defensive lineman, but his ability off the ball, how quick he is, his mindset, the emotion he brings — he's going to have a really nice role for us."

That is, if So'oto can stay healthy.

On the second play of the second game of the 2008 season, against Washington, So'oto broke his foot and missed the rest of the year. Then, in the spring, he broke the foot again.

"It's feeling good now," said So'oto, a Carlsbad, Calif., native. "I feel stronger and faster than I've ever been. But it's about staying healthy. Every season I feel stronger and faster, then something goes wrong. It's definitely hard. Mentally, it's hard just getting back into it and rehabbing all of the time. But that's part of being a champion and being a Cougar — working through adversity and learning how to bounce back when things don't go my way. That's what I'm doing, coming back and trying again."

Now that So'oto is playing on the D-line, he is drawing lessons from his stints at tight end and linebacker to help him.

"As a tight end, I was in the three-point stance a lot. So the defensive line is kind of a hybrid of tight end and linebacker," So'oto said. "You use a three-point stance for rushing so it hasn't been that hard of a transition. It's just a different three-point stance. It's been fun. It's a learning process. One step and you're in the play. One step, and you're out of the play."

So'oto, and Russell Tialavea, who pushed back his mission call a month to play this season, has shored up the depth on the D-line. Tialavea will hold down the starting nosetackle position with fellow seniors Jan Jorgensen and Brett Denney playing on the ends.

While Denney is less-heralded than Jorgensen and Tialavea, Mendenhall said Denney "is equal to those two. He's not in the spotlight, but day-to-day, he's a very good player."

Backing up Tialavea are Romney Fuga, who returned home from his mission during the summer, and Tevita Hola.