UTAH: Ferocious pass rusher … 21.5 sacks is fifth-most all-time at Utah (seventh overall including ties) … 25.5 career TFL … native of Tonga could not practice or play in games for the first month of his freshman season due to paperwork involved from attending high school in two different countries. 2016–Honorable mention All-Pac-12 … played in 13 games with six starts (BYU, USC, California, UCLA, Colorado, Indiana) … tied for fourth in the Pac-12 and second on the team with 9.0 sacks … eighth in the Pac-12 and second on the team with 12.0 TFL … tied for third in the Pac-12 with three forced fumbles … 41 tackles … six tackles against Arizona State included 4.0 TFL with 3.0 sacks … six tackles with two sacks and a forced fumble in the Foster Farms Bowl against Indiana … six tackles against BYU included a sack and a forced fumble … four tackles against USC … four tackles at California included a 12-yard sack. 2015–Played in all 13 games … tied for 10th in the Pac-12 in total sacks (6.0) and sacks per game (0.46) … 67% of his total tackles (6-of-9) were sacks … three tackles against Oregon included two sacks … forced a fumble on a sack against Utah State … two sacks vs. Arizona State. 2014–Played in all 13 games with one start … nearly a third of his 17 total tackles and all of his tackles for loss were sacks (5.5) … 5.5 sacks ranked third on team … two sacks and three tackles vs. Fresno State … 1.5 sacks and a season-high four tackles at Oregon State … made first career start against Colorado State in Las Vegas Bowl and made three tackles (1.0 sack) … honorable mention Academic All-Pac-12 Conference. 2013–Played in seven games, seeing time on defense and special teams … subbed in at defensive end against Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona State … six tackles included two TFL and a sack … two tackles against Weber State, Oregon State and UCLA … had a sack against Weber State and a TFL against Oregon State … lettered as a true freshman.
HIGH SCHOOL: First-team all-state as a senior at Timpview HS (Utah) in 2012 … USA Today All-Utah Football Team … played just one year of high school football after moving to Utah from Tonga at age 17 … 25 sacks in 2012 tied the third-highest single-season total in state history … 68 tackles … helped lead Timpview to the 2012 4A state championship, recording four sacks in the game, including a sack on the final play of overtime to clinch the win … also participated in track … played rugby in Tonga … member of the language honor society.
PERSONAL: Son of Kava Tuha … two siblings … sociology major … name is pronounced peet-tuh tao-mo-eh-pen-new … born March 9, 1994 in Euless, Texas and moved to Tonga when he was 3 months old.