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PROVO — Neil Pau’u already has a famous name around BYU campus.
The only downside for him, perhaps, is that the famous last name belongs to his older brother, BYU linebacker and team captain Butch Pau’u.
Don’t worry — his name will come up this year.
Pau’u was one of three freshmen on the offensive skill-position depth chart when head coach Kalani Sitake released it Monday, backing up junior Talon Shumway at the Y-receiver slot. Beau Tanner, who has one catch for 15 yards in his career, was the primary backup to senior Jonah Trinnamann at the X-receiver, forming a tandem of speed and size on the outside edges.
And each relative newcomer expects to see plenty of playing time during the 2017 season, beginning Saturday against FCS foe Portland State at 1 p.m. MDT.
“I wanted to play receiver, and they didn’t always know where to put me. So I just worked my tail off into the summer, and then this fall, I’ve had a great camp,” said Pau’u, who enrolled at BYU last winter following a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Salt Lake City. “All of the offseason work I put in with my brother is starting to pay off.
“Hopefully I have a chance to play with our great receivers, and to show what I’ve got to offer.”
It’s not that the coaches were unsure of Pau’u’s talent, wide receivers coach Ben Cahoon explained. They just didn’t know how he would transition in his first season of college football — and nearly three years removed from his final high school football game.
“The most pleasant surprise has been the emergence of Neil Pau’u,” Cahoon said. “He’s had a really nice camp, and he caught the ball really well. He had a nice spring, but we weren’t too sure at how he would emerge. Yet he’s really stepped up in fall camp.
“Neil’s going to compete for playing time. Talon’s going to respond. It’s been nice to see them battle.”
With a potential three or four receiver set, in addition to a two tight end formation and multiple running back options, BYU’s offense could be the very definition of “multiple” in 2017 — even with the question marks that surround each receiver.
“I think we’re really going to focus on mismatches and taking advantage of those opportunities,” said Tanner, the junior who also played at Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College. “We have so many guys on this team — both big bodies who are really athletic, two tight end sets and four receivers.
“All of those different sets are going to give teams different looks and make it really hard to prepare for.”
The more weapons, the better for junior quarterback Tanner Mangum, said the receiver whose last name shares his signal caller’s first name.
“He’s an incredible quarterback, and we’ve been talking all week about how excited and anxious we are for this first game,” Tanner said. “It’s been a long offseason, and we’ve tried to prepare and take advantage of that time. I’m excited for being one of those weapons.”
Pau’u, a three-star recruit from Servite High School in Anaheim, California, didn’t receive a ton of hype in recruiting circles coming out of high school. Part of that is because the 6-foot-4, 205-pound former dual-threat quarterback committed to BYU in 2012, when his brother first arrived on campus, effectively ending his recruitment.
The Cougars later pulled his scholarship, and Pau’u elected to serve a mission at 18 years old, straight out of high school. When he returned, his mother told him that new head coach Kalani Sitake had reopened a spot for him on BYU’s roster — if he wanted it.
“I was excited to show what I had to offer to them,” said Pau’u, who returned home in June 2016. “Spring came around, and I was just happy to come in and work my tail off.”
Working athletically isn’t new to Pau’u, either. In addition to his role as a receiver and quarterback, he also played four years of basketball in high school — sometimes lining up in all five spots on the court, depending on the matchup.
“I was one of the tallest dudes in high school, so I was playing the 1 through 4 — and then when seniors got in trouble, I had to play the 5, unfortunately,” said Pau’u, who played volleyball every spring to “get away” from the grind of football and basketball. “It just depended on teams we played.”
Of course, even the Pau’u brothers admit they aren’t the most athletic ones in the family. While Neil and Butch played together during the younger brother’s sophomore season, they were constantly competing against younger sister Rachel Pau’u, a standout athlete in Orange County who went on to play Division II basketball at Notre Dame de Namur.
Related:
BYU passing game showing strides in 2nd day of fall camp
By the end of the 2017 season, Trinnaman has confidence in the prediction by offensive coordinator Ty Detmer that several of the Cougar wide outs "will be household names."“Growing up, my brother and I would also compete against her,” Neil Pau’u said. “We’d team up in basketball, and she’d come out after football practice and beat us in conditioning.”
Those after-practice extra drills in high school are paying off for Pau’u, who has inserted himself into the conversation in Year One.
“We have a lot of weapons, we’re really young, and I think as we get more experience we’ll be a pretty dominant offense,” said tight end Matt Bushman, another freshman.
The talking season ends Saturday. It’s time to show what the talk is about.
“Coach Cahoon is really putting us in good situations for us to excel, and having a talented front and Micah Simon has really helped me,” Pau’u said.
“I’ve had a lot of help, and I’m excited for Saturday to get it all started.”
