After enduring long journey, Aaitui peaking at right time for Rebels

By Ryan Greene

Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010 | 2:15 a.m.

ELY — For UNLV senior defensive tackle Isaako Aaitui, there are only two places he could have wound up at this point in his life: On the football field or on the farm back home in American Samoa.

"I really like this option," he said with a grin following Saturday morning's practice in Ely. "Football is life, especially when you're from the islands. Football is the ticket to success."

Despite the fact that he's playing after suffering a partially torn ACL in his left knee in the spring — an injury that did not require surgery — and a cast on his left forearm, Aaitui couldn't be happier.

To explain why, you first have to go back to 2007, when Aaitui first arrived at UNLV. He'd only played one year of high school football, had never lifted a weight in his life and didn't speak a lick of English.

At 220 pounds, his body had been trained to play rugby — his sport of choice since the third grade — but that's not a sport he could realistically go back to now.

After just a year in the weights program at UNLV, he ballooned to 290 pounds. Now, entering his final season as a Rebel, he's a 315-pound mountain of pure muscle, expected to be the anchor for a revamped defense under first-year coach Bobby Hauck.

Oh yeah, and he's also fluent in English.

"When I first got here, I had no technique. I came over with nothing," he said. "It took some years to develop. Last year, I started to learn how to rush the passer and everything. It's been a pretty good progression."

Aaitui had what Hauck called one of the most impressive spring camps of anyone on his inherited ball club and again is drawing rave reviews so far through fall camp.

What makes it all so impressive, too, is that he was able to overcome a major physical hurdle late in spring ball when he hurt the knee in a standard drill working against the offensive line.

A full tear is an injury that typically requires immediate surgery and roughly six months of rehab. Aaitui let the swelling go down, then was right back at it.

"When I hurt my knee, it was a big deal. It was a big deal. I was thinking about my family ... It was a big thing," he recalled. "I told the doctor to give me two weeks to rehab. After two weeks, I was running with the team and doing drills.

"I'm able to play with it. It doesn't bother me."

Aaitui still wears a heavy brace on his left knee, though ACL issues typically hinder lateral movement. However, in his position, Aaitui is asked to push piles, collapse pockets and essentially play downhill. It's a role he can also fill with the cast that he had applied for an undisclosed injury between practices on Saturday.

"I was really impressed with him about the middle of February," Hauck said. "It's like the light when on, he picked it up, and I've been overly impressed with him.

"For a big guy, he's pretty dynamic in the pass rush and gets off the ball pretty well. When you see a guy who looks like him, you'd think run-stopper and then bring somebody in for him when we're in the nickel (package). But you really don't have to, because he's pretty good off the ball."

He's finally found a home at the tackle spot after flip-flopping between there and defensive end over the past couple of years under Mike Sanford's staff.

Aaitui recorded 31 tackles and 2.5 for losses in 2009 and is expected to post even bigger numbers this year.

He'll be doing so under some watchful eyes, as he's regarded now as a legitimate NFL prospect. Just the mention of playing after college brings a smile to his face.

After his playing days are done, he said, the thought of coaching has crossed his mind.

Aaitui is already showing signs that it could be a legitimate career path. He has commanded the attention of the younger interior linemen and is a natural example for them to follow. It was the case following Friday's morning session, when he spent roughly 15 minutes doing some extra work with freshman Nate Holloway.

It's the natural leadership that the coaching staff also thinks will help the unit overall right from go.

"With our senior leadership, we don't want a single bad rep on film, and that's what we challenged with them. He's really bought into that, and that's awesome," defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson said. "What we try and stress on both sides of the ball is it's more on how you play, and he's really tried to craft that. We needed a profile guy like that to step up and have that great film on a day-to-day basis. The benefits are exponential."

Clausen returns — sort of — while other injuries arise

Following a scare late in practice on Friday evening in Ely, when his left foot was stepped on during a team drill and he was carted off of the field, junior quarterback Mike Clausen appeared to be in significant pain.

On Saturday, he was back in uniform for both UNLV practices. He took part in individual drills, but during team reps, he was on the sidelines spectating. The unspecified injury he suffered is not expected to keep him out of action for much longer, if at all.

Clausen is still jockeying for position on the quarterback depth chart, though senior Omar Clayton appears to have an edge on him and redshirt freshman Caleb Herring at the moment in the race to start the Sept. 4 opener against No. 12 Wisconsin at Sam Boyd Stadium.

— While Clausen was back, sophomore running back Imari Thompson was the latest victim of a freak injury.

Thompson, whose 2008 season was cut short due to a sprained ankle, leading to a medical redshirt, was helped off of the field with a right ankle injury suffered during team drills late in Saturday's full-pads afternoon session.

He will undergo an MRI on the ankle in the next couple of days, according to Hauck.

— The wide receiver corps was slashed badly by injuries late in the week, and four members of the group — freshman Marcus Sullivan, sophomore Mark Barefield, sophomore Trey Mays and freshman Mike Horsey — spent Saturday's afternoon practice on the sideline in blue jerseys. That left the team with eight receivers with which to run drills.

Also in blue for the second straight day were redshirt freshmen defensive backs John Therrell (head) and Cedric Coleman (ankle).

Randle continues to impress

On Friday, Hauck said that there was a rotation in place with the running backs competing for playing time that decided who got the brunt of the reps on any given day of camp.

It was apparently redshirt freshman Bradley Randle's turn at the top on Saturday, and he did nothing short of impress.

During a red-zone drill early in the full-pad session, he took a hand-off at the 10-yard line, shot up the middle, stopped on a dime and went left for a score.

Later, in 11-on-11 drills, he ripped off an impressive 22-yard run up the left side, breaking two tackles in the process.

Plays of the day

An extended 11-on-11 session late on Saturday afternoon provided plenty of highlights.

— Junior cornerback Will Chandler worked in front of junior receiver Phillip Payne on a deep pass down the middle from Clayton and recorded an interception. It was a major step forward for Chandler, who two years ago as a freshman in Ely was victimized by Payne in red-zone drills. Now, Chandler is in the mix for a spot with the No. 1 defense.

— Payne made up for it later on by hauling in a deep sideline pass over freshman corner Sidney Hodge. Payne then jogged to the end zone for a 73-yard score but was forced to sprint the final 10 yards of it after Hodge showed some guts by picking himself up off of the ground and giving chase.

— Freshman corner Kenny Penny earned a slap on the rear from Hauck after picking off a pass from Clayton that tipped off of the fingers of junior tight end Anthony Vidal. It wasn't the interception alone that drew the praise but also the zigzag route he took in returning the ball 60 yards to the end zone.