Alphonzo Tuputala Is the Ultimate Husky Football Survivor

The sixth-year senior linebacker is down to two games in his long-winding UW career.

An ominous looking Alphonzo Tuputala stares down Penn State QB Drew Allar. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Alphonzo Tuputala is that true survivor, someone who doesn't go down easy, a guy as tough and durable as anyone on his University of Washington football team.

He's that person in the life raft found floating hundreds of miles off shore after the ship sank. He's the one parachuting to safety once the airplane propellers quit. He's that courageous type coming off Mount Everest in white-out conditions far more treacherous than those at Penn State, practically daring the real-life elements to mess with him. He's Mark Wahlberg in the film Lone Survivor.

As the sixth-year senior from Federal Way, Washington, prepares for the regular-season-ending game at Oregon this weekend, Tuputala is all that's left from last year's starters for a UW team that chased after a national championship 11 months ago -- which is nothing new, except that he's not always stationed at his old linebacker position anymore.

Entering Saturday's regular-season-ending game at Oregon, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Tuputala plays edge rusher or outside linebacker as much as he does the inside for the Huskies. Jedd Fisch's coaching staff has tried to find the best way to make him disruptive while at the same time maybe enhancing his NFL prospects as well as getting freshman sensation Khmori House into the starting lineup.

"When they told me about the position, I felt like it was only going to help me showcase more so my ability, but also help my team win," he said. "It was a no-brainer for me. "

The player known simply as "Zo" has played in 51 games, 38 as a starter, this after coming up with a team-high 10 tackles in the UW's 31-19 victory over UCLA (4-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten), which is no small feat, considering what he had to do to get there. He's 3-2 against Oregon.

For two seasons for Kalen DeBoer-coached UW teams, the tough-guy Tuputala made the unthinkable happen -- he effectively beat out fellow senior and returning starter Carson Bruener for the job. This was nothing short of amazing because Bruener had started the last five games of the 2021 season, earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, piled up 11, 14 and 16 tackles down the stretch, and returned an interception 50 yards against Oregon. Of course, these two Huskies now play together side by side.

Tuputala, in sharing in the Huskies' 20-game home winning streak, is the only player who has started each one of those outings.

"I'm one of the last men standing," he said.

Huskies linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala reacts after a big play against Texas during the second half of the 2024 Sugar Bowl and CFP semifinal game. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

He did all of this highly competitive stuff while coming back from an Achilles tendon rupture that happened during 2021 spring football practice, an injury that doesn't always permit you to be the explosive player you once were (see Zion Tupuola-Fetui).

Yet he not only recovered from surgery and unseated Bruener, Tuputala played so well he was singled out by opposing coaches as a 2022 All-Pac-12 honorable-mention selection. He carries widespread respect in Montlake.

"He sets an example for all the guys on defense and all the guys on the team," defensive coordinator Steve Belichick said. "They really look up to him."

Even the biggest mistake of his UW career initially came off a heads-up defensive play on his part. Against Utah a year ago, Tuputala stepped in front of a Bryson Barnes pass and ran 76 yards of what should have been a 77-yard interception return for a touchdown. However, in the excitement of it all, the veteran linebacker nadvertently dropped the ball just before he crossed the goal line, thinking he was there, for what became a lost fumble.

"I one hundred percent own it," he said at the time. "Lack of awareness of my part."

With his college career winding down to this road game at Oregon and a bowl outing somewhere next month, Tuputala has the following career stat line: 222 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 3 pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and that potential pick-six that got away.

Alphonzo Tuputala lines up on the edge in the Apple Cup. / Skylar Lin Visuals

As the ultimate survivor, Tuputala arrived at Washington for the 2019 season as one of four freshman scholarship linebackers, yet as the least heralded of the group in terms of recruiting accolades. He's the only one who still remains at the school.

Josh Calvert transferred to Utah, where he's finishing up as a reserve player. Daniel Heimuli joined Fisch at Arizona last season before turning up at Georgia State this fall, where he comes off the bench. Miki Ah You went home to Hawaii and gave up football.

"Those are my brothers, man, Josh, Miki, Daniel," Tuputala said. "Guys are going to come and and go. It's part of life, it's part of the game. As long as those relationships are always intact, and I always feel that's the case, it's always love with those guys."

For two more games, they know where to find him in Montlake, in the starting lineup, on game day in the middle of everything.

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