Inside The Huskies

Huskies Add Another Portal Defensive Lineman, Pick Up Pepa from Utah

The former Utes player commits to UW on same day as Western Michigan's Anterio Thompson.

Dan Raley

Utah defensive tackle Simote Pepa (77) and linebacker Andrew Mata'afa (55) show off their hand-painted helmets.
Utah defensive tackle Simote Pepa (77) and linebacker Andrew Mata'afa (55) show off their hand-painted helmets. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Continuing its transfer portal holiday shopping, the University of Washington football team spent Monday in the defensive tackle aisle, receiving a commitment from former Utah player Simote Pepa in the afternoon, with his pledge coming after the Huskies locked down Western Michigan's Anterio Thompson in morning.

Pepa goes 6-foot-3 and 340 pounds, a physique that made him the Utes' heaviest player by 20 pounds.

If the Huskies really wanted to plug up the middle in 2025, they could play him next to fellow Utah native Logan Sagapolu, this season's Miami transfer who carries a 6-foot-2, 368-pound frame.

That would be a massive 700-pound front for somebody to try and run through.

Described as having unique agility for someone so large,, Pepa will come to the Huskies after appearing in 37 Utah games while starting just three. He has 45 career tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 2 pass break-ups in his time with the Utes. With his size, he no doubt just plays in stretches.

This past season, Pepa appeared in nine games while dealing with some undisclosed injuries, starting only against Baylor, and he came up with 10 tackles for his 5-7 team.

He originally signed in 2019, choosing the Utes over Air Force, Arizona, BYU, Navy, Nebraska, Oregon Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wisconsin and Jimmy Lake's Washington program, but immediately went on a two-year church mission.

After making his college debut in four games in 2021, Pepa had a breakout season for a Rose Bowl-bound Utah team, appearing in 14 games in 2022, while collecting 27 tackles, 6 TFLs and 4 sacks. Again, he started just once, against Colorado in the regular-season finale. Somehow he was named first-team AP All-Pac-12.

“After I got a couple games under my belt, it just became more natural," he told the Deseret News. "Instead of it feeling like a dream, it just became reality."

Last year, Pepa appeared in 10 games, which included coming off the bench for a lone tackle in a 35-28 loss to the UW at Husky Stadium. The following week, he made his only start of 2023 against Jedd Fisch's Arizona team, again logging a solo tackle in a 42-18 loss in Tucson.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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