UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Noa Ngalu Couldn't Lose in the Spring Game

The defensive tackle played for both sides as the Huskies closed out their offseason workouts.
UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Noa Ngalu Couldn't Lose in the Spring Game
UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Noa Ngalu Couldn't Lose in the Spring Game /

Noa Ngalu turned up everywhere in the University of Washington spring football game. 

He joined the Gold team in the first half, played for the Purple in the second.

This was an arrangement where Ngalu literally couldn't lose.

Playing no favorites, the 6-foot-1, 300-pound defensive tackle from East Palo Alto, California, enthusiastically logged a tackle for loss for each side. 

Early in the first quarter, Ngalu (pronounced Na-loo) broke through the line and dropped No. 1 running back Cam Davis for a 1-yard loss. 

Switching sides at halftime and pulling on a different colored shirt, the squatty redshirt freshman stepped up and took down Sean McGrew, last season's lead back much of the time, also for a 1-yard loss.

While the defensive line welcomed back sophomore starters Tuli Letuligasenoa and Taki Taimani for spring drills and initiated promising true freshmen Voi Tunuufi and Kuao Peihopa to Husky football, Ngalu fit in wherever he could.

Double N moved between the second and the third units. He was the player noticeable for the thick swatch of hair poking out of the back of his helmet. Not stringy long like Asa Turner or Luke Wattenberg's mane, but overflowing just the same.

He's part of the Polynesian pipeline that has brought 20 players to the UW from Hawaii, Utah, California and Washington state.

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

Ngalu wears No. 92, a number that belongs to him only on this team of duplicates. Previously, Husky defensive linemen Scott Garnett, Dorie Murray, Everette Thompson and Jaylen Johnson claimed this jersey, as did soon to be inducted Hall of Fame wide receiver Ralph Bayard.

Growing up in the shadows of Stanford, Ngalu was a 3-star recruit who turned down Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah and WSU to come play for the Huskies. He arrived as part of a package deal from Menlo-Atherton High School, the same place that produced Husky inside linebacker Daniel Heimuli, who was a 4-star player who turned down Alabama. 

While backups on the depth chart and redshirt freshmen on the roster, the two are in a race to see who plays on a regular basis first. Or at the same time.

Both have received spot appearances, with Ngalu getting onto the field first as a true freshman in 2019 during the season opener against Eastern Washington and the season-ending Las Vegas Bowl against Boise State.

Had the Eagles or the Broncos asked him to fill in, Ngalu, the man who plays everywhere, was good for a few snaps and a tackle for loss. However, the Huskies have him pointed to increased playing time now.

Ngalu's 2021 Outlook: Projected reserve defensive tackle

UW Service Time: Played in 3 games

Stats: None 

Individual Honors: Not yet

Pro Prospects: Not yet

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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.