#92 Eli Huggins — K-State’s most recent Big 12 Championship would not have been possible without a massive push up the middle on the infamous goal-line stands in overtime from defensive tackles Eli Huggins (92) and Uso Seumalo. Now Seumalo is tasked with filling Huggins’ rather considerable starting shoes. | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

In which BracketCat counts down the 99th day until the 2023 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State nose guard Uso Seumalo.

#99 Uso Seumalo

True Senior | 6-3 | 345 lbs. | Maunaloa, Hawai‘i

Position: Nose Guard
Previous College: Garden City Community College
Projection: Starter
Status: On Scholarship

Vaai “Uso” Seumalo (b. May 17, 2002) was a massive JUCO transfer nose guard by way of Garden City who had 47 tackles and five sacks in his two-year stint with the Broncbusters.

Seumalo saw time in every game as a reserve nose guard in 2022, coming up with five tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups. He had a season-high two tackles with a TFL against South Dakota before carding another TFL the next week against Missouri.

Seumalo knocked down a pair of passes late in the game at Oklahoma to help to preserve the victory, and he also had tackles against Oklahoma State and at West Virginia. He was part of the massive push during the overtime goal-line stands in the Big 12 Championship.

Seumalo was rated the 31st-best overall community college prospect in the Class of 2022 and the second-best at defensive tackle by ESPN, and he was viewed as the 34th-best overall community college prospect and fourth-best at defensive tackle by 247Sports.

Seumalo, who now will step in as a starter for the graduated Eli Huggins and Robert Hentz, registered a career-high 10 tackles during his freshman season against Highland and also posted 2.5 tackles for loss against Fort Scott Community College.

He also had a season-high four tackles and a sack as a sophomore in the conference against Hutchinson, while he broke up a pair of passes during his sophomore season.

Seumalo, who is majoring in communication studies, previously played six games as a senior at Molokai (Hawai‘i) High School under head coach Mike Kahale, when he earned first-team all-conference honors and was selected to play in the All-Hawai‘i Bowl.

He also played basketball and volleyball for the Farmers throughout high school before convincing his parents to allowing him to play football as a senior in 2019.

The first-ever Division I scholarship player to hail from Molokai High School, Seumalo also earned honorable mention all-state honors in both volleyball and basketball.

He also is the first Wildcat from the state of Hawai‘i since Peni Holakeituai (Waipahu) and Jesse Keaulana-Kamakea (Waimanalo) both played for K-State on the 2003 title team. When it comes to winning championship games, it appears having a Hawai‘ian is a prerequisite!

Whether working out or during position drills, Van Malone said Seumalo had a very good spring and Joe Klanderman says the best is yet to come for the senior nose guard:

Uso is going to be a beast. I’m excited about him. He’s so quick and explosive and Coach Mike Tuiasosopo has done a marvelous job with him because he’s gotten away with being the best player on the field everywhere he’s been. What Coach Tui is doing is teaching him technique and pad level and hand placement and formation recognition. He’s come a long way in that.

Head coach Chris Klieman also seems high on Seumalo but cautioned fans about the very large shoes he is being tasked with filling:

Uso Seumalo played an awful lot of football for us. It’s hard to replace Eli Huggins and what he did for us and obviously Dee (Robert) Hentz was really good.