LOGAN, Utah – This is not how Fua Leilua's (prounounced Foo-uh • Lay-loo-uh) senior season at Utah State was supposed to play out.
 
The 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive tackle earned honorable mention all-Mountain West honors following his redshirt junior campaign in 2018 and was primed to have an even bigger year in 2019.
 
Then, disaster struck early in the second quarter in the season opener at Wake Forest.
 
"Something happened with my knee and my foot on or around the same play," Leilua recalled. "I thought it was my knee, and I just kept playing on it, but at the end of the game I just remember not being able to walk and was like, 'Something is wrong with my foot.'"
 
Leilua suffered a Lisfranc injury, which is when the bones in the midfoot are broken or ligaments that support the midfoot are torn. The severity of the injury can vary from simple to complex, involving many joints and bones in the midfoot.
 
When Leilua found out what his injury was, and that his senior season was over before it basically even started, he was devastated.
 
"It was like my whole world collapsed in on me," Leilua said. "Fortunately, I have a great supporting cast. I had my wife (Mariana) and my daughter (Kailei) to lean on, my teammates, my parents and other family members. Everybody was there for me. I had a good supporting cast, so I was able to recover from the news faster than most people."
 
Now, Leilua is trying to return the favor to his teammates as best as he can, and supporting them in their quest to capture Utah State's first Mountain West championship in football.
 
"Fua is still with us, but he is obviously in a different part of his life right now as far as finishing school, getting himself moving in the right direction and rehabbing," said fifth-year Utah State head coach Gary Andersen. "It's important when kids go through something like that, that you let them be involved how they want to be involved. He doesn't have any eligibility left, but he has a family, and his priorities right now need to be his family and his education, knowing that we are still here for him.
 
"He is still a part of this program," Andersen continued. "He traveled to LSU, which was important for him to be able to go to that game. You have got to filter out life in those situations, and we need to make sure that we, as a staff and his teammates, are here if we can help him as he goes through that transition, because it is not easy sometimes."
 
Leilua certainly does have the support of his teammates.
 
"Fua and I came to Utah State together, as transfers, and we both sat out our redshirt years together," said senior defensive end Tipa Galeai. "We were on scout team the whole year together, so we created a bond with each other. We came here with the same goal, which was to start new here, do our best for ourselves and our family.
 
"It's sad, because your senior year is your money year, and he's out. I can't relate to him in that sense because I am still playing, but I feel horrible for him, and it sucks. You just try to give him good spirits and good energy. That's the most that I can do right now, for sure, is just be there for him. Fua is a guy I'll have by my side for the rest of my life. He's done a lot for me, and hopefully, if he ever needs anything, he doesn't hesitate to let me know."
 
Leilua is relying on his past experiences of playing football to help him get through this new challenge.
 
"Right now is when I am actually starting to feel all the lessons I've learned in football come into play – all the patience and perseverance, and being able to fight through hard times like when you're backed up against a wall," Leilua said. "It's just taught me how to survive really, to get through it and move on to play the next play. Now, I just need to figure out what my next move is."
 
One thing is certain, Leilua isn't ruling out a return to football.
 
The son of Fili and Natasha Leilua will graduate from Utah State this December with an interdisciplinary studies degree and a minor in sociology. After that, he hopes to be ready to take part in Utah State's NFL Pro Day.
 
"If I'm not back by then, and I'm not 100 percent, then my next move would be to be a graduate assistant for a year and try to get into the next pro day," Leilua said.
 
Leilua's journey to Utah State took many twists and turns, but becoming an Aggie is something he will always cherish.
 
After earning honorable mention all-state honors at defensive tackle following his senior season at Spanish Fork (Utah) High School, Leilua took his talents to Weber State – that was his only offer out of high school.
 
As a freshman in 2015, Leilua recorded 14 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, helping the Wildcats to a 6-5 record.
 
However, Leilua felt he could play at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, so he made his way to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. During his sophomore season in 2016, he tallied 32 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Despite missing two games, he was the second-leading tackler on the defensive line.
 
Following his lone season with the Badgers, Leilua was ranked as the No. 63 overall junior college prospect in the country by Scout.com, while ESPN listed him as the No. 18 JUCO defensive tackle and 247Sports.com ranked him as the second-best JUCO prospect in Utah.
 
That certainly caught the attention of both Oklahoma State and TCU. He picked the Cowboys, but before the start of fall camp in 2017, Leilua left the program and found a new home at Utah State, where he redshirted his first season.
 
"It has been everything you could hope for with a football career – the friendships, the coaches, the mentors, everything," Leilua said of his time at Utah State. "After Snow, I ended up signing at Oklahoma State, but it just really didn't work out there, so I found my way to Utah State and have tried to make the most of it.
 
"The day I got my release to speak to other colleges, I called coach Frank (Maile). He offered me, and I committed on the phone and came here the next day. It was really easy for me to trust him."
 
As a redshirt junior in 2018 with the Aggies, Leilua started all 13 games and finished the season tied for first on the team among defensive linemen with 38 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, to go along with six quarterback hurries and one pass breakup.
 
Leilua grew up in a four-bedroom house in Anaheim with 20 people, mostly on his father's side of his family. His father was the Southern California Football Player of the Year, but the elder Leilua ended up breaking his arm at Fullerton College, ending his playing career.
 
Since then, he taught his son the game from the age of 9, and has helped guide him along his journey. To honor his father, Leilua chose to wear No. 44.
 
"That was his number," Leilua said. "He did everything for me in life, so I just wanted to pay tribute to him. I've been wearing that number as long as I can remember."
 
Leilua and Mariana, who is expecting their second child in March, have been married since New Year's Eve 2016.
 
"Fua loves life," Andersen said. "That is the first thing that comes to my mind about him. He is a kid that always has a smile on his face. He loves to joke around, but he also knows what his priorities are. He is a goal-oriented kid that understands what his priorities are with his family and with his education, and he was on our leadership committee for a reason."
 
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
 
-USU-