Liberty grad Kai Nacua works to overcome incident at BYU’s last bowl game

It's all, as so many are things are these days, right there on video.

Brigham Young safety Kai Nacua is seen throwing punches to the back of the heads of Memphis players, and he takes his own blow from a Tiger with a clean punch to his left cheek, opening a gash and causing blood to pour out.

That became the defining moment for last season's Miami Beach Bowl, and Nacua paid the price in many ways.

He knew quickly his reputation had taken an even harder shot than the one to his cheek, that he not only let down his team and university, but his family as well. And there would be consequences, with Nacua forced to sit out this season's opener at Nebraska.

By all accounts, he has learned from the experience and matured, and maybe he has won back some of the BYU fans he lost.

"I'm not sure," Nacua said. "It's completely up to them. So hopefully I have."

He is back in his hometown this week, and Nacua could be tested again this week as the Cougars prepare to play No. 20 Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The game already has an edge, with bowl officials keeping the two fierce rivals separate during game-week events, but that didn't stop Utes defensive tackle Viliseni Fauonuku from calling the Cougars "dirty" at the welcome reception on Wednesday night at Fremont Street Experience.

Nacua certainly doesn't want a repeat of what happened last season, and hopes being back in Las Vegas is more of a celebration for the Liberty High School product.

"I've got a lot of family out here hitting me up for tickets," Nacua said. "A couple of coaches, a couple of fans, some people from church, too. I've only got six, and I'll try to get more, but I've still got to let people know."

Nacua (6 feet 2 inches, 213 pounds) accepted his punishment of missing the opener of his junior season, and then he made up for his one-game absence. He is fifth nationally with six interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. Nacua intercepted three passes against Boise State, running one all the way back for the game's final score.

"Kai is just a really, really good athlete," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He has tremendous range, tremendous athletic ability, exceptional ball skills, and he's learning to play the position. He's just barely now getting a level of confidence and experience where he can really be effective rather than reactionary, (be) anticipatory. His best football is still ahead."

With Mendenhall on his way after this game to become Virginia's coach, Nacua also could leave and test the NFL waters. Mendenhall, however, said Nacua would be back for another season.

After that season, though, the coach saw Nacua as a pro talent.

"There's no limit to his athleticism and his range," Mendenhall said. "There are certainly plenty of areas to improve in different areas of his game, but the raw materials are there."

This week, for Mendenhall and Nacua, is all about finding a way to beat the Utes.

Accomplishing that in Las Vegas would make victory feel even better for Nacua.

If he should make a big play and help BYU win, then maybe some of the images those have of Nacua would begin to change.

Mendenhall called the learning experience that Nacua went through "life-changing."

"Kai plays really hard, and he's really emotional, and he's maturing as a young person," Mendenhall said. "That played out in front of the world as he's learning to handle his emotions and highs and lows.

"He was remorseful immediately. He took complete responsibility for his actions. He's worked really hard in the restitution component of it, and he's become more mature by that. It doesn't guarantee it couldn't happen again in his life, but I think he learned a lot."

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65