The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2026 season in 90 days against Utah Tech. As we count down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 90 - sophomore defensive end Hunter Clegg.
Hunter Clegg's background
The BYU football world received an early Christmas present back in 2024. Just a few days before Christmas highly-touted defensive end Hunter Clegg flipped his commitment from Utah to BYU. Clegg was a four-star talent in the class of 2023 with a 92 rating from 247 Sports. He was the No. 4 recruit in the state of Utah that year and the No. 231 prospect in the nation.
It wasn't the first time Clegg changed his commitment, either. He originally committed to Stanford before decommitting and pledging to Utah. He remained a Utah commit until serving a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Armenia/Georgia. Upon returning home he committed to BYU beginning with the 2025 season.
It's always sweet for BYU to flip a four-star talent. It's even sweeter when they flip an in-state talent that originally committed to BYU's in-state rival up north.
An interesting tidbit about the 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive end on his BYU player profile page is that he once solved a Rubik's cube in 16 seconds.
Solving a Rubik's cube is one thing. Solving what has been a pretty toothless BYU pass rush from defensive ends for the past several seasons is something else completely. Fortunately for Cougar fans, Clegg has the talent to become the menace off the edge the team desperately needs.
Clegg's experience at BYU - past and present
In his freshman season last year Hunter Clegg played appeared in 13 games with 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack. That's a solid freshman campaign for a newly-returned missionary competing for snaps on a team that went 12-2 and reached the Big 12 championship game. His sack last year came against Utah where he made a pivotal play in a pivotal game for the Cougars. The freshman came up big when the team needed him.
He also recorded two tackles against Texas Tech and Colorado, so his impact came in Big 12 contests. It's not uncommon for freshmen to rack up some stats early in the season in nonconference games when the stakes aren't as high and the coaching staff is looking to get young players some experience. But Clegg made the rotation as a freshman and played important snaps throughout his first season in Provo.
His solid play earned him honorable mention Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors.
Clegg's role should expand in 2026. Veteran Bode Schoonover can probably be penciled in as a starter, but the competition is wide open for the other starting spot. Clegg will likely be competing against fellow sophomore Nusi Taumoepeau who had 12 tackles and a sack in nine games last year, and redshirt junior Tausili Akana who registered 15 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks last season.
Like Clegg, both Taumoepeau and Akana were also four-star prospects coming out of high school. All three of them will likely see the field a lot in 2026, but time will tell who starts and gets the lion's share of the snaps.
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