BYU Football Profile: Eric Takenaka (Class of 2012), Snow College transfer

Eric Takenaka is a 5’10” 205 pound junior safety for the BYU football team (High School Class of 2012). A transfer from Snow College, he is an early-signee that started school at BYU in the winter 2015 semester. He is immediately eligible with two years to play two and is projected to compete for playing time at safety and on special teams this fall.

At Snow College Takenaka led the Badgers with 732 all-purpose yards as a freshman (128 from punt returns and 604 from kickoff returns). He also had 45 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, and 5 pass breakups. As a sophomore he had eight interceptions (No. 2 nationally), returning interceptions for an average of 30 yards each, including one 100-yard return for a touchdown. He also led the nation in kickoff return average at 44.1 yards per return with 13 returns for 573 yards. Takenaka finished second on the Badger defense with 55 tackles, and led the team with 677 all-purpose yards. He was named to the NJCAA All-America honorable mention Defense, All-Western States Football League Defensive First-team, and the All-WSFL Special Teams Second team. Snow College coach Britt Maughan gave a glowing review of Takenaka to the Salt Lake Tribune:

“I don’t know if I can say enough about Eric; he is the most complete player I have coached… He pretty much played every skill position for us at some point. He can do anything on the football field. I am a little biased, but I don’t think there is a more underrated player in the country than Eric.”

	GP	TKL	SAC	TFL	BRUP	INT	YDS	KR	YDS
2013	11	45	2.5	4	5	0	0	24	604
2014	10	55	0	2	3	8	245	13	573
Total	21	100	2.5	6	8	8	245	37	1177

Takenaka prepped at West High School, where he was a two-sport athlete playing three years on the baseball team where he had 5 home runs, 8 doubles, and 8 triples. He did a little bit of everything on the football field ending his career with 1975 yards rushing with 23 touchdowns, 405 yards receiving with 4 touchdowns, and 81 tackles.

	GP	CAR	YDS	TD	REC	YDS	TD	TKL
2009	11	9	71	1	1	3	0	24
2010	11	99	829	10	22	234	3	34
2011	12	159	1075	12	16	168	1	23
Total	34	267	1975	23	39	405	4	81

Out of High School Takenaka was rated 2-stars by Rivals and Scout, and wasn’t graded by ESPN. He was also recruited by Utah. Takenaka committed to the Cougars on January 1, 2015.

Hometown:

Salt Lake City, Utah

High School:

West

Last Team:

Snow College

HT/WT:

5’10”, 205 lbs.

Position:

Safety

40 time:

4.45