Puka Nacua

#12 · WR · Jr. · BYU6′2″ · 205 lb · Provo, UT · Orem

Puka Nacua: WR · BYU · #12.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Luke McCaffreyRice · 2022 · 82% season match
Emmett Mosley VStanford · 2024 · 79% season match
Antwane Wells Jr.South Carolina · 2022 · 75% season match
Rashee RiceSMU · 2020 · 73% season match
Grant DuBoseCharlotte · 2022 · 73% season match

Puka Nacua

WR · BYU · Jr · #12

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Played for three head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Chris Petersen, Jimmy Lake and Kalani Sitake. A game that shows it: 157 receiving yards and 14 receptions against Boise State — Week 10, 2022.

Style of play

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

BYU in the news

BYU athletic director leaving in Jan ‘27Oct 31
Big 12 addresses UCF fan chants at BYUFox News Oct 29
Big 12 penalizes discriminatory chantsKUTV Oct 29
BYU releases depth chart for Arizona State gameSports Ksl Oct 27

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2022	BYU	48	625	13.0	5	46
2021	BYU	43	805	18.7	6	55
2020	Washington	9	151	16.8	1	65
2019	Washington	7	168	24.0	2	49
Career		107	1,749	16.3	14	65

Season	Team
2022	BYU	25	209
2021	BYU	14	148
2020	Washington	--	--
2019	Washington	--	--
Career		39	357

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 50-21@ South Florida	1	22	22.0	0	22
Wk 4	W 38-24vs Wyoming	3	26	8.7	0	13
Wk 6	L 20-28vs Notre Dame	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 7	L 35-52vs Arkansas	8	141	17.6	1	33	141-yard receiving day
Wk 8	L 14-41@ Liberty	7	114	16.3	1	46
Wk 9	L 24-27vs East Carolina	7	79	11.3	1	30
Wk 10	W 31-28@ Boise State	14	157	11.2	2	27	Season-high 157 yds
Wk 12	W 52-26vs Utah Tech	5	53	10.6	0	21
Wk 13	W 35-26@ Stanford	3	33	11.0	0	13
Total		48	625	13.0	5	46

Signature game

Week 10 · 2022

W 31-28

at Boise State

14 rec · 157 yds · 2 TD

Edged out Boise State on the road in a shootout.

With J. Hall — 377 yds · 3 TD · 2 INT · QBR 89.7 · 82 rush yds (12 car) · 1 TD · H. Ropati — 3 rec · 82 yds · 1 TD · 28 rush yds (5 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · South Florida · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Puka Nacua run for 75 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 8 · Liberty · 3rd and 11 · Q1 · EPA +5.75Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 46 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 7 · Arkansas · 4th and 8 · Q1 · EPA +3.68Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 31 yds to the Ark 4 for a
Week 13 · Stanford · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +3.23Puka Nacua 25 Yd Run
Week 10 · Boise State · 4th and 6 · Q4 · EPA +3.13J.Hall pass complete to BOISE 6. Catch made by P.Nacua at BOISE 6. Gain of 6 yards. P.Nacua for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the pass completion and the play was upheld.
Week 7 · Arkansas · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.90Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 33 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)

4 more plays

Week 10 · Boise State · 2nd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +2.89J.Hall pass complete to BOISE 24. Catch made by P.Nacua at BOISE 24. Gain of 24 yards. P.Nacua for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Week 8 · Liberty · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.86Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 24 yds to the BYU 49 for a
Week 9 · East Carolina · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.81Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 30 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 7 · Arkansas · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA +2.44Puka Nacua run for 5 yds for a TD, (Jaren Hall pass to Keanu Hill for Two-Point Conversion)

Teams and coaches

2019Washington8-5HC: Chris Petersen · Balanced

2020Washington3-1HC: Jimmy Lake · Run-leaning

2021BYU10-3HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning

2022BYU8-5HC: Kalani Sitake · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 65 (#108 of 488). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2022 season

65Quality starter #108 of 488 · 2022?

13 metrics · season cumulative

2022 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: rush tds (100th percentile). Strength: rush yards (99th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#151 / 636 · 76th pct

18.6%

Yards / catch#192 / 636 · 70th pct

13.8

EPA / target#275 / 636 · 57th pct

0.73

TD rate#277 / 636 · 56th pct

7.0%

Catch rate#311 / 636 · 51st pct

79.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#1 / 275 · 100th pct

Rush yards#3 / 275 · 99th pct

209

Rec TDs#111 / 550 · 76th pct

Receptions#135 / 550 · 75th pct

Rec yards#142 / 550 · 74th pct

625

Yards / catch#263 / 550 · 52nd pct

13.0

Long catch#306 / 550 · 44th pct

Fumbles lost#71 / 223 · 41st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

88th → 57th percentile

Explosive rate

97th → 76th percentile

Catch rate

60th → 51st percentile

TD rate

83rd → 56th percentile

Yards / catch

95th → 70th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2022. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	5.8	74.8	12.1	0.5
Road4g	6.2	81.5	15.1	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	3.0	47.2	16.1	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	7.2	87.2	12.1	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2022 season

Head Coach

Kalani Sitake

Pass share

47.8%

391 pass / 427 run

Plays / game

62.9

13 games

Team sack rate

2.7%

414 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

48 catches and 25 carries in 9 games

More catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

65 · #108 of 488 WRs · 2022

Former four-star. Now #108 at the position.

Puka Nacua

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

BYU in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

48 catches and 25 carries in 9 games

Four seasons, two schools, drafted

Moves

2019 3 games

2021 11 games

2023