#98

Sonatane Lui

Senior nose tackle for Boise State. 2019: 4.5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 49 tackles.

NT · Boise State · Sr. · #98

6′1″ · 283 lb · Sandy, UT

Boise State 2019 alumnus

Recruiting

DT recruit

Signed with Boise State

Statement game16 tacklesvs Air Force (FBS) · W 30-19

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 nose tackle for Boise State. 2019: 4.5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, 49 tackles.

Signed with Boise State in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Boise State, 101 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20167 games

Signed with Boise Stateout of Alta

Career arc

Recruit

—

2016 class

CFB

College

Boise State

2016–2019

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2019

1 coach

2016–2019

Bryan Harsin

Boise State

Played his entire career under Bryan Harsin.

2019 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Bryan Harsin — 43-11 over that span.

2016Boise State10-3HC: Bryan Harsin · Run-leaning

2017Boise State11-3HC: Bryan Harsin · Run-leaning

2018Boise State10-3HC: Bryan Harsin · Balanced

2019Boise State12-2HC: Bryan Harsin · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (93rd percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (81st percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#164 / 2688 · 93rd pct

4.5

Tackles for loss#473 / 2688 · 81st pct

6.0

Tackles#687 / 2688 · 74th pct

QB hurries#781 / 2688 · 61st pct

Solo tackles#1113 / 2688 · 58th pct

Passes defended#1690 / 2688 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2019 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	5.7	0.5	0.4	0.0
Road6g	2.5	0.5	0.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	5.8	0.8	0.5	0.0
Weeks 8+7g	2.9	0.3	0.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Spencer Danielson

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2019

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2019	Boise State	49	21	6.0	4.5	--	--	--
2018	Boise State	24	10	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
2017	Boise State	18	8	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
2016	Boise State	10	4	0.5	0.5	--	--	--
Career		101	43	11.5	5.0	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 4 · 2019

W 30–19

vs Air Force

16 TOT · 4 SOLO

With H. Bachmeier — 263 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.1 · 6 rush yds (5 car) · J. Velazquez — 33 AVG · 46 LONG · 4 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week