Coach Dennehy pleased with improvement
After finishing the season with one less win than it did a year ago, it would be easy to think the Utah State University football team wasn’t able to show signs of making positive strides from the previous year.
However, this is not the case, Head Coach Mick Dennehy said.
“Football-wise, there’s no question we improved [from the previous year],” Dennehy said. “I think the kids have grown a lot in the last year. If you watched us play, you could probably tell that by how we executed.”
Not only did the team make unquestionable improvements, Dennehy said, the Aggies hang tough with teams that comprised “arguably the toughest schedule Utah State has ever played.”
Four of USU’s seven losses (4-7 on the season) came against teams ranked in the top 25, including two top 10 squads in BYU and the University of Oregon. Other than the loss to the University of Wyoming, every team that defeated the Aggies had a winning record.
Perhaps even more important to Dennehy than making improvements on the football field was the team’s progress academically and in the community, he said.
“If you look at the overall program in terms of how the kids are doing academically and not just about things that are pertaining to football, but the other things that are even most important [we have made huge strides].”
Another thing Dennehy was pleased about was the team’s ability to avoid finger pointing after a 0-5 start, he said.
“The one thing that excited us [the coaching staff] most about our kids is that as difficult as our schedule was and as hard as it is being 0-5, the kids didn’t give us any indications whatsoever that there was any fragmentation [among players],” he said. “Our kids have hung together and played together really well.”
Although the Aggies finished the season with a losing record, several players enjoyed solid seasons and finished among the nation’s best statistically.
Among the players who had a successful season was senior tailback Emmett White. A third-team All-American last year, White amassed 1,392 yards rushing despite missing the majority of the Fresno State game with a knee injury. White finished his career as USU’s fifth-leading career rusher with 2,850 yards.
As a result, White was named Independent player of the year by Football News.
What makes White’s season even more remarkable is the fact he entered the season as a marked man by opposing defenses, Dennehy said.
“There’s no question in my mind he went into the season with a huge red target on his chest,” he said. “You could tell from game one against the University of Utah.
“I think that says a lot about Emmett’s ability,” he said.
While big things were expected of White, one of the biggest question marks coming into the season was who was going to step into the role of being the team’s go-to receiver after Aaron Jones graduated.
The question mark was answered decisively by junior Kevin Curtis. A walk-on at USU after being told by BYU to play intramural flag football at Utah Valley State College, Curtis was one of the top receivers in the country, finishing with 100 catches and 1,531 yards receiving.
“He [Curtis] was about as consistent game in and game out and outstanding game in and game out as you could ever imagine for a first-year player in our offense,” Dennehy said.
By the time the dust settled, Curtis had set school records for catches and receiving yards in a season and led the country in receptions per game (9.09).
Curtis, tight end J.R. Suguturaga and offensive guard Jim Walker earned first-team all-Independent honors by Football News.
While it was Curtis who assumed the go-to-guy position on the wide receiver corps, Dennehy said USU’s wideouts improved more than any other position on the team.
“[The wide receiver position] is probably the area we might have improved the most throughout the course of the year,” he said. “It’s nice to have more than just one guy you can go to.”
While it was White, Curtis and junior quarterback Jose Fuentes (3,100 yards passing, 24 touchdowns) that put up the big numbers offensively, Dennehy said a lot of the credit goes to the offensive line.
“I think our offensive line had a great season,” he said.
Despite yielding 462 yards a game defensively, Dennehy said USU’s defense was much improved from last year. After all, the Aggies played against three of the top offense teams in the country in BYU, Oregon and Fresno State.
“Defensively, I think the one thing we need to keep in mind is that we are getting better,” he said. “I think the schedule we played this year kind of prevented us from at least statistically showing a lot of improvement.”
In order for the defense to improve next season, Dennehy said they need to acquire more depth and be more consistent. If the defense can play like they did against South Florida University (270 yards allowed) and the University of Connecticut (279 yards allowed), they will be much improved, he said.
“I think our lack of depth showed a little bit more on the defensive side of the ball,” Dennehy said.
The players Dennehy singled out among the Aggie defense were defensive end Nick Onaindia, linebacker Jesse Busta and safety Jamar Glasper.
Onaindia finished the season with team highs in sacks (9) and tackles-for-loss (14) after missing the previous season with a shoulder injury.
For the second straight year, Busta collected at least 100 tackles, leading the team with 100 this year, including 13 tackles-for-loss. Busta was one of the most dependable players on the team, Dennehy said.
“Defensively, the one guy that probably doesn’t get as much attention as he deserves is Jesse Busta,” Dennehy said. “He is just so dependable that you almost don’t notice him.”
In his second year as the starting strong safety, Glasper finished second on the team in tackles (77) and “showed signs of being a really outstanding player,” Dennehy said.
Fans have also taken notice of an Aggie team that averaged over 420 yards of total offense per game this year. USU broke the per-game attendance record in its last home game against Weber State University – something Dennehy said is great for the future of the program.
“The community has been awesome,” he said. “It’s neat for our players to be able to play in front of a lot of people rather than just a few people. That’s important to them.
“We want 30,000 fans to come out to every game,” he said. “That’s what we are trying to accomplish.”