Mullins finds positive in excessive time on field
Utah State’s Steve Mullins’ 9 punts a game is second only to Eastern Michigan’s David Rysko who averages 12 a game. Although most would view this as a negative statistic to hold, Mullins isn’t complaining. “I would rather kick that many times than have turnovers,” he said. “I don’t mind kicking that many times. I’m glad we’re not turning the ball over. Mullins finished the game with 10 punts Saturday against Idaho State, averaging 37.1 yards. One particular that brought down his average was a 14 yard punt that got caught in the wind. “[The wind] affected me once,” Mullins said. “I know how to kick into the wind so it was my fault. The ball just hung up there.”
Player of the game
Jose Fuentes, USU quarterback Passing to Kevin Curtis in the first 12 seconds of Saturday’s game for an 80-yard scoring play, Fuentes recorded the 12th-longest pass play in Aggie history and the longest since 1999 when Jeff Crosbie found Aaron Jones for 87 yards against BYU. Fuentes also moved into second place (6,183) on the USU career total offense charts, passing Eric Hipple (6,121 yards). He will look to pass career leader Tony Adams (6,587) before the season is over. “I thought Fuentes had a pretty good night,” said Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy.
One for the coach Although the Aggies did not clearly come out and say it, they were playing for Dennehy Saturday. Sept. 7 was a rough day for Dennehy as he found out his younger brother Bob Dennehy was killed in a car accident in Montana. Dennehy missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday to attend the funeral. “We have a lot of respect for Coach D.,” Mullins said. “That was a hard thing that he went through. We really wanted to get a victory for him. At the same time we always want to play for Coach D. because we respect him so much.”
On the road again
The Aggies will hit the road for the second time this season as they travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes. The team will travel 15,706 miles this season on six road trips. The trip east will be 1,048 miles. Last season, Utah State racked up 15,408 miles on six road trips, including in-state games at Utah and BYU. Before the Aggies became independent, the team traveled 9,204 miles in the 2000 season while in the Big West Conference.
Big Blue making his move The famed Aggie mascot was seen with a female bull Saturday during the Utah State football game. Big Blue-ette donned a cheerleading outfit and was her male counterpart’s partner during the cheer squad’s performances. In the game against the University of Utah, a large inflatable Big Blue was also seen on the field.
California dreamin’
The rosters for Utah State and Idaho State listed a combined 68 athletes from California. Notable Aggies from California include Fuentes (Rancho Cucamonga), Robert Watts (Lancaster) and Roger Robinson (Apple Valley). Utah State also lists 24 players from Utah, eight of which are from Cache Valley. USU’s Jim Spoklie is the only Aggie from Idaho. Ironically, he calls Pocatello home. ISU has 24 players which hail from its home state.
Quotable
“It was the game plan [to run], but when you have Jose [Fuentes] and Kevin Curtis making big plays it’s kind of hard not to go ahead and throw the ball. The game plan was to run the ball, but right from the get-go they were just giving us the long balls and we took advantage of it.” – Utah State tailback Roger Robinson “I’m damn proud of this football team. Nobody gave us a shot being down 28-0, but this team came back and played their a—s off to get us back in this game. We believed at every moment we could win this game. I think that will help us win games down the road. The experience we had tonight was a tremendous one. We fought adversity just like we talked about and I really felt when all odds were down, our kids did what we asked them to.” – Idaho State Head Coach Larry Lewis
Independent Standings
W L PF PA Streak N.D. 3 0 71 40 W1 S.F. 2 1 91 58 L1 Navy 1 1 57 72 L1 Troy St. 1 2 82 73 W1 Conn. 1 2 54 58 W1 USU 1 2 54 100 W1
By the numbers
18 – Seconds it took the Aggies to get on the board.14 – Utah State’s score after only 1:13 ticked off the clock.14 – Points Idaho State trailed by at halftime.10 – Aggie wins for Dennehy.8 – Points Idaho State trailed by after the third quarter.6 – Chris Stallworth career touchdown receptions. 5 – Points Idaho State trailed by when the clock expired.3 – Gary Coleman’s career touchdown receptions.1 – Utah State victories. -JUAG@cc.usu.edu