Football begins spring practice
Four returning second-team all-Sun Belt Conference selections highlight the 43 returning letterwinners that will take the field for the first day of spring football practice at Utah State on Monday.
Aggie Head Coach Mick Dennehy will enter his fifth spring on campus and will welcome 12 starters from a year ago when the team takes the field in a non-padded practice session. USU will practice four times a week until the annual Blue-White Spring Game which will conclude drills on Friday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Quarterback Travis Cox is one of just four returning offensive starters. The senior-to-be was a second-team all-league selection last year after leading the Sun Belt in passing yards (232.6 per game) and total offense (237.0).
“I feel very good about the quarterback spot,” Dennehy said. “I have felt very good about Travis Cox from day one, but beyond that, all of those guys need to improve. We need to have a guy that we have as much confidence in that we have in Travis. If he needs a blow or has an injury, we need to have someone who knows the offense as well as him and can physically get the job done without hurting our offense.”
Other returning offensive starters include wide receiver Raymond Hicks, who caught 13 passes for 183 yards a year ago as well as linemen Donald Penn and Elliott Tupea. Tupea, who started at right tackle last year, has been moved to guard this season.
“We are going to be more inexperienced on offense than we were since our first year here,” Dennehy said. “The biggest priority there is to take those kids that we know are going to be players for us and getting them as many reps and to get them as familiar with what we are doing as we possibly can, particularly at the wide receiver spot. I think we are going to be pretty talented up front, but we are going to have some guys that are playing in different areas that we need to get reps and reps and reps.”
Three second-team all-Sun Belt picks should lead the Aggie defense in nose guard Ronald Tupea, linebacker Robert Watts and free safety Terrance Washington. Tupea recorded 35 tackles with eight for loss, including six sacks as he was named the team’s top lineman in 2003.
Watts registered a team-best 118 tackles last year and had five games with at least 10 stops. Washington earned second-team Freshman All-America honors by College Football News after recording 93 tackles and a team-best five interceptions.
USU’s defense was one of the most improved units in the country a year ago as the Aggies vaulted from a ranking of 111th in total defense in 2002 to 45th last year. That 66th-place improvement tied for the second-biggest jump in the country behind San Diego State, which moved up 87 places from 95th to eighth.
USU allowed 360.08 yards per game in 2003, including just 192.75 passing, which ranked 25th in the country.
“We have got enough guys back on defense and being a year older and with the addition of some of the younger guys in the mix, such as Kelly Poppinga and hopefully Frank Maile and Emosi Fiefia up front, we will be better,” Dennehy said. “In the secondary to replace Mark Estelle we have to find at least one cover corner that we feel comfortable with. We need to find a guy that can cover, preferably two. We have to develop depth all over the field, especially at safety.”