Cooper Legas named starting QB with Shelley gone, Peasley out
When asked the direct question as to who would start at quarterback against Wyoming, interim head coach Frank Maile gave a direct answer: Cooper Legas.
It’s an answer most were anticipating but wanted confirmation on. The redshirt freshman was named the third-string quarterback in the preseason depth chart released days before Utah State’s season opener against Boise State.
Legas is a former three-star recruit of the class of 2019 whom 247Sports.com ranked as the 39th-best dual-threat quarterback in the country and 19th-best prospect in Utah. Throughout the entirety of his prep career at Orem High School (43 games) he won two state titles and threw for 9,770 passing yards, ran for another 2,770 and accounted for 124 overall touchdowns (101 passing, 22 rushing, one receiving).
“Cooper’s a winner,” Maile said. “He’s a competitor and so that’s one of the main reasons we recruited him in the first place. He was a champion in three different sports. Not only did he lead his football team as a team captain to a championship in high school, he was a wrestling champion and a javelin thrower champion.”
Maile elaborated on Legas’ championship mentality, specifically in more individual sports like wrestling.
“You can kind of fudge a little bit with football because it’s a team sport but when you’re talking about wrestling and the mentality it takes to win a championship in wrestling. That’s an individual sport where you call for no help and you can’t turn to anybody. Cooper’s a winner at the end of the day and we’re looking forward his leadership and his competitiveness to lead the Aggies to a W.”
Kick returner/wide receiver Savon Scarver, who’s caught passes from Love, Colombi and Shelley, was asked in the same press conference Maile spoke at about the new kid behind center.
“Cooper, he’s a smart kid,” Scarver said. “He’s got a real strong arm and he can zip the ball on the money every time. We’ve got him working hard in practice, he’s watching film and he’s going to be ready to go for sure.”
In succeeding Shelley, Legas will begin the latest chapter of a tumultuous season of quarterbacks at Utah State. What started as a quest to replace Jordan Love, arguable the best QB in program history, quickly became a volatile situation when Shelley transferred to Logan. The presumed heir to Love, Henry Colombi, entered the transfer portal the day after the announcement of Shelley’s move. That led to questions being asked of then-head coach Gary Andersen about the wisdom of the decision to bring in a transfer quarterback.
The season’s start brought no relief to the frustrations of fans. Instead of proving them wrong, Shelley only bolstered criticism of the move that brought him on and led to Colombi’s departure. The Texas native completed 51 of 99 passes for 420 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
With Shelley behind center, the Utah State passing offense was historically bad. The Aggies rank No. 122 out of 125 Division I teams in passing yards per game and the three teams below them are squads that run triple-option offenses.
Legas will be tasked with not only directing a floundering USU passing attack, he’ll be responsible for putting all of these painful memories as far in the rearview mirror as possible.
Andrew Peasley, the primary backup to Shelley throughout the season, will not be available having tested positive for COVID-19 prior to USU’s game against Fresno State and will not be cleared to play before Thursday. Peasley saw action in each of the Aggies first three games, completing 6 of 16 passes for 29 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.
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—sports@usustatesman.com