Fernandez key to keeping Aggies in game
With the presence of All-American tailback Emmett White, it’s an easy decision for the opposing defense to kick the ball away from him on kickoff and punt returns.
Combine White a Ray Guy candidate, an award given to the nation’s top punter, with Steve Mullins and his 47-yard per-punt average, and it’s easy to overlook other players on the USU special teams’ unit.
Although the Aggies suffered another highly competitive loss to another top ranked team on Friday – this time to in-state foe, No. 20 BYU – the Cougars won’t overlook return specialist/running back Roger Fernandez the next time the two schools meet.
Fernandez made the Cougars pay for kicking the ball away from White as he racked up 200 yards on six kickoff returns.
“I think for the most part, our kickoff return was very, very good,” USU head coach Mick Dennehy said. “There was a lot of great individual effort from Roger [Fernandez] and David [Fiefia] later in the game.”
“It would be a lot more satisfying if we had won [the game],” Fernandez said. “The bottom line is we lost the game.”
Maybe so, but Fernandez did all he could to keep the Aggies in the game.
Down 14-6 late in the first quarter, Fernandez helped the Aggies regain momentum with a 61-yard return to the BYU 37-yard line. The Aggies scored on this drive.
“Everyone keys up for Emmett White and sometimes I’m able to break one,” he said.
Fernandez would make his presence felt again midway through the third quarter.
After BYU converted two fourth-down plays to cut the Aggie lead to 34-27, Fernandez took the Aaron Edmond kickoff at the USU 2-yard line, broke a tackle at the 30 and scampered 61 yards to the Cougar 36.
Primarily known as a speedster, Fernandez said it felt good breaking the tackle on his third-quarter return because he doesn’t want people to underestimate his ability to be a more complete football player.
“It feels good to show that I can excel at different aspects of the game,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, they wouldn’t capitalize on Fernandez’s return and the Cougars took control of the game.