Football regroups, prepares for New Mexico
The Utah State football team will take the field against New Mexico on Saturday in search of its fourth straight win. The Aggies are coming of a 20-3 win over Wyoming last Friday.
Utah State lost yet another player to a season-ending injury last week. Junior inside linebacker LT Filiaga is out for the season with an achilles injury. Of the nine starters that Utah State has lost to injury this year, Filiaga is the third linebacker after both Kyler Fackerell and Alex Huerta also suffered season-ending injuries early in the season and during fall camp, respectively.
“It’s just next man up,” said junior nose guard Travis Seefeldt. “Whoever steps in the role we know will make plays and do their job. (Jarom) Baldomero is a great guy. He works hard and has a good head on his shoulders. We’ll see what he does.”
Linebackers Torrey Green and Nick Vigil also sat out the second half of USU’s game against Wyoming. Though their status is unclear, junior linebacker Baldomero is expected to see increased playing time. Baldomero is a junior college transfer who played in 13 games last year and recorded eight tackles, five of which came against Weber State.
Utah State has also been through four starting quarterbacks this season. This has led to the emergence of freshman running back LaJuan Hunt who has had 210 yards in the last two games. The Aggies running game in general has become more prominent in the past few weeks after having a season low of 19 rushing attempts against Colorado State followed by 47 and 50 attempts the next two weeks, the two highest totals this season.
“LaJuan’s done well. His practice habits have been good. His attention to detail has been better. (It’s) not where we want it to be,” said USU head coach Matt Wells. “LaJuan has a bright future if he continues to work hard, train the right way, develop his mind the right way and do all the little things right. The kid can be a really good running back here.”
New Mexico is coming off of a 505 yard rushing performance against Boise State last week. In that game Teriyon Gipson had 205 rushing yards.
“It’s a big challenge. We just have to step up again and play our hearts out,” Seefeldt said.
New Mexico is 3-6 on the season and 1-4 on the season.
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