Ten Utah State Football Players Recognized With Phil Steele Preseason Honors
Ten Utah State football players were named to Phil Steele’s College Football Preview preseason all-Western Athletic Conference honors asthe publication released its preseason list. The magazine hits newsstandsJune 8.
Junior linebacker Bobby Wagner was the lone Aggie on the first-team while junior running back Robert Turbin, junior wide receiver Stanley Morrison, senior offensive lineman Spencer Johnson and senior punter Peter Caldwell were on the second-team. Senior quarterback Diondre Borel, sophomore kick returner/running backer Kerwynn Williams, senior defensive tackle Sean Enesi and senior cornerback Chris Randle were on the third-team list and junior linebacker Kyle Gallagher was the only USU player on the fourth-team.
Wagner, a native of Ontario, Calif. (Colony HS), is a returning first-team all-WAC honoree, USU’s lone first-team selection last season. Last season Wagner the WAC with 115 tackles (53 solo, 62 assists), for a 9.6 tackles per game average. In WAC only games, he also led the league with 71 total stops (35 solo, 36 assists) for an 8.9 pg average. He also ranked tied for 22nd in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Wagner added seven tackles for loss, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass break-up. The 115 tackles ranks as the second-most by a USU sophomore, as Johndale Carty holds the top spot with 138 stops as a sophomore in1996. Wagner was the first sophomore to lead USU in tackles since David Gill’s 89 stops led the 1994 Aggies. The 115 stops is the most by an Aggie defender since Robert Watts tallied 118 tackles in 2003. Wagner now has 166tackles for his career, needing 155 to crack into USU’s career top 10 tackles list.
Turbin, a Fremont, Calif. (Irvington HS) native, ranked third in the WAC and 20th in FBS in rushing with 108.0 ypg, as well as third in the league and31st in the nation in all-purpose yards with 142.8 ypg, leading the conference’s running backs in receiving yards with 34.8 ypg. Last season Turbin scored a WAC-high 18 TD’s, finishing with a school-record 110 points, the most for an offensive player in the WAC and the second-most overall. Turbin’s 1,296 rushing yards in 2009 made him the 14th Aggie running back with 1,000 rushing yards in a season and the first 1,000-yard rusher since Aggie legendary running back Emmett White in 2001. The 1,296 yards broke the USU single-season rushing record for a sophomore, passing the previous record of 1,135 yards by Rick Parros in 1977, and ended the season at the No. 8 spot on USU’s single-season rushing list.
Turbin also became the 20th player in Utah State history to reach the 1,000career rushing yards milestone and the first since 2000-03 and he enters the 2010 season ranked No. 11 on USU’s career rushing list with 1,798 yards,needing 22 more to crack the top 10. He also became USU’s single-season record holder for touchdowns scored and total points last season with 18 (13rushing, five receiving) and 110 points, respectively.
Morrison, a native of Denison, Texas (Denison HS), led USU and ranked 12th in the WAC with 616 yards on 33 receptions (18.7 ypc) with three TD’s. The18.7 ypc average ranked Morrison second in the WAC and 11th in FBS. Morrison’s 51.5 ypg ranked 14th in the WAC while his 2.75 receptions per game was 16th in the league. He had at least one catch in all 12 games and in all24 games of his USU career. Morrison had six catches in both the Texas A&M game with six catches for a career-high 126 yards, and the Louisiana Tech game with six receptions for 72 yards and a TD. Morrison added four rushes for 37 yards (9.2 ypr). Additionally, Morrison had nine punt returns for72 yards (8.0 ypr) with a long of 24-yards.
Johnson, a Lancaster, Calif. (Antelope Valley HS), native, started all 12 games at left tackle last season, giving him 31 career starts in playing all36 games of his USU career. Johnson helped anchor a USU offense that set a school record for total offense with 5,272 yards, and also paved way for a Utah State rushing attack that amassed 2,311 rushing yards, the first time over 2,000 rushing yards since 2,028 in 1975 and the most since 2,701 a year earlier in 1974. He also helped clear the way for USU running backs and quarterbacks to score 25 rushing TD’s, which are the fifth-most in school-history, while the 349 total points scored is No. 3 on the school record list. Overall, Johnson helped anchor an Aggie offense that posted top 15 marks in school history in 14 different categories.Caldwell, a native of Kaysville, Utah (Davis HS), led the WAC and ranked 37th in FBS in punting with a 42.2 yards per punt average with 69 punts for 2,914 yards. A semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award, honoring the top punter in college football, Caldwell had 17 punts of 50+ yards, highlighted by a season and career long 62-yarder. He tallied 27 punts inside the 20-yard line and forced the opposition’s returner to call for a fair catch on 16 punts.
Borel, an Oakley, Calif. (Freedom HS), native, led the WAC and ranked 15th in the FBS in total offense at 278.6 ypg. Borel was also third in the conference in passing average per game (204.4 ypg) as well as fifth in the league and 35th in the nation in passing efficiency (137.83). He enters his senior season with three school records in his pocket, as he is the USU record holder for single-season total offense (3,343 yards, 2009), single-season rushing yards by a QB (632 in 2008) and career rushing yards for a QB (1,098 yards, 2007-pres.). Borel also set school record for fewest interceptions thrown with four, a mark that tied for second-fewest in FBS. He enters season ranked sixth in school history for career total offense (5,690 yards), needing 3,101 to reach No. 1.
Williams, a Las Vegas, Nev. (Valley HS), native, was third overall in the WAC and 40th in FBS in kick return average with 25.1 ypr, tying Kevin Robinson’s average from 2004 for 10th on USU’s single-season kick return average list. Williams was also ninth in the WAC and 93rd in the nation for all-purpose yards with 103.7 ypg. Williams led the WAC and was fourth in the country for total kick returns with 45, a new USU single-season record. With 1,131 kick return yards, Williams led the WAC and was tied for third in FBS for total return yards. Williams was the top freshman in the country for bothtotal returns and total return yards, while ranking 10th among the nation’s freshmen for return average. The 1,131 total return yards by Williams is the second-most in USU history behind Robinson’s 1,260 yards in 2007.
Enesi, a Carson, Calif. (Carson HS/El Camino JC) native, registered 29 tackles including two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. He had at least five tackles in three games, highlighted by seven stops in the Texas A&M game.
Randle, a native of Merced, Calif. (Golden Valley HS), was tied for fourth on the team and second among defensive backs with 53 tackles (38 solo, 15 assists) last season. He registered a team-high seven pass break-ups, ranking sixth in the WAC. Randle was eighth overall in the league in passes defended with eight off seven pass break-ups and one interception, for a 0.58 passes defended per game average. He added two tackles for loss, one sack,a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. Randle enters his senior season with 11 career pass break-ups along with two career interceptions and 108 tackles (80 solo, 28 assists).
Gallagher, a native of Woodland, Calif. (Woodland HS), was tied with Randle for fourth on the team and second among linebackers with 53 tackles (28 solo, 25 assists) in 2009. With 3.5 tackles for loss, Gallagher was tied for second, while ranked fourth on the team with 1.5 sacks. All of his sacks came in the Louisiana Tech game. Gallagher added two forced fumbles and a QB hurry. He made five or more stops in six games, including a stretch of four in a row, highlighted by season-high eighth stops in Nevada game.
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is the nation’s most informative preseason football magazine and has always provided a preseason All-American team as well as preseason All-Conference teams. For more information or to obtain a copy of each of the All-Conference teams, fans can visit PhilSteele.com.
Utah State will return 45 letter winners (21 offense, 22 defense, two special teams), including 19 starters (eight offense, nine defense, two special teams), from last season’s 4-8 mark, the Aggies’ most wins since 2002. Utah State was 3-5 in WAC action, matching the 2008 season for top conference record in USU’s five years in the league. The Aggies were tied for fifth in the final league standings, USU’s highest-ever finish in its time in the conference and the best league finish since tying for fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in 2004.
USU’s season-opener at Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 4 is tentatively slated for a 5 p.m. (MT) start, while the Aggies’ home-opener is Saturday, Sept. 11 vs. border-foe Idaho State at 6 p.m. (MT).
Utah State football season ticket renewal applications have been mailed out. Fans can also renew online 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the “buy/renew tickets” under the “tickets” drop down menu.
For more ticket information, contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) or (435) 797-0305.