The art of hitting people
Football can be a complicated game, especially for someone not versed in the lexicon. Talk to any quarterback and they’ll likely tell you about check-downs and hot-reads, while ask any kicker about his job and you’ll receive an earful about directional kicks and hash marks.
They’re not the only ones who’ll verbalize an epic of their gameday pursuits. The pervasive “me” attitude propagated by many of the game’s most high-profile stars is enough to make a fan wonder if these guys aren’t just spokesmen for their teams – as opposed to, you know, actual players.
Utah State’s Kyle Gallagher leaves no doubt of his job. It may be cliché to say, but this is one guy who just is a football player. From his long hair and unkempt beard to his torn jersey and paint-chipped helmet, the 6’0”, 214-pound linebacker is a far cry from the kinds of players who stand in postgame media sessions with their Armani suits and talk ad nauseam about their team’s performance.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Gallagher’s outlook. In fact, in a season in which defensive improvement will have to come in the form of aggressiveness and violence of action rather than traditional indicators like size and physical talent, Gallagher represents the kind of “old school” defender who makes opponents cringe every time they step onto the field. A man of few words, the usually reserved Gallagher is all action on the football field, transforming from aloof and modest off the field to a hard-hitting leader on it.
“I like getting amped up and getting emotional on the field,” he said. “I just kind of get overwhelmed (on the field). I don’t think about the game, I just react to it.”
Gallagher’s “beast mode” attitude to the game was on full display in the season opener against Oklahoma two weeks ago, when the Woodland, Calif. native led the Aggies with 11 total tackles, including five solo stops and half a tackle for a loss. Playing like he was shot out of a cannon, Gallagher drew cheers from USU students and hushed silence from the Sooner fans on two consecutive plays in the first half, when he lost his helmet on back-to-back tackles.
Gallagher’s aggressive play and emotional leadership against Oklahoma weren’t apparent only to fans watching in Logan. On the sideline, USU head coach Gary Andersen was almost as fired up as Gallagher. Speaking after the game, Andersen lauded his junior linebacker, and called the performance against the Sooners the best of Gallagher’s career.
“He played tremendous,” Andersen said. “That is as good as I’ve seen Kyle play. One time in the redzone he goes back-to-back stops and makes two great plays, and his helmet flies off both times. I thought he played with a great motor, he’s more comfortable. It is good.”
Gallagher, for his part, wasn’t particularly impressed with the two plays, nor was he content with the finish of the game. If anything, the junior linebacker was disappointed that he couldn’t do more to help USU in the game, and regretful that the Aggies weren’t able to complete the upset after preparing for the Sooners all summer.
“I really didn’t think about it,” he said when asked what it felt like to lose his helmet while making the tackles. “I just thought about doing my job and making plays when I needed to. Obviously it wasn’t enough because we all expected to win. We prepared so hard but we didn’t win.”
A former high school baseball star with plans to go into coaching following his football career, Gallagher’s on-field demeanor has been described in terms of everything from a greyhound bus to an M1A1 tank. For his part, he likes to think of himself as more akin to the latter.
“I would like to think of it as the tank,” he said, smiling.
His iPod playlist certainly supports his hard-nosed mentality. To get pumped-up for games, Gallagher likes to listen to hard-rock music, listing Trapt’s “Headstrong” and Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” among his pregame favorites. He said the anthems help him get his mind set for games, and help him simplify his job on the field.
USU will need Gallagher to continue his early season success this weekend when the Fresno State Bulldogs (1-1) come to town. After spearheading the defense in a shutdown performance of the Idaho State rushing game last week, Gallagher and fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner will be asked to pick up the slack if injured starter Junior Keiaho is unable to return to action by Saturday.
Going into the season, the million-dollar question facing USU was whether or not the rush defense would be improved enough to allow the Aggies to return to the postseason for the first time since 1997. And while the results have been mixed through the season’s first two games, the Aggies’ prospects look bright thanks to the throwback linebacker who “likes to hit people.”
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