White one to watch at USU final home game
Although Saturday’s football game against the Weber State University Wildcats is the final home game of the season, Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy said the game will not be taken lightly.
“I do not think we can treat it lightly by any stretch of the imagination,” Dennehy said. “We are going to treat this as a very big game.”
Not only will the 1:05 p.m. start be the final game this season at Romney Stadium, it will be the final home game for the USU seniors, including Tony Newson, Tony Walker and Emmett White.
“This group of guys have done a wonderful job in terms of setting an example for the younger players in our program,” Dennehy said. “We certainly want to send them off with our best effort of the season.”
Awarded USAToday.com’s midseason “The Best Player You’ve Never Heard Of,” White has been a big contributor to the Aggies throughout his collegiate career.
Starting 19 consecutive games, playing all of last season with a broken hand, White has lost only 21 yards on 181 rushing attempts this season. He is a candidate for the Doak Walker Award which is given to the top running back in the nation.
White rushed for 274 yards against the University of Wyoming on Sept. 22, the third best total in USU history.
“If he had his way, he would play every down and return every kick, every punt,” said USU running backs coach Mike Trevathan. “We try to rest him, but he gets mad.”
USA Today described seeing White play ‘worth the price of a ticket by himself,’ in a preseason issue.
“I am running out of adjectives to describe this kid,” Dennehy said. “He does the type of things that amaze you and leave you with your mouth open.”
White is currently ranked second in all-purpose rushing yards in the NCAA Rankings, averaging 197.5 per game. He is only 10 yards per game out of first place.
With White on the field, many fans may think coming away with a win on Saturday should be easy. Dennehy thinks differently, though.
“I would expect, with this being the final game of their season, they will treat this like a playoff game,” Dennehy said.
The Aggies will face the University of South Florida and Fresno State University following the game against WSU.
Coming off a 38-31 victory against the University of Connecticut gave the Aggies something to be happy about.
“I was really pleased with our defense,” Dennehy said. “The way they came in the last two possessions and kept them out of the end zone. We did what we had to do.”
As usual though, the team still has things it needs to improve on.
“I do not want to diminish the excitement I have for us going on the road for the first time since early September and coming out with a win,” Dennehy said.
Dennehy wasn’t completely happy with how his team played, he said.
“I think things went downhill a little bit once we took Emmett White out to get him a little rest,” Dennehy said.
The Huskies took advantage of the absence of White, but USU was able to hang on for the win.
After resting White, Dennehy feels his team is fairly healthy for this point in the season. The only concerns Dennehy said he has are for Tony Walker and Derrek Shank.
Walker has a deep bruise on his chest and Shank has stiffness and soreness in his shoulder, Dennehy said.
“We should be back as close to full strength as we possibly could be at this point in time,” Dennehy said. “That is very encouraging.”
Army ROTC detatchments from USU and WSU will deliver the ball to Romney Stadium.
Starting at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, ROTC members will run from Stewart Stadium in Ogden to Logan. The two groups will then gather to run the ball down to the stadium before kickoff.