Oct. 9, 2003
LOGAN, Utah - UTAH STATE AGGIES Game-Day Notes vs. Wyoming, Oct. 11, 2003
WELCOME -- Welcome to Utah State University and the 106th season of Aggie football, the 36th year of Romney Stadium, the fourth year of the Mick Dennehy era, and of course the first year of Sun Belt Conference play for USU. We would like to offer a special welcome to the University of Wyoming, including Director of Athletics Gary Barta and Media Relations staff Kevin McKinney and Tim Harkins.
HERE TO HELP -- Mike Strauss, Doug "My alma mater is here, my alma mater is here" Hoffman and Todd "My soccer team has won four straight" Johnson as well as student assistants Phil "Opening Play Jitters" Garner, Josh "How come their state name doesn't start with a 'Y'?" Combe and Evonnie "How come my last name doesn't have a 'W'?" Mnyandu of the USU Athletic Media Relations office as well as several other volunteers, are on hand to assist you in your coverage of tonight's game. Please do not hesitate to call on any of us tonight. Complete stat books with play-by-play, notes and quotes will be made available as soon as possible after the game in the pressbox.
POSTGAME POLICY -- The Utah State lockerroom is closed to the media. Coach Mick Dennehy will be available for the media in an area just east of the north goal post after a brief cooling off period. When he is finished, requested players will be brought to that area as well. Please inform Mike Strauss which players you would like to interview prior to the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter. We will announce Wyoming's interview policy during the game.
SEASON CAPTAINS -- Utah State selected season captains for the first time in the Mick Dennehy era. TE Chris Cooley (#89) will represent the offense, LB Robert Watts (#30) will represent the defense and CB/KOR Jerome Dennis (#20) will represent the special teams units. Each week the USU coaches will select a game captain to join the regular season captains. Due to injuries to Cooley and Dennis, two game captains have been selected for this week in WR Kenny Coleman (#81) and P Ben Chaet (#15).
A Utah State Win Would... * Be USU's fourth straight home win and improve USU to 2-0 at home this year. * Be its second against a Mountain West Conference team since the league started in 1999 (USU is 1-11 with its lone win against New Mexico last year). * Be just the Sun Belt's second win against a Division IA opponent this year (North Texas beat Baylor). * Mark USU's seventh win in its last nine meetings against Wyoming dating back to 1972.
A Utah State Loss Would... * Give USU a two-game losing streak after defeating UL-Monroe on Sept. 27. * Snap a three-game home field winning streak. * Be its second straight to the Cowboys as USU lost 43-42 here in 2001. * Be less good than a win.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR -- Here are some things to look for in tonight's game: * NG Ronald Tupea should make his team-high 24th consecutive start. * USU will be looking to attempt its first field goal in three games (no attempts in the last two games). * USU has thrown at least one touchdown pass in seven straight games. * USU has held the opponent to less than 300 yards passing in eight straight games. * USU has scored on all nine of its Red Zone possessions this year with seven touchdowns.
DIFFERENT COLORS -- After playing opponents which wore shades of red in each of the first five games, USU will meet Wyoming in its white, brown and gold. The Aggies opened the year with Utah (Crimson), Nebraska (Scarlet), Arizona State (Maroon), Louisiana-Monroe (Maroon) and New Mexico (Cherry).
BIG HOMECOMING CROWD? - A crowd in excess of 25,000 is expected on Saturday with the regional rival coming to play. USU has drawn more than 20,000 in attendance for just two of its last eight homecoming games (29,814 vs. Utah in 2000 and 20,875 vs. Idaho State in 2001).
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES AGAINST WYOMING -- Here are a few notes about previous USU-Wyoming matchups: * Emmett White's 274 rushing yards against Wyoming in 2001 were the third most in USU history. * In 1971 Tony Adams threw for 389 yards against the Pokes, a figure that set a school record at the time and is now 12th on the all-time list. * Jay Van Noy had an 82 yard run in 1948 and Merrill Johnson had a 75-yard run in 1958 against Wyoming for the eighth and 13-longest runs respectively in school history. * USU's 571 yards of total offense against Wyoming in 2001 ranks as the 11th-best total offense day in school history. * USU's 57-0 win against Wyoming in 1917 is the eighth largest victory margin in school history as well as the largest road victory in school history.
USU MISCELLANEOUS NOTES -- Here is a look at some miscellaneous notes about Utah State: * USU has had a different leading receiver in each of the last three games as far as number of receptions and each have had at least seven catches. Kenny Coleman caught seven for 67 yards against New Mexico, Chris Stallworth caught seven for 60 against UL-Monroe and Chris Cooley caught eight for 78 against Arizona State in the last three games. * QB Travis Cox has not thrown an interception in the last two games (48 attempts) and has attempted 65 passes without a pickoff since the third quarter of the Arizona State game. * WR Chris Stallworth has caught at least one pass in seven straight games dating back to last year. * While DT John Chick has seven tackles in his two games since returning from a broken thumb NG Ronald Tupea has led the Aggie linemen with nine tackles in the last two contests.
HOME WIN TO FOLLOW ROAD LOSS? -- After losing at New Mexico, Utah State will be looking to respond to the loss. Here is a look at how USU has fared in the last two years after losing a road game and then playing a home game:
2003 - L 16-26 at Arizona State W 28-10 UL-MONROE
2002 - L 48-51 at UL-Monroe W 32-30 NEW MEXICO
2002 - L 38-63 at Boise State L 34-35 BRIGHAM YOUNG
2002 - L 13-44 at Nebraska W 38-33 IDAHO STATE
2001 - L 34-54 at Brigham Young W 28-27 IDAHO STATE
2001 - L 14-31 at Louisiana State L 42-43 WYOMING
SUN BELT STAT NOTES -- Here are some notes on USU's statistical rankings in the Sun Belt Conference: * The Travis Cox to Barry Tolli 79-yard touchdown pass at New Mexico last week is the longest pass by a conference member this year... P Ben Chaet has three of the four longest punts in conference with his 63-yarder against UL-Monroe topping the list (also had a 60-yarder against Utah for third and a 59-yarder against Arizona State for fourth)... USU leads the league in Pass Efficiency Defense at 119.9... USU is the only league team that has not converted a fourth-down conversion (0-5)... USU is last in the league in several categories, including time of possession (26:36 per game)... USU's Red Zone offense is the only school perfect scoring all nine times inside the 20, including seven touchdowns).
GONE FROM LAST YEAR -- USU lost its main statistical leaders from last year in QB Jose Fuentes (3,268 passing yards), RB James Samuel (633 rushing yards), WR Kevin Curtis (1,258 receiving yards), P Steve Mullins (39.7 punting average), PK Dane Kidman (14-17 field goals), and LB Jesse Busta (135 tackles).
BRAD STRAUSS UPDATE -- The Logan Mitey Mites (eight and nine year olds) finished the regular season undefeated with a 7-0 record and allowed just one score on the year. The Little Grizz outscored the opponents 241-6 (average of 34.4-0.9) this year and meet North Ogden (4-3) in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday at 11 a.m. The young Strauss scored one touchdown in every game this year from his tailback position, while also playing free safety. He had one interception on the year. In addition, for the second time this year he won the Big Blue Club Pick-em Contest correctly picking 18 out of 20 college games last week. Meanwhile his five-year old brother Cole continues to dazzle in the six and seven year old flag football league as his team's quarterback.
MONDAY PRESS CONFERENCE -- Utah State will hold its regular weekly press conference at the Copper Mill Restaurant each Monday at 11:30 a.m. Coach Dennehy and two players will be available. Quotes from the head coach will be made available on USU's website at www.UtahStateAggies.com before the end of the day on Monday.
www.UtahStateAggies.com
