Sept. 16, 2004

UTAH STATE AGGIES Game-Day Notes vs. Utah, Sept. 18, 2004

WELCOME -- Welcome to Utah State University and the 107th season of Aggie football, the 37th year of Romney Stadium, the fifth year of the Mick Dennehy era. We would like to offer a special welcome to the University of Utah, including President Michael Young, Director of Athletics Chris Hill, the legendary Bruce Woodbury, and Media Relations Director Liz Abel.

HERE TO HELP -- Mike Strauss, Doug "The Y is for Wyoming" Hoffman and Todd "Big" Johnson as well as student assistants Phil "My wedding ring was too tight last week for me to type the stats" Garner, Alex "Using my cat as an excuse not to work" Berndt, Josh "By Gosh" Ingersoll, Tyler "Wooden" Nicholes, Ann "I out-SID these other students with one hand" Passey, and Mark "Track sounds like fun now" Roesberry 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 near 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 Utah's interview policy during the game.

SEASON AND GAME CAPTAINS -- The USU football team has selected season captains for the second straight year. QB Travis Cox (#4) will represent the offense, LB Robert Watts (#30) will represent the defense and CB/KOR Jerome Dennis (#20) will represent the special teams. The game captain for Saturday's game against Utah is DT Ronald Tupea (#92).

An USU Win Would... • Be its second all-time against a ranked team (defeated #25 Fresno state 20-19 on Nov. 2, 1991) • Stop a six-game losing streak to Utah. • Give USU a 2-1 record for its best three-game start since 1997 (2-1). • Make USU 4-1 in its last five home games. • Give USU consecutive wins for the first time since winning Oct. 25 (Arkansas State) and Nov. 1 (Middle Tenn.) last year

An USU Loss Would... • Drop USU to 1-2 to start a season for the third time in the last five years (0-2 in 2001 and 2003). • Be its seventh straight against Utah. • Be its 14th straight loss to a ranked team. • As always, be less good than a win.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN SATURDAY'S GAME • DL Ronald Tupea should make his team-best 33rd consecutive start as well as his team-best 33rd career start. • Other Aggies with long current consecutive start streaks include OT Donald Penn (23), LB Robert Watts (19) and QB Travis Cox (14). • QB Travis Cox enters the game with 3,130 career passing yards in just 14 career starts and 23 total games. He needs 279 yards to pass Jeff Crosbie (3,408) for 10th place on the Aggie career passing list. • USU has lost the time of possession battle in five consecutive games (held the ball 34:43 vs. Middle Tennessee in the ninth game of last year).

STAT CORRECTION -- Due to our mistake, one of USU punter Ben Chaet's kicks was left off of the Idaho game statistics. What punt did we miss? Just his season-long 61-yarder that was caught at the Idaho 12-yard line near the end of the first half. That means his statistics Saturday were five punts for a 47.8 average and a long of 61 with four inside the 20-yard line. His season numbers are now 12 punts for a 45.2 average with a long of 61 and five inside the 20-yard line.

SEPTEMBER MOURN (with absolutely no apologies to Neil Diamond) -- While USU is just 4-13 in the month of September in the Mick Dennehy era, the Aggies have faced five ranked teams (LSU, Oregon, Nebraska (twice) and Arizona State) in that time as well as three other teams from BCS Conferences (Texas Tech, Arizona State, Iowa) in that time frame. The Aggies are also 4-4 in home games in the month of September as opposed to 0-9 in road games during this month.

WIN VS. UTAH A BAROMETER? -- While Utah State has had just two wins against Utah in the last 16 years, that victory has meant good things for the Aggies. USU went on to winning regular seasons in those two years (6-5 in 1996 and 6-6 in 1997) and in fact in the 28 seasons with wins against the Utes, USU has gone on to a winning regular season record 22 times.

DEFENSIVE EFFORTS LAST WEEK -- Several Aggies had career days on defense last week against Idaho. Here is a quick look: CB Jerome Dennis - career-high nine tackles and a fumble recovery CB Cornelius Lamb - career-high nine tackles, third career interception, one pass broken up LB Kelly Poppinga - career-high eight tackles S Joe Lindsay - career-high eight tackles, first career sack S Andre Bala - career high five tackles, one fumble recovery NG Ryan DeQuillettes - career-high five tackles

USU SINGLE-GAME ATTENDANCE HIGHS -- With the anticipation of an overflow crowd on Saturday, here is a look at USU's six previous 30,000-plus crowds at Romney Stadium (current capacity 30,257):

1. 33,119 vs. BYU, Oct. 4, 1996 (L 17-45)
2. 32, 287 vs. Utah, Sept. 3, 1994 (L 17-32)
3. 31,220 vs. BYU, Oct. 1, 1999 (L 31-34)
4. 30,757 vs. Utah, Aug. 31, 2002 (L 3-23)
5. 30,341 vs. BYU, Oct. 4, 2002 (L 34-35)
6. 30,257 vs. Utah, Aug. 31, 1996 (W 20-17)

AGGIE EFFORTS VS. UTAH OVER THE YEARS -- Some of Utah State's best efforts have come against Utah over the years of the series. Here is a quick look at some notable statistical performances:

Individual Game Bests Rushing - Louie Giammona rushed for 207 yards (19th on USU single-game best list) in 1974 Passing - Tony Adams threw for a NCAA record 561 yards in 1972; Anthony Calvillo threw for 380 yards (14th on USU list) in 1993; Brent Snyder threw for 360 yards (22nd in USU history) in 1987. Receiving - Craig Clark had 224 yards (sixth in USU history) in 1972; Cotie McMahon had 207 yards (13th) in 1993; Ken Thompson had 184 yards (22nd in USU history) in 1979.

Plays Rushing - Louie Giammona, 89 yards (third in USU history), 1974 Passing - Marvin Bell to John Putnik, 86 yards (seventh in USU history), 1941; Tony Adams to Craig Clark, 85 yards (eighth in USU history), 1972; Tony Adams to Jerry Hughes, 80 yards (12th in USU history), 1972. Punt Returns - Tom Larscheid, 85 yards (second in USU history), 1961 Punts - Seve Mullins, 70 yards (11th in USU history), 2002 Field Goals - Mickey Doyle, 52 yards (eighth in USU history), 1972 USU's Last Punt Return For A Touchdown - 64 yards, Roger (Fernandez) Robinson at Utah, 2001

Team Game Bests Total Offense - 632 yards (sixth in USU history), 1972; 544 yards (19th in USU history), 1979 Passing Offense - 569 yards (1st), 1972; 380 yards (16th), 1993 Rushing Offense - 338 yards (18th), 1974 Passing Defense - 14 yards (fourth), 1958; 42 yards (19th), 1961

Career Bests By Some Current Veteran Aggies

Rushing Yards, Opponent, Year Notes Bryan Black, QB 9 yards vs. Troy, 2003 Played five games in his career Ben Chaet, P 3 yards vs. Troy, 2003 The team punter Travis Cox, QB 34 yards vs. UL-Monroe, 2003 Also had 32 rushing yards vs. Idaho Raymond Hicks, WR 14 yards vs. UL-Monroe, 2003 One carry in only start at TB Tyrone McKinney, TB 13 yards vs. UL-Monroe, 2003 Injured and will not play Tony Pennyman, WR 7 yards vs. N.M. State, 2003 Wide receiver

Passing Bryan Black, QB 56 yards vs. Troy State, 2003 Has thrown passes in just three games Travis Cox, QB 322 yards vs. Idaho, 2003 Has three 300-plus yard games Matt Crivello, QB 4 yards vs. New Mexico, 2003 Has played in just three games

Receiving Raymond Hicks, WR 67 yards vs. Middle Tennessee, 2003 Had 59 yards vs. North Texas Patrick McNutt, TE 2 yards vs. Wyoming, 2003 Missed last six games of last year Tony Pennyman, WR 43 YARDS VS. ALABAMA, 2004 Previous mark was 24 yards vs. Arkansas State, 2003 Jason Stephens, TE 21 yards vs. Nebraska, 2003 Has had four 10-plus yard catches in his career.

MONDAY PRESS CONFERENCE -- Utah State will hold its weekly press conference at the Copper Mill Restaurant on Monday. The press conference will feature Head Coach Mick Dennehy and two players at 11:30 a.m.

MITEY MITE UPDATE - The Logan Mitey Mites (8-9-10 year olds) enter Saturday's game against Mountain Crest with identical 4-0 records. Logan has outscored its opponents 84-0, while Mountain Crest has outscored its opponents 126-0. Logan quarterback Brad Strauss, son of USU media relations director Mike Strauss, is having a good year. Here is a look: (W 21-0 vs. Sky View (9 rushes, 89 yards, 1 TD); W 18-0 vs. Brigham City (10 rushes, career-high 132 yards, 2 TD); W 6-0 vs. Plain City (11 rushes, 118 yards, 1 TD); W 39-0 vs. Syracuse (2 rushes, 25 yards, 1 TD, 1 reception, 37 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception from his safety spot).)