Oct. 5, 2007
Complete Utah State at #16 Hawai'i Supplemental Notes in PDF Format
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HERE TO HELP ON GAME DAY -- USU media relations assistant director Zach Fisher (C: 435-213-0318) is on hand to assist you in your coverage of Utah State at today's game. Please do not hesitate to call on him for any assistance you may need.
POSTGAME -- The Utah State locker room is closed to the media. After a brief cooling off period, head coach Brent Guy and selected players will be available at a designated area. All player requests should be made to Fisher prior to the five minute mark of the fourth quarter.
GAME CAPTAINS -- Each week Utah State will select game captains. Those selected for the Hawai'i game are #7 senior QB/P Leon Jackson III for the offense and #31 sophomore LB Paul Igboeli for the defense.
ON THE TUBE -- Saturday's game will be televised regionally on KJZZ (Comcast Ch. 14 in Cache Valley), as well as by KFVE in Hawai'i... Jim Leahey will handle play-by-play, with Jim Donovan providing commentary.
TRAVEL PLANS -- Utah State will fly from Salt Lake City to Honolulu on Thursday and return on Sunday evening. Zach Fisher (C: 435-213-0318) of the athletic media relations staff will travel to the game.
A USU Win Would...
• Be the Aggies' first win over a ranked opponent since 1991 and move to 2-42 all-time vs. an AP Top 25 team.
• Snap USU's 11-game losing streak.
• Break a 10-game road losing skid, last winning on the road in the 2005 season finale at New Mexico State (24-21).
• Stop USU's two-game losing streak to Hawai'i.
• Even the Aggies' WAC record at 1-1 for the third season in a row... Would be the fourth straight season that USU has begun conference play with a 1-1 mark.
• Be USU's third win at Hawai'i in five tries.
• Turn the "A" Blue.
A USU Loss Would...
• Be USU's 12th straight loss overall and 17th in the last 18 games.
• Even the all-time series with Hawai'i at 4-4.
• As always, be less good than a win.
USU VS. THE TOP 25 -- Utah State will be playing its 44th game all-time against a ranked team (Hawai'i is No. 16 in this week's AP poll) and is just 1-42 against teams in the AP poll... The Aggies' lone win against a ranked team was a 20-19 upset of 25th-ranked Fresno State in 1991... Since then, USU has lost 17 straight games against ranked teams, including its most recent, a 54-3 loss at third-ranked Oklahoma on Sept. 15 this season... Saturday marks the fifth time in the Brent Guy era that USU has faced a ranked team - here is a look at those games:
Sept. 18, 2004 - L 6-48 #15 UtahOct. 29, 2005 - L 3-35 at #5 AlabamaNov. 18, 2006 - L 10-49 at #18 Boise StateSept. 15, 2007 - L 3-54 at #3 Oklahoma
USU IN CONFERENCE ROAD OPENERS -- Utah State has lost its last four conference road openers... USU's last win in its first conference road game was a 17-12 win in 2000 at North Texas (whose head coach was current USU offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey).
AGGIES IN THE WAC -- Utah State, which is in its third season in the WAC, is 3-14 in conference games, including 1-7 in WAC road games, currently on a four-game conference road game losing streak, last winning on the road in the 2005 season finale at New Mexico State (24-21).
THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN SATURDAY'S GAME --
RIMINGTON AWARD -- Saturday's game features two members of the Rimington Trophy Watch List awarded to the nation's most outstanding center in college football: Utah State junior Ryan Tonnemacher and Hawai'i sophomore John Estes.
NON-OFFENSIVE SCORES -- Utah State has scored two non-offensive scores (De'von Hall's 38-yard INT return for TD at Wyoming and Kevin Robinson's 82-yard kick return for TD vs. San Jose State)... Hawai'i has scored seven non-offensive scores (four interceptions, two kick returns and one punt return).
BIG RETURNS -- Saturday could see some big special teams returns, as Hawai'i (30.8 ypr) and Utah State (27.4 ypr) are 1-2 in the WAC rankings and fourth and 10th in the NCAA rankings respectively in kick returns... USU also is first in the WAC and second in the country in punt returns (22.2 ypr).
USU-HAWAI'I NOTE-ABLE -- USU does not have any players on its active roster from the state of Hawai'i, the only state in the WAC union besides New Mexico that the Aggies don't have a player from... However, freshman safety walk-on Dustin Pauu is from Wahiawa, Hawai'i (Leilehua HS)... USU junior DB's Caleb and Joshua Taylor were high school teammates with Hawai'i junior OL Lafu Tuioti-Mariner at Corona High School in Corona, Calif... Aggie senior QB Leon Jackson III was high school teammates with Warrior senior OL Hercules Satele at Long Beach Poly High School in Long Beach, Calif... Travis LaBoy, who redshirted the 1999 season at Utah State, transferred to Hawai'i where he earned WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2003. JACKSON AND BRENNAN CONNECTIONS -- USU QB Leon Jackson III and Hawai'i signal-caller Colt Brennan are linked in more than just the same position. The two were high school rivals, with Jackson playing for Long Beach Poly HS and Brennan playing for Mater Dei HS. Jackson and Brennan also attended the Bob Johnson Passing Camp throughout high school together.
CHART CLIMBING -- Kevin Robinson and Leon Jackson III continue to climb up USU's career record lists, as Saturday's stats helped both of them move up in several different categories... Robinson had seven catches for a season-high 71 yards, giving him 149 receptions for his career and moving to a tie for No. 5 on USU's career receptions list with Kevin Alexander (1992-95)... He needs five more to tie Rod Moore (1988-91) with 154 and six to tie Nakia Jenkins (1996-97) with 155... Robinson also moved up to No. 9 on the career receiving yardage list with 2,108 yards, passing Tracy Jenkins (1988-91) with 2,070 yards and closing in on James Murphy (1978-80) at eighth with 2,132 yards, as well as No. 7 Kevin Alexander (1992-95) with 2,208... With 222 all-purpose yards, Robinson also topped the 1,000 all-purpose yard milestone for the fourth consecutive year and now has 5,171 career all-purpose yards, needing just 96 to pass Smith's 5,266 all-purpose yards for No. 2 on the Aggies' career list... Emmett White (1998-2001) holds the No. 1 spot with 5,872 yards, meaning Robinson only needs 702 yards to take over that record... With a current average of 196.8 all-purpose yards per game, which currently leads the WAC and ranks third in the NCAA, Robinson could not only reach but well surpass White's record with seven games remaining in the season... Jackson moved into the top 10 for passing completions, climbing from No. 11 to No. 8 and now has 298 career completions... Matt Sauk (1996-97) holds the No. 7 spot with 334 completions... Jackson also moved into the top 10 for passing attempts and presently has 528 career attempts... With 199 yards of total offense Saturday, Jackson now has 3,811 career total offense yards, moving to No. 9 on the career list... Abu Wilson (1992, 1994-96) holds the No. 8 spot with 3,933... Jackson continues to hold the No. 3 position on the career completion percentage with 56.4, behind Travis Cox (2001-04) with 57.3 and Keith Myers (1976-77) with 60.7.
MISC. AGGIE BITS -- USU's first quarter TD at Utah was the Aggies' first points of the opening quarter this season... Last time USU scored in the first stanza was vs. Hawai'i last season (Nov. 4) and last time they had a first quarter TD was vs. San Jose State a year ago (Oct. 14)... Saturday at Utah was the first time USU had scored first in a game since the San Jose State game last year (Oct. 14), a span of nine games... Sophomore S James Brindley nabbed his first career interception on Saturday at Utah and returned it 64 yards in the first quarter... Brindley's 64-yard return was USU's longest INT return this season and longest since Robert Watts had a 90-yard INT return vs. UNLV on Sept. 25, 2004... The interception was the fourth game in a row for the Aggie defense to record a pick... The four straight games with an INT matches the longest streak since a four-game stretch from Sept. 11-Oct. 2, 2004... It was the third time this season that USU has had two INT's in a game (at Wyoming on Sept. 6, vs San Jose State Sept. 22 and Saturday vs Utah)... The last time that USU had three games with two or more INT's was 2004... The Aggies now have seven INT's, topping last season's total and matching the 2005 season total... Utah's field goal at the end of the first half marked the third time this season a FG was made as time expired (by USU vs UNLV, by Oklahoma vs USU and Saturday by Utah vs Utah State).
MARSH AND SPEIGHT FAB FRESHMEN -- Freshmen running backs Curtis Marsh and Derrvin Speight are having successful first seasons as Aggies... Marsh's 50 yards in his USU debut Aug. 30 were the most for a USU freshman in their first game in school history, and he topped that mark with 61 in the loss at Wyoming... Speight has 169 yards on the season and Marsh's 149 yards are just shy of half way to making it on the top three of USU's freshman season list... Current senior teammate Chris Forbes holds the No. 3 spot with 396 yards his freshman season of 2004... Speight's 99 yards in the San Jose State game were the single-game most for a freshman since Jerod Walker's 102 yards against New Mexico State in 2005... With a 100-yard game, either Marsh or Speight would become just the seventh freshman in school history to record that milestone and would be the 10th time overall for a freshman.
Freshman 100-Yard Rushing Games(Since 1957 in yardage total order)Att-Yds Player Opponent Year21-166 Demario Brown Boise St. 199625-165 Demario Brown No. Texas 199626-164 Rick Parros Weber St. 197627-131 Demario Brown Idaho 199625-131 Chris Forbes N.M. State 200422-157 Abu Wilson N.M. State 199226-106 Abu Wilson Pacific 199222-104 Travis Clark N. Mexico 198625-102 Jerod Walker N.M. State 2005
USU-HAWAI'I LAST TIME -- Utah State produced 362 yards, but just 10 points in suffering its worst loss since 1989 as the Aggies dropped a game to Hawai'i 63-10 on Nov. 4 of last season. The 53-point scoring margin was the worst for USU since it lost to Southern California by 56 points (66-10) in 1989. After Hawai'i scored a touchdown on its opening drive, Utah State responded with a scoring drive on its own, kicking a 46-yard field goal for its first made field goal of the season. The Aggies had been the only team in the nation without a three-pointer that season. However, Hawai'i scored the next three touchdowns of the half to take a 28-3 lead into the break. USU opened the third quarter with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was capped with an Antraun McDaniel 1-yard touchdown run to make the score Hawai'i 28-10. The visiting Warriors then added five more touchdowns the rest of the game as they compiled 572 yards, including 486 passing. USU's Kevin Robinson pulled in five balls for 84 yards to lead the Aggie offense, while quarterback Riley Nelson hit 17-of-29 passes for 225 yards and rushed for 65 yards on 15 carries. However, the freshman also threw one interception and fumbled twice in the contest. Defensively, Terrance Washington recorded the eighth interception of his career, while De'von Hall and Paul Igboeli each had a team-best five tackles.
USU-HAWAI'I LAST TIME AT HONOLULU -- Utah State outscored Hawai'i 20-16 in the second half, but a 34-3 halftime deficit was too much to overcome as the Aggies fell 50-23 at Honolulu on Nov. 12, 2005. Justin Hamblin kicked a career-long 50-yard field goal in the first quarter for USU's only points in the opening 30 minutes. Hawai'i was up just 6-3 after the first quarter, but exploded for 28 points in the second quarter as it converted on four-of-five possessions. Utah State's first trip into the end zone came on its first possession of the second half as quarterback Jerod Walker, who was filling in for an injured Leon Jackson, scampered 46 yards to bring the score to 34-10. Utah State then added touchdowns on a 5-yard rush by Lynwood Johnson at the end of the third quarter and a 3-yard reception by Kevin Robinson with :28 left in the game.
CURRENT AGGIE HIGHLIGHTS VS. HAWAI'I -- Here is a look at how some current Aggies have fared against Hawai'i in their careers: WR/KR Kevin Robinson has eight career receptions vs. the Warriors, nabbing three for 30 yards with one TD in 2005 and five catches for 84 yards last season... QB Leon Jackson was four-of-seven passing for 30 yards before getting injured in 2005 and was zero-of-two last season in reserve action... Jackson also had 21 rushing yards in 2005... DB Joshua Taylor had six tackles while LB Jake Hutton had five stops in 2005... De'von Hall and Paul Igboeli had five tackles each last season.
USU BESTS VS. HAWAI'I -- Here is a look at some of the top USU statistical individual performances against the Warriors over the years: MacArthur Lane had an 84-yard rush against Hawai'i in 1966, the seventh-longest rush in school history... Merrill Johnson and Tom Larscheid connected for a 76-yard pass play against the Warriors in 1959 for what was then the second-longest pass play in USU history (now tied for 22nd)... Jim Swindle had a 90-yard interception return in 1959, USU's fourth-longest INT return... Altie Taylor had what was then the third-longest (now tied for sixth) punt return in 1966 with an 82-yarder... In 2005 against Hawai'i, Justin Hamblin kicked a 50-yard field goal, the last time an Aggie kicked a 50-yarder...USU piled up 428 rushing yards on Hawai'i in 1966, the sixth-most in USU history... In 1965, the Aggie defense yielded only 115 yards of total offense to Hawai'i, the 13th-lowest total... The next season, the USU defense limited UH to 20 rushing yards, which was the fourth-lowest rushing total (currently 18th)... The 48-0 win in 1966 is the 19th largest winning margin, while last season's 63-10 loss is the 12th-largest losing margin.
USU IN OCTOBER -- Utah State has a two-game losing streak in October and have lost 13 of its last 16 games in the Canadian Thanksgiving month... USU won its first game of October last season, edging Fresno State, 13-12, on Oct. 7... Saturday is the Aggies' first game on Oct. 6 since a 2000 road loss at BYU... This is USU's second nationally-ranked game, as the Aggies lost to Oregon, who was receiving votes, on Oct. 6, 1990... Overall, USU is 3-3 on Oct. 6 since 1957, having lost the last three Oct. 6 games... The Aggies are 1-2 on Oct. 6 on the road - here's a look at how USU has fared on Oct. 6:
1962 - W 41-13 at Montana State 1984 - L 21-38 at San Jose State1973 - W 13-7 vs BYU 1990 - L 7-52 at Oregon1979 - W 51-28 vs Long Beach State 2000 - L 14-38 at BYU
UP NEXT -- Utah State has its bye week, before returning home to host WAC foe Nevada on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 1:05 p.m. on Military Appreciation Day. -USU-
