Oct. 25, 2010
LOGAN, Utah -
Complete Utah State at Nevada Football Notes in PDF Format 
UTAH STATE at NEVADASaturday, Oct. 30 - 8:30 p.m. (MT)ESPNUMackay Stadium (29,993)Reno, Nev.
QUICKLY -- Utah State (2-5, 0-3 WAC) travels to Reno, Nev., to take on the Wolf Pack of Nevada (6-1, 1-1 WAC), who is ranked No. 24 in this week's BCS standings and first among others receiving votes in both AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Polls, in a Western Athletic Conference match-up on Saturday, Oct. 30, in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU... Kickoff from "The Biggest Little City in the World" is slated for 8:30 p.m. (MT) at Nevada's Mackay Stadium (29,993)... Todd Harris will handle play-by-play duties with David Diaz-Infante providing analysis... ESPNU can be found on Comcast Ch. 400/755 HD in Cache Valley / Ch. 141 on Dish Network / Ch. 208 on Direct TV.
SATURDAY'S STORYLINES -- Things to watch for in Saturday's Aggies-Wolf Pack match-up:
-- Two of the seven members of the active QB's in the FBS in the 1,000 career rushing/5,000 career passing yards club in senior QB's Diondre Borel for Utah State and Colin Kaepernick of Nevada... Kaepernick is currently No. 2 among active QB's in the FBS with 12,131 total offense yards while Borel is No. 15 with 7,078 yards.
-- Both teams lost to Hawai'i in their last action, as Nevada lost to the Warriors, 27-21, on Oct. 9 at Hawaii, and had a bye last week, while Utah State lost to Hawai'i, 45-7, on Oct. 23, as the Warriors and Mother Nature rained on USU's Homecoming.
-- USU head coach Gary Andersen and NEV head coach Chris Ault are two of the 12 FBS coaches that are also position coaches, and two of nine non-special teams related position coaches.
-- Utah State has 12 members of its 16-man coaching staff that have faced Nevada in previous positions as either a coach or a player or both, as is the case for USU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin, who coached against Nevada as an assistant at New Mexico, San Jose State and Cal State Northridge, as well as a player at Cal State Northridge.
-- Both teams are used to playing at high altitude, as USU and NEV are two of the eight highest elevation stadiums, as USU's Romney Stadium is at 4,710 feet while NEV's Mackey Stadium is at 4,610 feet, ranking 1-2 in the WAC and 6-8 in the FBS.
-- USU senior QB Diondre Borel needs:
-- 214 passing yards for the 6,000-yard milestone, becoming just the fifth USU QB to reach that plateau, as well as needing 287 passing yards to crack the top four on USU's Career Passing list.
-- Nine total offense yards to reach the No. 28 spot on the WAC's Career list, currently held by San Diego State's Dan McGwire (1989-90) with 7,087 yards.
FOLLOWING THE GAME AND THE AGGIES
ON TV -- Saturday's WAC battle between the Aggies and Wolf Pack will be nationally-televised on ESPNU, and will be aired on Altitude (Comcast Ch. 400/755 HD in Cache Valley / Ch. 141 on Dish Network / Ch. 208 on Direct TV)... Todd Harris will handle play-by-play duites, while David Diaz-Infante will be the analyst.
ON THE AIR -- All Utah State football games are carried live on KVNU 610 AM, KVNU 102.1 FM (Cache Valley) and KLZX 95.9 FM in Logan; 1230 or 1320 AM in Salt Lake City; on KLZX 105.3 FM in Montpelier, Idaho... All Aggie football games are also on the Internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com by clicking on "Listen Live"... Al Lewis handles the play-by-play duties, while Craig Hislop provides analysis.
ON THE INTERNET -- USU home football games are also streamed on the Internet through "Aggies All Access," by clicking on the "Live Aggies Video" link on the home page of www.UtahStateAggies.com... Fans can register and purchase single-game or season packages to watch.
GAMETRACKER -- Fans can follow all USU Aggie home games through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game... Live stats for Saturday's game at Nevada can be found through the "Live Stats" link at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
COACHES SHOW ON THE ROAD -- The Gary Andersen radio show will rotate between Bajio Mexican Grill and Firehouse Pizza on Thursday nights (6:05-6:45 p.m. on 610 AM KVNU) when the Aggies play on Saturday... The show gives USU fans an opportunity to ask questions and interact with Coach Andersen and players.
Upcoming Coaches Shows: Oct. 21 Firehouse Pizza / Oct. 28 Bajio Mexican Grill
UP NEXT -- Utah State returns home to host New Mexico State in an all-Aggie affair on Saturday, Nov. 6... Kickoff from Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. (MT).
UTAH STATE NOTE-ABLES
NEW HOME UNIFORMS/NEW LOOK HELMETS/HELMET STICKERS -- The Utah State football team debuted its new home uniforms on Sept. 11 vs. Idaho State.
Head coach Gary Andersen and selected players helped choose the design for the jerseys. The jerseys and pants are made by Nike and feature a navy blue base with white letters and numbers with black piping around the numbers along with white and black trim on the sides of the jerseys and pants. USU will be able to wear the navy blue jersey with either navy blue or white pants for home games and the white jersey with either white or navy blue pants for road games.
Utah State's helmets got an new look this summer, as the white helmet with larger navy blue metallic paint flakes is an upgrade from the white helmet with small black metallic flakes last year, while the navy blue facemasks replace white masks that have adorned the white helmet with U-State logo since the mid-90's.
Additionally, helmet stickers will be awarded to players, with a "Block A" for academic achievement and community service and a bull head for athletic recognition. All helmets will also have a "71" sticker on the back, honoring USU legend Merlin Olsen, who passed away March 11, 2010.
UTAH STATE NAMES FIELD AT ROMNEY STADIUM 'MERLIN OLSEN FIELD' -- To honor one of its greatest alumnus and the most decorated football player in school history, Utah State University named playing field inside Romney Stadium `Merlin Olsen Field.'
An official dedication ceremony took place on Saturday, Oct. 23 in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Utah State's 1960 Sun Bowl Team, led by Olsen. During the official dedication of Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium, a larger-than-life-size bronze statue of Olsen, which was sculpted by nationally renowned artist Blair Buswell, was unveiled in the southeast corner of the stadium.
Olsen was a three-year lettermen on the offensive and defensive lines for Utah State's football team from 1959-61, earning All-American honors during both his junior and senior seasons. During his senior season in 1961, he won the Outland Trophy as the nation's outstanding interior defensive lineman. Olsen also was a three-time academic All-American at Utah State and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Kappa Phi in 1962 with a degree in finance. NFL Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, the greatest athlete in Utah State University history, passed away at City of Hope Hospital near Los Angeles on March 11, 2010 after a courageous battle with cancer.
UTAH STATE-NEVADA SERIES -- In Utah State's oldest series with a WAC opponent, dating back to 1904, Nevada leads the all-time series with a 16-4 advantage... The Wolf Pack has won the last five in a row and 11 of the last 13 meetings... Nevada has won the last two meetings at Reno after USU had won the previous two match-ups there, the Aggies' only two wins there, as Nevada holds a 9-2 advantage at Reno... The visiting team has won nine of the last 11 meetings, with Nevada's 2006 and 2008 wins the only home victories in that stretch... The series dates back to 1904 and the schools met six times before playing in the Big West from 1992-99... In that time frame the schools had eight meetings and one of the two schools claimed or shared the league title in each of the first six years (1992-97)... In fact, the two programs shared the Big West regular season title in 1996 and 1997 with identical 4-1 records both years... In 1996 the teams played for the conference title in the final week of the year and Nevada posted a 54-27 win at Logan... In 1997, USU clinched the league title against a then-undefeated Wolf Pack team in the second to last game of the year with a 38-19 win at Nevada.
USU vs. NEVADAOverall: 4-16-0 / Home: 2-9-0 / Away: 2-7-011-9-04 L 5-24 A10-16-15 W 26-0 H10-28-16 L 7-9 A11-6-20 L 0-21 A11-22-21 L 0-41 H10-21-44 L 7-13 H9-16-50 W 7-6 H11-14-92 L 47-48 A11-16-93 L 44-48 H11-12-94 L 28-56 A11-4-95 L 25-30 H11-9-96 L 27-54 H11-15-97 W 38-19 A11-7-98 L 21-26 H11-20-99 W 37-35 A11-19-05 L 24-30 H11-11-06 L 0-42 A10-20-07 L 28-31 H10-18-08 L 17-44 A10-17-09 L 32-35 H
UTAH STATE VS. SILVER STATE TEAMS -- Utah State is 16-23 (.410) all-time against teams from the Silver State, with a 4-16 record against Nevada and 12-7 vs. UNLV... The Aggies' last win over a team from Nevada was Sept. 24, 2005 over UNLV, 31-24... USU has lost six in a row to a Silver State opponent since, losing to Nevada in 2005, '06, '07 and '08 and losing to UNLV in 2007 and '08.
USU ON NEVADA SOIL -- Utah State is 9-10 (.474) in games in the state of Nevada, going 6-4 at UNLV, 2-6 at Reno and 1-0 at Las Vegas, winning the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl, 42-33 over Ball State, the Aggies' last bowl victory... USU has lost its last three games in Nevada, losing at UNLV and at Nevada in 2008, as well as losing at Nevada in 2006.
AGGIE-WOLF PACK NOTE-ABLE -- USU has two players and one radio announcer from the Silver State, sophomore KR/RB Kerwynn Williams, who is from Las Vegas (Valley HS), and redshirt freshman OL Parker Robertson, who is from Gardnerville, Nev. (Douglas HS), as well as the voice of the Aggies, Al Lewis, who is also a Valley HS alum... Nevada doesn't have any players from the state of Utah, but the Wolf Pack has one player who played at the University of Utah in junior DB Corbin Louks, who played at Utah in 2008 and sat out the 2009 season after transferring to Nevada...USU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin was head coach at San Jose State from 1997-2000, where Nevada defensive tackles coach Barry Sacks was the defensive line coach at SJSU from 1998-2000... Both teams have at least one Canadian, in Aggie redshirt-freshman DL Connor Williams, who is from Kanata, Ontario (), while Nevada has two players from Canada in senior OL John Bender, who is from Cochrane, Alberta (Cochrane HS) and freshman WR Lemar Durant, who is from Vancouver, B.C. (Centennial HS).
UTAH STATE-NEVADA CONNECTIONS -- Utah State has several players with hometown or high school connections to Nevada players, including two from Nevada:
Hometown/High School USU Player(s) NEV Player(s)
Las Vegas, Nev. Kerwynn Williams SO KR/RB Mike Ball SO RB (Valley HS) (Desert Pines HS) Al Lewis - radio announcer Bubba Boudreaux JR DB (Valley HS) (Centennial HS/Palomar College) Nick Rhodes JR PK (Cimarron-Memorial HS) Joe Huber RS-FR WR (Bishop Gorman HS)
Long Beach, Calif. Jeff Fischer SR QB Joel Bitonio RS-FR OL (Lakewood HS/Cerritos JC) (Long Beach Wilson HS) Tray Session JR WR (Long Beach Poly HS)
Bakersfield, Calif. Emmanual Ojeriakhi SO WR Jordan Mudge JR OL (Bakersfield HS) (Desert Hot Springs HS/Bakersfield JC)
Pasadena, Calif. Chris Harris JR CB Thaddeus Brown SO DB (Duarte HS) (Notre Dame HS)
Santa Ana, Calif. Evan Huahulu JR DT Rishard Matthews JR WR (Servite HS/SMU) (Saddleback HS/Bakersfield JC)
San Diego, Calif. Joey DeMartino SO RB Jared Jackson SR DE (Mt. Carmel HS/Grossmont CC) (Bonita Vista HS/Southwestern CC)
Scottsdale, Ariz. Chris Fox FR LB Steve Haley JR OL (Chaparral HS) (Desert Mountain HS)
USU IN OCTOBER / ON OCT. 30 -- USU has lost two of its last five games in October, as part of the Aggies losing 24 of their last 31 games in the Canadian Thanksgiving month (which was on Monday, Oct. 11)... After having five games in October last season, USU has four games in the 10th month for the second time in three years... Saturday is USU's first game on Oct. 30 since 2004, losing, 21-0 at Middle Tennessee... The Aggies are 2-1 on the road on Oct. 30, while registering an 8-3 overall record on Oct. 30, despite losing the last two games on the date after an eight-game win streak in games on the 30th day of the 10th month... Here's a closer look at how USU has fared on Oct. 30:
1920 - L 0-21 vs. Colorado State1926 - W 7-3 at Denver1937 - W 7-0 vs. Colorado State1948 - W, 45-34 vs. Wyoming1954 - W 45-13 vs. BYU1965 - W 34-21 vs. BYU1971 - W 18-17 at Colorado State1982 - W 20-17 vs. BYU1993 - W 58-56 vs. BYU1999 - L 27-33 vs. Boise State2004 - L 0-21 at Mid. Tennessee
USU VS. NEVADA IN OCTOBER -- Saturday is the 21st meeting overall between the Aggies and Wolf Pack, and it is the fourth-straight meeting in October after 10 match-ups in a row in November... Overall, USU is 1-5 vs. Nevada in meetings in October, losing five in a row after winning the first meeting in October in 1915.
EACH OTHER'S LAST TIME LIST -- On Utah State's "Last Time" list, Nevada is referenced four times, while USU is on Nevada's list once:
-- USU's last individual to score a two-point conversion was current junior Robert Turbin (out for the season with a knee injury), who caught the two-point conversion pass from current senior QB Diondre Borel against Nevada last season (10-17-09).
-- Utah State's last individual with 100-yards receiving was Nnamdi Gwacham with four catches for 140 yards and a TD also vs. Nevada last season (10-17-09).
-- The last Aggie player with a punt return for a TD was Kevin Robinson against the Wolf Pack in 2007 (10-20-07).
-- The last opponent individual to have 200 yards receiving was Nevada's Trevor Insley with 242 yards on 14 catches in 1999.
-- USU RB Robert Turbin (out for the season with a knee injury) was the last Nevada opponent individual to score a two-point conversion, on his catch from current senior QB Diondre Borel.
USU BESTS VS. NEVADA -- Here is a look at some of the top USU statistical individual performances against the Wolf Pack over the years: Anthony Calvillo threw five TD passes vs. Nevada in 1992, which is tied for the single-game school record (done five times overall, twice by Calvillo)... Calvillo threw for 428 yards in the 1992 match-up with Nevada, which is the No. 6 spot on the single-game passing list... Demario Brown holds the No. 4 single-game rushing mark with 253 yards vs. the Wolf Pack in 1999... Kevin Alexander had 236 receiving yards in 1995, the fourth-best single-game outing... In 1992, the Aggies rang up 684 yards of total offense, tied for the single-game record for total offense (2001 vs. Weber State)... The No. 19 spot on the single-game total offense list of 547 yard came against Nevada in 1993... The 428 passing yards in the 1992 meeting is seventh on the single-game passing list, while 372 passing yards in 2005 is No. 22... In 1999, USU tallied 388 rushing yards vs. Nevada, the No. 11 spot on the rushing list.
CURRENT AGGIE COACHES VS. NEVADA -- Utah State has 12 members of its 16-man coaching staff that have faced Nevada in previous positions as either a coach or a player or both, as is the case for Aggie offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin, who coached against Nevada as an assistant at New Mexico, San Jose State and Cal State Northridge, as well as a player at Cal State Northridge... Overall, those 12 members were a combined 9-11 vs. Nevada in their prior positions before Utah State.
Name Utah State Position Other Position YearsGary Andersen Head Coach Southern Utah Head Coach 2003-L, 23-24(0-1 vs. NEV)
Dave Baldwin Offensive Coord./QB's New Mexico Off. Coord. 2007-W, 23-0^(3-1 vs. NEV) San Jose St. Head Coach 2000-W, 49-30 Cal State Northridge GA 1980-L, 3-31 CS Northridge Player-WR 1977-W, 22-19
Bill Busch Defensive Coord./S's Nebraska Sp. Tms Coord 2007-W, 52-10(2-2 vs. NEV) New Mexico St. Secondary 1999-L, 16-23 1998-W, 48-45 1997-L, 24-45
Kevin Clune Linebackers Southern Utah Def. Coord. 2003-L, 23-24(0-1 vs. NEV)
Alex Gerke Offensive Line Hawai'i O-Line/RB's 2008-W, 38-31(1-0 vs. NEV)
Ilaisa Tuiaki Running Backs Southern Utah Player-RB 2003-L, 23-24(0-1 vs. NEV)
T.J. Woods Tight Ends New Mexico Tight Ends 2007-W, 23-0^(1-0 vs. NEV)
Charles Henderson Def. Grad. Asst. Southern Utah Player-WR 2003-L, 23-24(0-1 vs. NEV)
Ryan Zimmerman Off. Grad. Asst. Southern Utah Player-QB 2003-L, 23-24(0-1 vs. NEV)
Frank Maile Off. Admin. Asst. Utah State Player-DL 2007-L, 28-31(0-3 vs. NEV) 2006-L, 0-42 2005-L, 24-30
Hunter Teafatiller Def. Admin. Asst. Nebraska Player-TE 2007-W, 52-10(1-0 vs. NEV)
Brad Vonnahme Def. Admin. Asst. Nebraska Student Asst. 2007-W, 52-10(1-0 vs. NEV)
^ = New Mexico Bowl
UTAH STATE-NEVADA BY THE NUMB3R5 -- A closer look at note-ables about Saturday's match-up between the Aggies and the Wolf Pack:
0 Times that USU has beaten Nevada when Chris Ault has been head coach, as the Wolf Pack veteran head coach is 8-0 vs. USU, including 4-0 at Reno.0 Players from the state of Utah on Nevada's roster.2 Players from the state of Nevada on Utah State's roster: sophomore RB Kerwynn Williams (Las Vegas) and redshirt-freshman OL Parker Robertson (Gardnerville).2 Coaches involved in Saturday's game who were on the San Jose State coaching staff together in 1998-2000 in USU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin (head coach at SJSU) and NEV defensive tackles coach Barry Sacks (SJSU defensive line coach).2 Wins at Reno by Utah State in the series.4 Wins by Utah State in the series overall.5 Straight wins in the series overall by Nevada.7 Consecutive wins at Logan by Nevada in the USU-NEV series.16 Wins by Nevada in the series overall.16 Utah State's wins over a team from Nevada (4-15 vs. Nevada, 12-7 vs. UNLV).597 Miles from USU's Romney Stadium to NEV's Mackay Stadium.1904 First year that USU and NEV played football, Utah State's oldest series with a WAC opponent
BOREL ONE OF SEVEN QB'S IN COUNTRY IN CAREER 1,000 RUSH/5,000 PASS CLUB -- USU senior QB Diondre Borel is one of seven active quarterbacks in the country with 1,000 career rushing yards and 5,000 career passing yards.
QB SCHOOL RUSH YDS PASS YDSColin Kaepernick Nevada 3,575 8,556Andy Dalton TCU 1,550 9,092Jake Locker Washington 1,806 6,988Austen Arnaud Iowa State 1,171 6,270Tyrod Taylor Virginia Tech 2,064 5,876Diondre Borel Utah State 1,292 5,786Terrelle Pryor Ohio State 1,818 5,180
Several QB's are in the wings:Robert Griffin III Baylor 1,304 4,945Dwight Dasher Middle Tennessee 2,004 4,657Jerrod Johnson Texas A&M 877 8,011Russell Wilson North Carolina State 848 7,106Adam Weber Minnesota 828 10,199Christian Ponder Florida State 771 6,015Austin Davis Southern Mississippi 816 5,773Omar Clayton UNLV 702 5,683
BOREL AMONG NATION'S ACTIVE LEADERS FOR CAREER TOTAL OFFENSE -- Borel is also among the nation's leaders for career total offense, currently No. 15 with 6,980 yards.
TD RES PLAYS YARDS YARDSRnk Player, School YR POS GM PLAYS YARDS FOR PER GM PER GM PER PLY1 Case Keenum, Houston SR QB 43 1869 14448 127 43.5 336.0 7.732 Colin Kaepernick, Nevada SR QB 44 1612 12131 123 36.6 275.7 7.533 Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP SR QB 44 1659 11392 91 37.7 258.9 6.874 Adam Weber, Minnesota SR QB 46 1871 11027 79 40.7 239.7 5.895 Andy Dalton, TCU SR QB 45 1581 10642 78 35.1 236.5 6.736 Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M SR QB 37 1440 8888 83 38.9 240.2 6.177 Jake Locker, Washington SR QB 35 1456 8794 76 41.6 251.3 6.048 Nathan Enderle, Idaho SR QB 40 1422 8568 70 35.6 214.2 6.039 Kellen Moore, Boise St. JR QB 33 1057 8543 82 32.0 258.9 8.0810 Russell Wilson, North Carolina St. JR QB 30 1235 7954 76 41.2 265.1 6.4411 Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech SR QB 44 1156 7940 56 26.3 180.5 6.8712 Austen Arnaud, Iowa St. SR QB 40 1291 7441 53 32.3 186.0 5.7613 Ryan Lindley, San Diego St. JR QB 30 1160 7413 53 38.7 247.1 6.3914 T.J. Yates, North Carolina SR QB 39 1238 7298 55 31.7 187.1 5.8915 Diondre Borel, Utah St. SR QB 38 1226 7078 48 32.3 186.3 5.7716 Terrelle Pryor, Ohio St. JR QB 34 1043 6998 66 30.7 205.8 6.7117 Christian Ponder, Florida St. SR QB 30 1101 6786 49 36.7 226.2 6.1618 Dwight Dasher, Middle Tenn. SR QB 35 1129 6661 56 32.3 190.3 5.9019 Austin Davis, Southern Miss. JR QB 28 1109 6589 56 39.6 235.3 5.9420 Ryan Mallett, Arkansas JR QB 31 871 6458 57 28.1 208.3 7.41TD RES FOR = TD's Responsible For
STARTING STREAKERS -- Borel is one of 10 QB's in the country to have over 20 consecutive starts, and one of eight with all of them in consecutive order, including one of five with more than 25:
QB - SCHOOL CAREER STARTS / CONSECUTIVE STARTSAdam Weber - SR - Minnesota 46 / 46Trevor Vittatoe - SR - UTEP 44 / 44Kellen Moore - JR - Boise State 33 / 33Jerrod Johnson - SR - Texas A&M 29 / 29Diondre Borel - SR - Utah State 28 / 28Robert Griffin III - SR - Baylor 22 / 22Brian Anderson - SR - Marshall 22 / 22Greg McElroy - SR - Alabama 22 / 22-----OTHERS WHO HAVEN'T MADE ALL THEIR STARTS IN CAREER ON CONSECUTIVE ORDER BUT HAVE STREAKJoshua Nesbitt - SR - Georgia Tech 33 / 29Colin Kaepernick - SR - Nevada 40 / 26San Diego State - SR - Ryan Lindley 29 / 24
BOREL SCHOOL RECORD HOLDER -- Quarterback Diondre Borel holds four school records, as he is the USU record holder for single-season total offense (3,343 yards, 2009), single-season rushing yards by a QB (632 in 2008) and career rushing yards for a QB (1,098 yards, 2007-pres.), as well as fewest INT thrown (four in 2009)... Borel's 105 rushing yards in 2009 vs. Fresno State (Oct. 31),was just shy of the single-game rushing record by a QB of 121 yards held by Tony Adams vs. Colorado State in 1972.
Rushing Yards by a QuarterbackGame: 121, Tony Adams (12 attempts) vs. Colorado State, 1972 105, Diondre Borel (12 attempts) vs. Idaho, 2008Season: 632, Diondre Borel (179 att.), 2008Career: 1,292, Diondre Borel (443 att.), 2007-pres.
BOREL 7TH AGGIE QB TO 5K PASSING -- USU senior QB Diondre Borel topped the 5,000 career passing yard plateau in the Idaho State game on Sept. 11... Borel became just the seventh Aggie QB to reach the 5,000-yard passing milestone and the first since Jose Fuentes reached it in the 2001 season, finishing his career in 2002 with 9,168 yards, the No. 1 spot on USU's career passing list... Now with 5,786 yards, Borel passed Anthony Calvillo (1992-93) with 5,642 yards for No. 5... Borel is now 287 from Eric Hipple (1976-79) at No. 4 with 6,073 yards.
USU Career PassingNo. Name Years Yds. To Tie1. Jose Fuentes 1999-2002 9,168 3,3822. Tony Adams 1970-72 6,226 4403. Brent Snyder 1987-88 6,105 3194. Eric Hipple 1976-79 6,073 2875. Diondre Borel 2007-pres. 5,7866. Anthony Calvillo 1992-93 5,6427. Matt Sauk 1996-97 5,385
BOREL CLOSING IN ON NO. 1 TOTAL OFFENSE -- Now with 7,078 career total offense yards, Borel has become just the second Aggie QB with 7,000 career yards... He has also taken over sole possession of No. 2 on USU's career total offense list, passing Tony Adams (1970-72) with 6,587... Borel also has cut the gap to No. 1 to less than 2,000 yards at 1,811 yards to reach USU's career total offense record holder Jose Fuentes (1999-2002) at No. 1 with 8,791 yards.
USU Career Total OffenseNo. Name Years Yds. To Tie1. Jose Fuentes 1999-2002 8,791 1,7132. Diondre Borel 2007-pres. 7,0783. Tony Adams 1970-72 6,5874. Eric Hipple 1976-79 6,1215. Brent Snyder 1987-88 5,9286. Anthony Calvillo 1992-93 5,8387. Matt Sauk 1996-97 5,4668. Leon Jackson III 2004-07 5,0359. Travis Cox 2001-04 4,84410. Abu Wilson 1992, 94-96 3,933
MOVIN' UP USU CAREER RUSHING / WAC TOTAL OFFENSE LIST TOO -- Borel vaulted from No. 18 to 15 on USU's Career Rushing list, edging past Demetrius Brown (1986-89) with 1,252... John Strycula (1969-71) is at No. 14 with 1,412 yards.
Borel has also cracked the WAC's Career Top 30 list, needing nine total offense yards to reach the No. 28 spot on the WAC's Career list, currently held by San Diego State's Dan McGwire (1989-90) with 7,087 yards.
USU Career RushingNo. Name Years Yds. To Tie1. Demario Brown 1996-1999 4,053 2,761----11. Robert Turbin 2008-pres. 1,798 50612. Maurice Turner 1979-82 1,549 25713. Roy Shivers 1964-65 1,468 17614. John Strycula 1969-71 1,412 12015. Diondre Borel 2007-pres. 1,29216. Demetrius Brown 1986-89 1,25217. Archie Gibson 1972-73 1,23518. David Fiefia 2000-03 1,19319. Mac Lane 1966-67 1,18220. Jerry Hughes 1971-72 1,144
WAC Career Total OffenseNo. Yards Name, School, Years To Tie1. 16,916 Timmy Chang, UH, 2000-04 9,8382. 14,740 Colt Brennan, UH, 2005-07 7,6623. 14,665 Ty Detmer, BYU, 1988-91 6,7694. 14,448 Colin Kaepernick, NEV, 2007-pres. 7,3705. 11,570 Chase Holbrook, NMSU, 2006-08 4,4926. 10,651 Stoney Case, UNM, 1991-947. 10,513 Todd Santos, SDSU, 1984-878. 10,216 Luke McCown, LTU, 2001-039. 10,145 Paul Pinegar, FS, 2002-0510. 9,786 Ryan Dinwiddie, BSU, 2001-03------16. 8,568 Nathan Enderle, UI, 2007-pres. 1,49017. 8,543 Kellen Moore, BSU, 2008-pres. 1,465------24. 7,559 Mike McCoy, UU, 1992-94 48125. 7,398 Tom Corontzos, UW, 1988-91 32026. 7,253 Steve Sarkisian, BYU, 1995-96 17827. 7,147 Anthoney Hill, CSU, 1991-94 6928. 7,087 Dan McGwire, SDSU, 1989-90 929. 7,078 Diondre Borel, USU, 2007-pres.30. 7,045 David Carr, FS, 1997-98, 00-01
Italics = active
ABOUT NEVADA -- The Wolf Pack are 6-1 overall and 1-1 in WAC play, and are No. 24 in this week's BCS rankings and first among others receiving votes in both AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Polls... Nevada is are coming off a bye last week, that came after the Wolf Pack's first loss of the season, losing at Hawai'i, 27-21, on Oct. 9... In that game, the Wolf Pack rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit, pulling within 27-21 with 3:06 to play on a Mike Ball 10-yard catch from Colin Kaepernick and Nevada recovered the onside kick... With Nevada driving, the crowd in a frenzy and the clock winding down, Colin Kapernick's pass was tipped into the hands of UH's Mana Silva to seal Hawaii's win... It was Kapernick's second interception of the night, and he also fumbled twice, both forced by Corey Parades.
Nevada leads the WAC and ranks sixth in the FBS in rushing offense (288.6 ypg), ranking second in the league and sixth in the country in total offense (509.3 ypg), as well as ranking sixth in the conference and 60th in the nation in passing offense (220.7 ypg)... The Wolf Pack rank second in the league and 33rd in the nation in rushing defense (124.7 ypg), as well as ranking sith in the conference and 60th in the country in passing offense (220.7 ypg), to rank fourth in the WAC and 59th in FBS in total defense (362.6 ypg)... NEV is second in the conference and eighth in the country in scoring offense (39.9 ppg) while ranking second in the league and 31st in the nation in scoring defense (20.0 ppg).
Individually, senior QB Colin Kaepernick is second in the WAC and seventh in FBS in total offense (307.0 ypg)... He also is fourth in the league and 26th in the nation in passing efficiency (151.89), as well as second in the conference and 26th in the country in rushing (95.6 ypg)... Senior RB Vai Taua leads the WAC and is seventh in FBS in rushing (132.6 ypg), a mark that ranks him 10th in the conference in total offense.
Defensively, senior DE Dontay Moch leads the league and is fifth in the nation in tackles for loss with 2.0 per game, as well as ranking fifth in the conference and tied for 35th in the nation in sacks (.7 pg/five total).
Redshirt-freshman PK Anthony Martinez is second in the WAC in field goal pct. (.857 on 6-of-7 FG's) with a long of 33, as well as ranking third in PAT pct. (.973 on 36-of-37)... Senior P Brad Langley has only punted 14 times, and doesn't qualify for the WAC rankings, but he has a 44.7 ypp average, which would lead the league, with a long of 67-yards, tied for the longest punt in the conference this season with San Jose State's Harrison Waid, which he boomed at Nevada on 10/9.
Nevada head coach Chris Ault is in his 26th year at the leash of the Wolf Pack, posting a 212-97-1 record at his alma mater, in three different stints... Ault is 8-0 vs. USU.
ABOUT UTAH STATE -- USU takes a 2-5 overall and 0-3 WAC ledger into Saturday's match-up at Nevada... In their last action, the Aggies lost to Hawai'i, 45-7, as the Warriors reeled off 38-unanswered points after a 7-7 second-quarter tie.
Utah State's offense was limited to 181 total yards, including 123 passing and 58 rushing.... Sophomore running back Kerwynn Williams had 39 yards rushing while sophomore wide receiver Dontel Watkins had three receptions for 59 yards, as he has had at least three catches in all seven USU games this season.
Defensively, junior linebacker Kyle Gallagher led USU with eight tackles, while junior safety Walter McClenton and junior linebacker Bobby Wagner added six stops each... Senior safety Rajric Coleman and senior cornerback Curtis Marsh each snared an interception... It was Coleman's team-lead tying third INT of the season, while it was Marsh's first of the season.
Utah State ranks seventh in the WAC and 85th in FBS in total offense (332.7 ypg), ranking third in the league and 55th in the nation in rushing offense (156.7 ypg) while ranking eighth in the conference and 93rd in the country in passing offense (176.0 ypg)... The USU defense is sixth in the league and 95th in the nation in total defense (421.0 ypg), ranking sixth in the conference and 81st in the country in rushing (168.1 ypg) and eighth in the WAC and 105th in FBS in passing (252.9 ypg).
USU's offense leads the WAC and is tied for 19th in the nation in red zone offense, scoring on 89.5 percent (17-of-19) of its trips there with 12 TD's and five FG's.
The Aggies are seventh in the conference and 101st in the country in scoring offense (19.6 ppg) while ranking seventh in the league and 91st in the nation in scoring defense (30.7 ppg).
Individually, senior QB Diondre Borel is sixth in the league and 69th in the nation in total offense (198.3 ypg), as well as ranking eighth in the conference and 90th in the country in pass efficiency (113.69)... Senior RB Derrvin Speight is seventh in the league in rushing (54.7 rpg)... Sophomore WR Dontel Watkins is tied for eighth in the WAC in receptions per game (4.0) and 11th in the league in receiving yards per game (48.7 ypg).
Defensively, junior LB Bobby Wagner is second in the league and ninth in the nation in tackles (11.3 pg) with 79 total tackles (37 solo, 42 assists)... Fellow junior LB Kyle Gallagher is fourth in the league and 90th in the country in tackles (7.9 pg) with 55 total stops (24 solo, 31 assists)... Senior S Rajric Coleman and sophomore CB Quinton Bryd lead USU with three INT's each, ranking tied for third in the WAC and tied for 21st in FBS (.4 pg)... Senior CB Curtis Marsh is tied for WAC lead and 10th in the FBS in passes defended with a total of nine (1.29 pg) with a league-leading eight pass break-ups and one INT... Fellow senior CB Chris Randle is tied for eighth in the conference and tied for 76th in the country in passes defended with six on four PBU's and two INT's... Junior DE Levi Koskan is tied for eighth in the WAC and eight for 72nd in FBS in sacks with 0.5 pg, 3.5 total.
Senior P/PK Peter Caldwell would rank third in the league in punting (42.7 ypp) and tied for first in the conference in PAT pct (100.0 on 12-of-12), but doesn't reach the minimum qualifying mark due to missing two games with an injury.
Sophomore RB/KR Kerwynn Williams is third in the WAC and 36th in FBS in kickoff returns (25.9 ypr) as well as ranking third in the conference and 25th in the country in all-purpose yards (141.4 ypg).
USU head coach Gary Andersen is his second season at the helm of the Aggie program and has a 6-13 mark... Andersen is 0-1 vs. Nevada, losing 35-32 last season.
FRESH-FISH -- The Aggies had three freshmen see their first action of the season at San Diego State, giving USU eight true freshmen in action this season: #6 CB Nevin Lawson, #13 QB Jeremy Higgins, #18 WR/CB Rashard Stewart #32 PK/P Braeden Loveless, #42 RB Robert Marshall, #80 WR Travis Reynolds, #90 DT Jason Fanaika and #99 PK Nick Diaz... The eight freshmen playing ranks second in the WAC behind San Jose State's 10.
UTAH STATE POST-GAME NOTES FROM HAWAI'I GAME --
BOREL BITS
-- With his 35-yard second quarter TD run, senior QB Diondre Borel became just the second Utah State QB to reach the 7,000 career total offense yards milestone, joining Jose Fuentes (1999-2002), who is the school record holder with 8,791 total yards.
-- For his career, Borel now has 7,078 total offense yards.
-- Borel now has four rushing TD's this season and 15 for his career... He has a rushing TD in 13 career games.
-- Borel has moved from No. 31 to 29 on the WAC Career Total Offense list, passing Tom Brandstater (Fresno State, 2005-08) with 7,009 yards and David Carr (Fresno State, 1997-98, 00-01) with 7,045... Dan McGwire (San Diego State, 1989-90) is No. 28 with 7,087, while Anthoney Hill (Colorado State, 1991-94) is 27th with 7,147 yards.
-- Borel became the 15th active QB in FBS to reach the 7,000 career total offense.
-- The 14-yard catch in the first quarter was Borel's second career reception and the first since his freshman season of 2007, when he saw limited action as a wide receiver.
PUNTIN' PETE
-- Senior P/PK Peter Caldwell's 66-yard punt in the first quarter was his career-long, topping a 62-yarder from last season against Boise State.
-- Caldwell now has five career punts of 60+ yards (60-yarder at Nevada and 60-yarder vs. Fresno State in 2008, 61-yarder vs. Nevada and 62-yarder vs. Boise State in 2009).
-- Caldwell's 66-yarder is the second-longest distance punt in the WAC this season, as two WAC punters have 67-yarders this season (Nevada Brad Langley vs. Eastern Washington on 9/2 and San Jose State's Harrison Waid at Nevada on 10/9).
-- The 10 punts by Caldwell is a season-high and also ties a career-high for the fourth time (at San Jose State in 2008, at New Mexico State and vs. Louisiana Tech in 2009).
OSKIE, OSKIE
-- Senior S Rajric Coleman snared his third interception of the season, tying for the team lead... It was Coleman's fifth INT of his career.
-- Senior CB Curtis Marsh logged his first interception of the year... Marsh snared his second oskie of his career.
-- The USU defense now has at least two interceptions in four games this season (Oklahoma, Idaho State, BYU and Hawai'i).
-- It is the sixth time in the seven games this season that the Aggie defense has forced at least two turnovers, with LA Tech (one INT) the only one-turnover game this year.
START STREAKING STATS
-- Senior QB Diondre Borel made his team-leading 28th-consecutive start and his 28th career start... Borel is just one of five QB's in the country to have all of their career starts in consecutive order with more than 25 games, currently fourth (Adam Weber-Minnesota 46/46; Trevor Vittatoe-UTEP 44/44; Kellen Moore-Boise State 33/33; Jerrod Johnson-Texas A&M 29/29; Borel 28/28).
-- Junior LB Bobby Wagner made is 22nd-straight start, ranking second on the team, and it was his 27th career start.
-- The senior duo of CB Chris Randle and S Rajric Coleman are third on the team with 19-straight starts, with Randle making his 23rd career start and Coleman made his 19th start of his USU career.
FIRST STARTS
-- Sophomore RB Joey DeMartino and redshirt-freshman OL Eric Schultz both made their first career starts.
OTHER AGGIE BITS
-- Sophomore WR Dontel Watkins has at least three catches in all seven games this season.
-- Sophomore KR/RB Kerwynn Williams' 37-yard kick return in the first quarter put him over the 2,000 all-purpose yards milestone for his career.
AGGIES-WOLF PACK LAST TIMENEVADA 35, UTAH STATE 32October 17, 2009 • Logan, Utah • Romney Stadium
LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's frenzied rally came up short, losing 35-32 to Nevada on Oct. 17, 2009 in USU's Western Athletic Conference home opener at a clear and sunny Romney Stadium. USU is now 1-5 overall and 0-2 in WAC action on the season, with both losses by three points after the previous week's 20-17 loss at New Mexico State on a last-second field goal. Nevada improves to 2-0 in league play and evening its overall mark at 3-3. The Aggies are now 4-16 against the Wolf Pack, losing the last five in a row. Junior quarterback Diondre Borel threw for a career-high 353 yards on 25-of-42 passing with three TD's, his second three TD outing this season. Four of his passes went to senior wide receiver Nnamdi Gwacham for a career-high 140 yards, including a career-long 77-yard reception in the first quarter to set up USU's first TD of the game. The Aggies had a total of 427 yards of total offense, while the Wolf Pack tallied 502 yards, including 313 on the ground, with Vai Taua (147) and Luke Lippincott (104) combining for 251 of that with one TD each. Lippincott's 69-yard scamper with 4:08 left proved to be the winning score as it gave Nevada a 35-24 lead. USU cut it to 35-32 with 2:35 to go on a 14-yard pass from Borel to Gwacham, followed by a two-point conversion from Borel to sophomore running back
Robert Turbin. The Aggies went for the on-side kick and initially recovered it, but were called for offsides. On the re-kick, Nevada recovered and ran out the clock for the win. Senior safety James Brindley led USU with a game-high nine tackles, including one for a loss and snared his team-leading third interception of the season. It was also his ninth of his career as he needs one more to reach USU's career top 10 list. The sophomore linebacker tandem of
Bobby Wagner and
Kyle Gallagher had eight stops each. The Aggies opened the scoring with a 1-yard plunge from Turbin at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter and USU went ahead 14-0 with 12:25 to go in the second stanza after an 8-yard pass from Borel to sophomore wide receiver
Eric Moats, for Moats' first career TD catch. Nevada sandwiched a pair of TD passes from Colin Kaepernick, the first an 11-yarder to Lippincott, and a 44-yarder to Virgil Green around a 32-yard scoring strike from Borel to Turbin to make it 21-14 in USU's favor at halftime. Kaepernick finished the game 10-of-24 passing for 189 yards with three TD tosses, while also rushing for 77 yards. On the Aggies' opening possession of the second half, junior punter Peter Caldwell's punt bounced off Nevada's returner Jonathon Amaya and USU sophomore wide receiver
Stanley Morrison recovered at the Nevada 13-yard line. A penalty and sack stalled USU's drive and senior kicker Chris Ulinski booted a season-long 48-yard field goal for a 24-14 USU lead with 10:23 in the third quarter. The Wolf Pack reeled off 21-straight points on a Taua 5-yard run, a 49-yard TD pass from Kaepernick to Brandon Wimberly, and Lippincott's 69-yard run to open its 35-24 lead that USU couldn't counter.
Score By QuartersNevada 0 14 7 14 - 35Utah State 7 14 3 8 - 32
Scoring Summary1st 06:41 USU - Robert Turbin 1 yd run (Chris Ulinski kick)2nd 12:25 USU - Eric Moats 8 yd pass from Diondre Borel (Ulinski kick) 10:54 NEV - Lippincott, Luke 11 yd pass from Kaepernick, Colin (Drake, Ricky kick) 08:38 USU - Turbin 32 yd pass from Borel (Ulinski kick) 03:56 NEV - Green, Virgil 44 yd pass from Kaepernick (Drake kick)3rd 10:23 USU - Chris Ulinski 48 yd field goal 01:49 NEV - Taua, Vai 5 yd run (Drake kick)4th 09:02 NEV - Wimberly, Brandon 49 yd pass from Kaepernick (Drake kick) 04:08 NEV - Lippincott 69 yd run (Drake kick) 02:35 USU - Nnamdi Gwacham 14 yd pass from Diondre (Robert Turbin pass from Borel)
Attn: 15,103
Team Statistics NEV USUFirst Downs 20 21Rushing 313 74Passing 189 353Total Offense 502 427Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 2-1Penalties: Number-Yards 7-60 6-60Punts-Yards/Avg. 6-278/46.3 7-303/43.3Kickoff Returns: No-Yds-TD/Avg. 2-13-0/6.5 6-95-0/15.8Interceptions: No-Yds-TD 0-0-0 1-0-0Fumble Returns: No-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0Possession Time 30:59 29:01Third-Down Conversions 7-of-16 7-of-17
Individual RushingUSU: Borel 21-48, Turbin 7-36 TD, Smith 1-3, Sawyer 1-0, Speight 2-0NEV: Taua 21-147 TD
Individual Passing (A-C-I, Yds, TD)USU: Borel 25-42-0, 353, 3NEV: Kaepernick 10-24-1, 189, 3
Individual ReceivingUSU: Gwacham 4-140 TD, Sawyer 6-38, Morrison 5-51, Turbin 3-35 TD, Bowman 2-41,Morgan 2-15, Moats 2-15, Speight 1-18NEV: Wimberly 2-73 TD
USU Punt Returns: Murphy 1-2USU KO Returns: K.Williams 6-95USU Interception Returns: Brindley 1-0USU Tackle Leaders: Brindley 9, Gallagher 8, Wagner 8, Enesi 6
UTAH STATE-NEVADA LAST TIME AT RENONEVADA 44, UTAH STATE 17October 18, 2008 • Reno, Nev. • Mackay Stadium
RENO, Nev. - Despite forcing four turnovers on defense and amassing 333 yards of total offense, Utah State lost to Nevada, 44-17, on Oct. 18, as USU suffered its fourth loss in a row to Nevada. The Aggies dropped their third in a row overall in falling to 1-6 overall and 1-2 in Western Athletic Conference action while the Wolf Pack won for the third time in their last four games in improving to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in WAC play. USU had 333 yards of offense, as sophomore QB Diondre Borel threw for a season-high 262 yards on 19-of-39, tossing two TD's for the third time this season. Borel also had 50 rushing yards on 21 carries, as USU had 71 total rushing yards. Senior WR Otis Nelson had a career-best 86 receiving yards on four catches with two TD's. Redshirt-freshman TE
Tarren Lloyd added four receptions for 69 yards. Defensively, USU was led by junior LB Paul Igboeli with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery while junior S James Brindley added eight stops. Senior S/LB De'von Hall and junior CB Kejon Murphy each snagged an interception. Nevada had 523 yards of total offense, including 284 rushing, led by RB Vai Taua's 122 and a TD. QB Colin Kaepernick was 10-of-20 passing for 197 and had 48 yards rushing on six carries with two TD's. Borel hit Nelson with a 16-yard TD in the second quarter to pull USU to 13-7, but then Nevada reeled off 27 unanswered points to open a 30-7 lead. Junior K Chris Ulinski filled in for sophomore Peter Caldwell for field goals, booting a 42-yarder in the third quarter. After the Wolf Pack scored again on a Kaepernick rush, Borel hit Nelson again with a 52-yard strike to pull the Aggies within 37-17, but Nevada tacked on a 47-yard INT return for a TD to cap the scoring.
Score By QuartersUtah State 0 7 3 7 - 17Nevada 6 14 10 14 - 44
Scoring SummaryUNR - 1st 06:25 - Taua, Vai 26 yd run (Team rush fumbld)UNR - 2nd 13:38 - Kaepernick, C. 19 yd run (Jaekle, Brett kick)USU - 2nd 02:27 - Nelson, Otis 16 yd pass from Borel, Diondre (Caldwell, Peter kick)UNR - 2nd 01:06 - McCoy, Mike 10 yd run (Jaekle kick)UNR - 3rd 08:11 - Jaekle 26 yd field goalUNR - 3rd 05:54 - Mitchell, Marko 75 yd pass from Kaepernick (Jaekle kick)USU - 3rd 02:57 - Ulinski, Chris 42 yd field goalUNR - 4th 10:45 - Kaepernick 1 yd run (Jaekle kick)USU - 4th 09:48 - Nelson, Otis 52 yd pass from Borel (Caldwell kick)UNR - 4th 01:44 - Silva-Purcell,J 47 yd interception return (Jaekle kick)
Attn: 13,159
Team Statistics USU UNRFirst Downs 16 22Rushing 71 284Passing 262 239Total Offense Yards 333 523Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 2-2Penalties: Number-Yards 11-85 9-79Punts-Yards 9-437 3-145Punt returns: No-Yds-TD/Avg. 2-15-0/7.5 8-80-0/10.0Kickoff returns: No-Yds-TD/Avg. 5-125-0/25.0 2-50-0/25.0Interceptions: No-Yds-TD 2-0-0 1-47-1Fumble Returns: No-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0Possession Time 30:12 29:48Third-Down Conversions 6-of-20 5-of-12
Individual RushingUNR: Taua 17-122 TDUSU: Borel 21-50, Butler 4-9, Turbin 8-8, Marsh 3-3, Scott 1-1
Individual Passing (A-C-I, Yds, TDUNR: Kaepernick 10-20-1, 197, 1USU: Borel 19-38-1, 262, 2
Individual ReceivingUNR: Mitchell 4-122 TDUSU: Nelson 4-86 2 TD's, Lloyd 4-69, Gwacham 3-31, Morrison 3-27, Bowman 2-24,Turbin 2-17, Sawyer 1-8
USU Punt Returns: Murphy 2-15USU KO Returns: Murphy 1-57, Harris 3-60, Fields 1-8USU Interception Returns: Murphy 1-0, Hall 1-0USU Tackle Leaders: Igboeli 10, Brindley 8, Wagner 7, Bishop 7
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH -- There are nine Division I schools that are located in cities with an elevation of at least 4,000 feet about sea level... Utah State's home of Logan ranks seventh on the list with an elevation of 4,710 feet... USU is the highest non-Mountain West Conference school, as the top six are all MWC teams... This season the Aggies will play at only one other location, giving USU seven games this season at 4,000 feet above sea level after playing eight in 2006, seven both 2007 and 2008, and eight last year... USU will play at #8 Nevada (Oct. 30), as well as hosting #6 BYU (Oct. 2).
School City, State Elevation1. Wyoming Laramie, Wyo. 7,2202. Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo. 6,6203. Colorado Boulder, Colo. 5,3604. Colorado State Fort Collins, Colo. 5,1905. New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. 5,1006. UTAH STATE LOGAN, UTAH 4,7107. Brigham Young Provo, Utah 4,6308. Nevada Reno, Nev. 4,6109. Utah Salt Lake City, Utah 4,357
UTAH STATE 2010 PRESEASON AWARD COLLECTION
#17 JR WR Matt Austin• Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook Preseason WAC Newcomer of the Year
#12 SR QB Diondre Borel• Manning Award Preseason Watch List• USA Today Preseason WAC Players To Watch List• Sporting News College Football Preview Preseason Best Athlete in WAC• Third-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#8 SR P/PK Peter Caldwell• Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List• Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook Preseason All-WAC• First-Team Lindy's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• Second-Team Athlon College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• Second-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#68 SR OG Philip Gapelu• Yahoo! Sports College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#52 SR OT SPENCER JOHNSON• Second-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#11 JR WR Stanley Morrison• Second-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#7 SR CB Chris Randle• Third-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#34 SR RB Michael Smith• Second-Team Athlon College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#6 JR RB Robert Turbin• Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook Preseason All-WAC• USA Today Preseason WAC Players To Watch List• First-Team Lindy's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• Yahoo! Sports College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• Second-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
#9 JR LB Bobby Wagner• Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook Preseason All-WAC• First-Team Lindy's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• Yahoo! Sports College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• First-Team Athlon College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC• First-Team Phil Steele's College Football Preview Preseason All-WAC
BOREL EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR OKLAHOMA PERFORMANCE -- Utah State senior quarterback Diondre Borel earned national recognition for his performance on Sept. 4 in the Aggies' near-upset of No. 7 Oklahoma before falling, 31-24, by receiving a helmet sticker from ESPN.com. He was the lone Western Athletic Conference player to earn a helmet sticker among the non-BCS conferences list.
Borel was 17-of-36 for 341 yards (20.1 yards per completion) with two touchdowns. It was Borel's sixth career 300-yard passing outing, his 17th career game with at least one TD pass and ninth career game with multi-TDs and Borel now has 30 career TD passes.
Borel was joined on the list by Troy kicker Michael Taylor, the TCU rushing offense, Houston quarterback Case Keenum and Utah safety Brian Blechen.
PERSONNEL BREAKDOWN -- FROM NEAR AND FAR -- USU's roster consists of players from 15 different states and from two countries in the United States and Canada. The states represented on the Aggies' roster are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.
VETERAN EXPERIENCE -- The Aggies have 22 seniors in 2010. Of the 22, 11 are at least two-year letterwinners, including seven who are three-year lettermen, in QB Diondre Borel, OL Spencer Johnson, CB Curtis Marsh, CB Chris Randle, DT Nathan Royster, P/PK Peter Caldwell and LS Patrick Scales.
THE TALL OF IT -- USU has six players who are 6'5" or taller, 6'8" freshman OL Bryce Walker, 6'7" senior OL Spencer Johnson, 6'7" junior TE Tarren Lloyd, 6'6" junior OL Tanner Richins, 6'5" sophomore OL Brooks Abel and 6'5" sophomore OL Oscar Molina-Sanchez.
THE SHORT OF IT -- Junior running back Josh Flores is the shortest player on Utah State's 2010 roster at 5'5"... Overall, Flores is one of 15 players on the Aggies' roster under 5'10" tall.
SMART AGGIES -- Utah State had 15 academic all-WAC selections for football, part of USU's 41 fall academic all-conference honors, which was second in the WAC... Overall, USU had 194 student-athletes recognized by the league office for academic achievements during the 2009-10 academic year, as Utah State has led the WAC in academic all-conference honors all five years that it has been in the league.
ROAD BOOK-ENDS -- Utah State will open and close the regular-season on the road for the second-straight season, kicking off the season at Oklahoma on Sept. 4 and playing its regular-season finale at Boise State on Dec. 4... Last year USU opened at Utah and closed at Idaho... The last time that the Aggies book-ended the season's schedule with home games was 1998 when they hosted Utah in the season-opener and hosted North Texas in the finale.
NO WILLIE -- USU will not hear Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" this season as the Aggies do not have consecutive road games on the 2010 schedule, marking only the third time that has happened in the last 100 years, joining the 1920 and 2005 ledgers.
NAME GAME -- USU could form its own legal company of `Johnson, Johnson and Johnson' for the medical company of Johnson & Johnson, as the Aggies have three players with the last name of Johnson on their 2010 roster and even though all three are from California, none of them are related: senior OL Spencer Johnson (Lancaster), senior DL Devin Johnson (Glendora) and freshman WR Shaan Johnson (Cerritos).
UTAH STATE'S Diondre Borel TABBED TO MANNING AWARD WATCH LIST -- Utah State senior quarterback Diondre Borel was announced as a member of the Manning Award Preseason Watch List.
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration the candidates' bowl performances. Ten finalists will be selected in late-November and the winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a ceremony in New Orleans.
Borel, a native of Oakley, Calif. (Freedom HS), enters his senior season with hopes of continuing last season's breakout and record-setting year and continue his ascent up the USU record books. He also enters his senior season with six school records in his pocket, as he is the USU record holder for single-season total offense (3,343 yards, 2009), single-season rushing yards by a QB (632 in 2008), career rushing yards for a QB (1,098 yards, 2007-pres.), single-season fewest interceptions thrown (four in 2009), consecutive passes without an interception (228 in 2009) and single-game passing yards per completion (21.1 on 316 yards on 15 completions vs. Southern Utah, 2009).
Last season, Borel led the WAC and ranked 15th in the FBS in total offense at 278.6 ypg, setting the USU record for single-season total offense with 3,343 yards. Borel was also third in the conference in passing average per game (204.4 ypg) as well as fifth in the league and 35th in the nation in passing efficiency (137.83). Additionally, Borel set the school record for fewest interceptions thrown with four, a mark that tied for second-fewest in FBS. Last season, he threw for 2,885 yards on 214-of-366 passing and threw 17 TD passes on the year.
Borel's 3,343 yards of total offense last year is a USU single-season record, topping the previous mark of 3,260 yards by Anthony Calvillo in 1993. Entering this season with 21 consecutive starts, Borel is ranked sixth in school history for career total offense (5,690 yards), needing 3,101 to reach the No. 1 mark of 8.791 yards by Jose Fuentes from 1999-2002.
The preseason Watch List recognizes some of the top quarterbacks in the nation based on previous collegiate performance, however, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible for the honor. Additional quarterbacks may be added to the Watch List after the start of the season. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Monday, Nov. 29. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
The winner is selected by a panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings. Past winners of the award include Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Matt Ryan, JaMarcus Russell, Vince Young and Matt Leinart.
USU's Peter Caldwell NAMED TO PRESEASON RAY GUY AWARD WATCH LIST -- Utah State senior punter Peter Caldwell was named to the Preseason Ray Guy Award, which identifies the nation's top collegiate punter, announced Wednesday by the Augusta Sports Council.
Caldwell, a Kaysville, Utah (Davis HS), native, is one of seven players on the preseason list, joining Drew Butler from Georgia, Ryan Donahue from Iowa, Johnny Hekker from Oregon State, Chas Henry from Florida, Jeff Locke from UCLA and Rob Long from Syracuse. All seven are returning Ray Guy Award semi-finalists from 2009.
In 2009, Caldwell led the WAC and ranked 37th in Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in punting with a 42.2 yards per punt average with 69 punts for 2,914 yards. Caldwell had 17 punts of 50+ yards, highlighted by a season and career long 62-yarder. He tallied 27 punts inside the 20-yard line and forced the opposition's returner to call for a fair catch on 16 punts.
HEAD COACH COACHING POSITION -- In addition to his head coaching duties, USU head coach Gary Andersen is also the position coach for the defensive tackles... Andersen is one of 12 Division I (FBS) coaches doing so, and one of nine non-special teams related position:
Arkansas State Steve Roberts Special TeamsBall State Stan Parrish QuarterbacksBYU Bronco Mendenhall Defensive TacklesUConn Randy Edsall SafetiesKent State Doug Martin QuarterbacksLouisiana Rickey Bustle PK, LS and PRLouisiana-Monroe Todd Berry QuarterbacksNevada Chris Ault QuarterbacksSan Diego State Brady Hoke Defensive LineTulsa Todd Graham SafetiesUTAH STATE Gary Andersen Defensive TacklesVirginia Tech Frank Beamer Kickers
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN -- Utah State football head coach Gary Andersen announced the six Aggie captains for the 2010 season, after a vote by the team.
Five of the six are seniors, as offensive captains will be senior quarterback Diondre Borel, senior offensive lineman Spencer Johnson and senior running back Michael Smith. Captaining the defense will be senior defensive lineman Sean Enesi, senior cornerback Chris Randle and junior linebacker Bobby Wagner.
FOOTBALL ISN'T JUST AMERICA'S GAME -- USU has four players who were born internationally... Senior LB Jerome Barbour (Germany), senior OL Tariq Polley (England), sophomore WR Emmanual Ojeriakhi (Nigeria) and freshman LB Connor Williams (Canada) all were born outside of the United States.
TRANSFER-MERS -- USU has 21 junior college transfers, as well as nine players who transferred from another four-year school on the 2010 roster... Three players on the roster came to USU from Snow College: senior DT Casey Davis, senior LB Joey Schrader, junior LB Gavin Jones... Three were teammates at El Camino JC: senior DT's Sean Enesi and Kamaloni Vainikola and junior LB Reuben Willis... Two were teammates at Grossmont JC: junior WR Xavier Martin and sophomore RB Joey DeMartino.
112 / 118 -- USU is taking the field for the 112th season of football in 118 years... The Aggies beat Utah, 12-0, in 1892, but then did not field a team until 1896, when they again only played one game but then played every year since with the exceptions of 1918 when to World War I and influenza cancelled the season and 1943 due to World War II.
-USU-
