Nov. 4, 2013

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State freshman quarterback Darell Garretson has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sunday, Nov. 3, in an award that is voted on by a state-wide media panel.

The Chandler, Ariz. native had a career-game in his last outing against Hawai'i as he set the freshman school record for passing yards with 370 as he was 28-of-41 passing with three touchdowns, all of which are career-highs, to go along with one interception. He also rushed six times for 22 yards against UH. Garretson's 370 passing yards against Hawai'i are also the most by an Aggie quarterback this year and ranks as the 20th-most in a single-game in school history. The previous freshman record for passing yards was held by Brett Stevens who threw for 340 yards against Fresno State in 1985.

Overall, Garretson is the first Aggie true freshman to start at quarterback since Chuckie Keeton started his first ever USU game at defending national champion Auburn in 2011. Furthermore, Garretson is the first USU true freshman to win his initial start (at New Mexico on Oct. 19) since Riley Nelson helped USU to a 13-12 win against Fresno State on Oct. 7, 2006.

On the season, Garretson is 52-78 passing for 630 total yards. He has five touchdowns on the year and has thrown three interceptions.

The Aggies continue Mountain West action this weekend as they head to Las Vegas. The team will take on the Rebels of UNLV on Saturday, November 9. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (MT) with the game to be televised on ESPNU.

Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics, on Facebook at facebook.com/USUAthletics and on Instagram at instagram.com/USUAthletics.

Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included:
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Junior Eric Shellhorn (Montrose, Colo.) earned first-team all-conference honors after finishing in sixth-place at the 2013 Mountain West Championships with a time of 24:29.97 over the eight-kilometer course in helping Utah State finish sixth out of eight teams.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Junior Ashley Robison (Orem, Utah) earned second-team all-conference honors after finishing in 14th-place at the 2013 Mountain West Championships with a time of 22:11.96 over the six-kilometer course to help Utah State finish fifth out of 11 teams.

SOCCER - Sophomore defender Lexie Henrie (Orem, Utah) scored the game-tying goal in Utah State's 1-1 double overtime tie against Boise State in its regular-season finale last weekend. Henrie's goal came with less than two minutes to play in the first half to tie the score.

VOLLEYBALL - Junior setter Paige Neves (Otto, Wyo.) posted a pair of double-doubles in helping Utah State to a 1-1 Mountain West home record last week with a four-set against Wyoming and a five-set loss to No. 9 Colorado State. Against the Cowgirls, Neves dished out 43 assists and had 14 digs, adding two service aces, two blocks and one kill. Against the Rams, she dished out 50 assists to go with 11 digs, as well as tallying two kills and one block, and moved into fourth-place on USU's career assists lists. For the week, Neves averaged 10.33 assists, 2.78 digs, 0.72 points, 0.33 kills, 0.33 blocks and 0.22 service aces per set.

2013-14 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Sept. 2 - Jeannie Woller, Soccer
Sept. 9 - Chuckie Keeton, Football
Sept. 16- Chuckie Keeton, Football
Sept. 23 - Elle Brainard, Volleyball
Sept. 30 - Tanner Higham, Golf
Oct. 7 - Sebastian Schneider, Men's Tennis
Oct. 14 - Seokwon Jeon, Golf
Oct. 21 - Joey DeMartino, Football
Oct. 28 - Elle Brainard, Volleyball
Nov. 4 - Darell Garreston, Football