LOGAN, Utah - They are arguably the most underappreciated players in football and it is one of the most underappreciated skills in the game.

Welcome to the life of a long snapper.

At Utah State, that job belongs to senior Salanoa Galea'i. The 6-foot-1, 240-pound native of Euless, Texas, is in his second year with the program. He appeared in all 14 games for the Aggies as a junior in 2014 and has played in the first four games of his senior campaign.

"These last two years have been awesome," Galea'i said. "I've learned a lot and have been able to build a lot of friendships with people here in Utah."

After earning Texas Class 6A Region I District 7 first-team honors at tight end as a prep senior at Euless Trinity High School, Galea'i began his collegiate career at Louisiana-Monroe in 2009. During his freshman season, Galea'i served as the team's long snapper in all 12 games.

Galea'i then spent the 2010 season at Tyler (Texas) Junior College before serving a two-year LDS Church mission in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, from 2011-13. He planned on continuing his football career at BYU after returning home, but things didn't work out and Galea'i enrolled at Utah State.

"I got a hold of (co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator) Luke Wells," Galea'i explained. "We knew of each other before when he coached at Louisiana-Monroe. I asked coach if there were any spots open, so thank goodness there was. I've loved every minute up here."

The Aggies have loved having Galea'i in the program, especially special teams coordinator/running backs coach Dave Ungerer.

"He was a tremendous get for us," Ungerer said. "We had an unfortunate situation with Nate Needham, who I thought was one of the better snappers for sure in our league and maybe in the country. He had been doing it at a high level for a long time and then gets an unfortunate injury, which ends his career, and we're stuck now. So, we had to get on the phone and try to find someone.

"Salanoa's name happened to come across our desks," Ungerer continued. "He already had experience as a snapper, but it was a gamble. There was a lot of gamble to it."

The gamble paid off for the Aggies.

"We brought him and a couple of other guys in during training camp," Ungerer explained. "We had to overload with snappers a little during training camp and he ended up showing what he could do. It was very positive for our program."

Galea'i had high expectations entering his senior season.

"I want to be able to shine this year and have it be my breakout year," he said. "I want this year to be the best year I've had, to be able to show the coaches that I am reliable."

Reliability is huge when it comes to the long snapper. After all, a bad snap can lead to a blocked punt or missed field goal, which ultimately could cost a team the game. Besides that, Ungerer wants Galea'i to get the ball to the punter in .75 seconds or less, which he does on a consistent basis.

"He's been tremendously accurate during the time he's been here, which has been a big help," Ungerer said. "He's kind of a quiet guy, but does his work and asks intelligence questions when we get into situations out on the field or in practice, so you know he's well engaged. He's just been a tremendous asset to our program."

In Utah State's road game at Utah on Sept. 11, Galea'i had a career-high tying two tackles on special teams.

"It was really fun and a memorable moment," Galea'i said. "I love this program. The coaches have given me this opportunity and I just want to show my thanks by my play on the field."

He gets it done in the classroom, as well. After all, the health science major, who is on track to graduate in the spring of 2016, earned academic all-Mountain West honors a year ago.

"Football is not everything," said Galea'i, who wants to be a physician's assistant. "There will be a time when football us going to stop."