LOGAN, Utah – Utah State football held its 16th practice of fall camp Tuesday morning and the Aggie safeties continue to emphasize running to the ball and tackling as the season opener is less than two weeks away.
 
"The biggest thing I've been impressed with the safeties during fall camp is their knowledge of the big picture, understanding everything and being so much farther along in the playbook," said second-year defensive coordinator and safeties coach Ephraim Banda. "Mentally, it's been really encouraging. Physically, I'm really proud of the first two guys in Hunter (Reynolds) and Gurvan (Hall Jr.) in terms of chasing the ball. They are relentless and I'm really proud of their effort."
 
Utah State returns one starter here in graduate senior Hunter Reynolds, who started 12 of the 14 games he played in last season and finished the year with 83 tackles, which included 1.0 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss, to go along with two pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery. In fact, Reynolds finished the 2021 season second on the team in tackles. Overall, he has appeared in 34 career games as he spent four years at Michigan before transferring to USU prior to the 2021 campaign.
 
Utah State also welcomes back four more redshirts at the safety position in juniors Dominic Tatum and Dusten Ramseyer-Burdett, sophomore Luke Marion and freshman Ike Larsen. Tatum is the most experienced player in this group as he has played in 14 games with five starts and has 43 career tackles, which includes 1.0 tackles for loss, to go along with six pass breakups. Marion has played in four games during his first two years in the program and has three career tackles, to go along with an interception and pass breakup. And, Larsen has appeared in two games last season in his first year in the program.
 
Along with the five players mentioned above, Utah State added three newcomers here in senior Gurvan Hall Jr. (West Palm Beach, Florida/Palm Beach Gardens HS/Miami), and freshmen Saco Alofipo (Henderson, Nevada/Liberty HS) and Jett Solomon (Las Vegas, Nevada/Desert Pines HS).
 
Hall is the most experienced player among this group as he spent four seasons at the University of Miami, as he appeared in 43 career games with 18 starts and had 148 total tackles, which included 2.0 sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss, to go along with six pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery.
 
"My expectations for the safeties this year are pretty clear and they're the same every year – run extremely hard to the ball and tackle. More importantly, get the ball down in the open field. Then, be really smart in those situational moments, be clean in your assignments and don't allow big plays to happen. You do that and we'll be pretty good at defense," added Banda.
 
Utah State will open the 2022 season on Saturday, Aug. 27, when it hosts Connecticut at 2 p.m., in a game that will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1. USU then plays at Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 3, and hosts Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 10, before beginning MW play at home against UNLV on Saturday, Sept. 24, in a game that will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network at 5 p.m.
 
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.