Utah State University Athletics

HONORS 
Honorable Mention All-Mountain West (2020); ProFootballFocus Second-Team All-Mountain West (2020); Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week (11/28/20); CoSIDA Academic All-American (2021); CoSIDA Academic All-District (2020); Academic All-Mountain West (2019, 2020, 2021); Mountain West Scholar-Athlete (2020); ProFootballFocus Team Edge Player of the Week (11/29/2020); Burlsworth Trophy Nominee (2020); USU Whitesides Award Winner (2021). 

2021 (SENIOR SEASON)
Earned honorable mention all-Mountain West honors after starting all 14 games and finishing fourth on the team with 75 tackles (31-solo, 44-assist)... Led the team in sacks (9.0), tackles for loss (21.5) and forced fumbles (5), and was second on the team with five pass breakups, to go along with one fumble recovery... Was third in the MW and seventh in the nation in tackles for loss per game (1.54), fourth in the MW and ninth in the nation in fumbles forced per game (0.36), and fifth in the MW and 45th in the nation in sacks per game (0.64)... Named the Defensive MVP of the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl as he had a career-high 3.0 sacks and a career-best 5.0 tackles for loss as part of his seven total tackles in Utah State’s 24-13 win against Oregon State... Those 5.0 tackles for loss are tied for the second-most in a single game in MW history and tied for the third-most in the nation this season... His 3.0 sacks against OSU are tied for the 15th-most in the nation... Had a season-high 10 tackles, which included 3.0 tackles for loss, to go along with a career-high-tying two forced fumbles and a career-high-tying one fumble recovery at New Mexico (11/26)... Had a career-high-tying two pass breakups, to go along with 1.0 sacks against No. 19 San Diego State (12/4) in the MW Championship Game... Recorded sacks in seven games during the season and had tackles for loss in all but one game... Other forced fumbles were against No. 13 BYU (10/1), Hawai’i (10/30) and New Mexico State (11/6)... Had 2.5 tackles for loss and a career-high two pass breakups against Boise State (9/25), and 2.0 tackles for loss against both BYU and NMSU... Was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors a player with the best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance... Nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is annually awarded to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on... Earned academic all-MW honors.

2020 (COVID SEASON) 
Earned honorable mention all-Mountain West honors and second-team all-conference honors from ProFootballFocus as he finished third on the team with 42 tackles (15-solo, 27-assist), which included 3.0 sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss, to go along with three forced fumbles and one quarterback hurry… Started five of the six games he played in during the season… Led the team, and tied for second in the MW and fourth in the nation, with his three forced fumbles… Also led the team in tackles for loss and tied for the team lead in sacks… Ranked ninth in the MW with his 1.2 tackles for loss per game and 16th in the conference with 7.0 tackles per game… Was named the MW Defensive Player of the Week and ProFootballFocus Team Edge Player of the Week following his performance against New Mexico as he tied his career high with eight tackles, which included a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks and a career-high-tying 3.0 tackles for loss, to go along with a career-best two forced fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown… Had a career-high 14 tackles against Air Force (12/3), for his first-career double-digit tackle outing… Had eight tackles, including 1.0 tackles for loss, against San Diego State (10/31)… Posted four tackles, including 1.0 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss, against Nevada (11/5)… Earned CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-District VIII honors... Also earned academic all-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete honors, and was one of four student-athletes to receive the USU Whitesides Award as the top student-athlete... Nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is annually awarded to the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on.   

2019 (JUNIOR SEASON) 
Played in all 13 games as a graduate transfer from Utah and finished the season with 32 tackles (20-solo, 12-assist), which included a team-best 5.0 sacks and a team-best 9.5 tackles for loss… Also finished second on the team with two fumble recoveries, to go along with one forced fumble, five quarterback hurries and two pass breakups… Had his best game of the season against Kent State (12/20) in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl, as he recorded a season-high five tackles, which included a career-best 2.0 sacks and a career-best 3.0 tackles for loss… Also recovered a fumble against the Golden Flashes… Had four tackles, which included 1.0 sacks and 2.0 tackles for loss, against Wake Forest (8/30) in the season opener… Had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a sack against Air Force (10/26)… Also had a sack against San Diego State (9/21)… Posted 1.5 tackles for loss at No. 5 LSU (10/5), and had 0.5 tackles for loss against both Stony Brook (9/7) and Nevada (10/19)... Earned academic all-Mountain West honors.

PREVIOUS SCHOOL 
Initially a walk-on at Utah in 2016, earned a scholarship in 2018... Played in 10 games and had two tackles, including 1.0 sacks, and two pass breakups as a sophomore in 2018... Recovered a fumble and broke up a pass against Stanford... Appeared in 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2017, seeing time at special teams and defensive end, recording 11 tackles, including 1.0 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries, which tied for fourth in the Pac-12... A two-time first-team all-academic Pac-12 recipient... Redshirted his first season with the Utes.

HIGH SCHOOL 
Earned first-team all-state honors from the Deseret News and second-team all-state accolades from the Salt Lake Tribune at linebacker following his senior season at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah... Recorded 83 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles, an interception and nine pass breakups as a senior... Helped the Miners capture the 2013 5A Utah state championship and earn a top-20 national ranking... Was the 2014 state wrestling champion in the 195-pound weight class during his senior season and the state runner-up in 2013... Named the captain and MVP of the Miners’ wrestling team in 2013 and 2014... Earned the Russ Paulson Character Award... Named the 2013-14 Bingham Athlete of the Year. 

PERSONAL 
Son of Mark and Donna Heninger... Has two sisters... His father graduated from Duke, where he was a defensive end for the Blue Devils from 1980-83... Grandfather, Earl Heninger, was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1953 NFL Draft... Uncle, Marty (a black belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu), played football at Duke from 1980-84 and was the 2009 Mr. Olympia World Heavyweight Submission champion... His sister, Jessica, played for the Real Salt Lake women’s soccer team... Served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Baguio, Philippines... Earned his bachelor’s degree from Utah in the business scholars’ program and his master of business administration degree from USU in the spring of 2021... Currently working on his second bachelor’s degree in unmanned aeriel systems... Is a licensed remote pilot under Part 107... Married Kayla Johnson in May, 2021.