Show I 7 ' i w 7' W2 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Saturday October 11 2003 o f" I mw r' which Fiefia has been returning ' also has He kickoffs and a punts touchdown pass which he threw1 when he was a freshman Fiefia v' tossed an ID strike to quar- terback Jose Fuentes against Idaho He shared the team’s Most Out- standing Freshman award with Nate Putnam after the 2000 season but still wasn’t completely happy Fiefia By Shawn Harrison sports editor v ) took three years but he is finally where he wants to be " 'Where is that? A regular starter Fn the backfleld for the Aggies Utah State’s No 39 has paid his dues so to speak and is now the starting tailback And senior David Fiefia couldn't be happier “It feels good” he said after a practice earlier this week “It’s been a long time since I've been here and it’s been a while since I actually started and played at running bock I’m excited and ready for this season I’ve been through a lot and I’m looking forward to the rest of the I1 - 18-ya- rd II Today’s Games Arkansas State at Mississippi North Texas at Idaho at New Mexico SI at Middle Term Wyoming at Utah State oe : Next Week's Games Did you know? Utah State has 34 wins against Wyoming for itd most victories against The Aggies any opponent all-tihave 33 wins against BYU 30 vs Colorado 28 vs Utah and 25 vs Montana to round out its top five series The Utah dates back to 1903 arid the 59 previous meetings mark the fourth-motimes USU has met any opponent (102 vs Utah 76 vs BYU 67 vs Colorado State) After meeting nearly the two every year from 1912-7- 8 schools did not meet again until 2001 The Aggies hold a advantage in games played in Logan ng st 21-9- -1 Utah State has played seven of games dating back to season last away from Logan The are just 1 6 in those road ' Aggies ' games Today's game begins a stretch of three of the next four contests at home its last nine - The first homecoming game at Utah State was back in 1929 Since then the Aggies have played 73 (651) USU games going of its last two three won has straight 'r four and six of its last eight home- coming games 47-24- -2 ' 39-1- Utal see surgery” Fiefia did start one game but car-Eli LuceroHerald Journal ried the ball just 1 2 times on the Utah State senior running back David Fiefia makes a iaut for extra yardage year He was used mainly to return e punts and kickoffs 142 yards He rushed for a career-beagainst “It was tough on me" Fiefia said! “But it’s paid off It made me work honors White earned games and finishing with the third-- : that season and set an NCAA record most receptions on the team with 31 harder this summer to get ready for this season” in for for a r 344 yards andaTD He ranked yards game Sq four him took less than No: 39 became a receiver It V- 2 among die top 10 in the nation games :v to equal his rushing output the three “It was fun (playing receiver)” among freshmen wide receivers '? : Fiefia said “It was an opportunity for j &w: “Oh yeah he can catch the ball” ' previous years combined me to help foe offense where I could Roberts said “He is versatile that i 7- “I would rate my season so far u as all right to good” Fiefia said “1 Looking backT wouldn’t change it : way I’m happy where I’m at right now And has been used in the passing ' still want to rush for over 1000 I stiU wanted to play running tack I still have to yards on the season game this year as well So far this back then but with Emmett White season he has caught 13 passes make improvement as far as blockhere it was impossible to play there” '(fourth best on the team) for 129 ing and looking for holes a little ! ' Fiefia made the most of his time ' yards and a score Roberts mentioned versatile at wide receiver starting three See FIEFIA on W4 Louisiana-Monro- st ' - ' - D D D DO THe numbers Today's game matches two extremely successful former headr coaches at Montana Utah State’s Mick Dennehy compiled a 2 in record in four seasons (1 996-9while Joe Missoula Wyoming’s Glenn led the Grizzlies to a 39-- 6 and mark in three seasons (2000-02- ) national chamwon the Division pionship in 2001 Both won three Big Sky Conference titles 200-pound- er 16-ya- rd Three knee surgeries playing wide receiver and then regulated mainly to special teams is how Fiefia spent his first three years in Logan But the West Valley City native is now USU’s top tailback He has rushed for 370 yards on 74 carries (50 per carry) and scored two touchdowns His 74 yards a game ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference and his 1052 yards a game is fourth best in the league “He is a man that has good char- acter” Aggie running backs coach John Roberts said “He has had ' some injuries that have set him back but he is a tough individual that won't give up and won’t quit when adversity hits him” After being named Mr Football in the state of Utah by the Deseret News Fiefia came north because of former USU coach Dave Arslanian Utah and BYU had shown some interest in die Hunter High School star but when it came time to offer a scholarship he felt the Aggies were the most honest with him It also helped that his par- ents Tevita and Meiolini Fiefia “fell in love with Logan” It also helped n that he had a name" since his cousins Walter and Vaea Fiefia had been Aggies He had rushed for 1600 yards and 24 touchdowns at Hunter as a senior Fiefia found himself on the field right away as a true freshman jn 2000 buf not in the backfield There was a guy by the name of Emmett White playing running back “well-know- -- ‘ moved to tailback backing up White He found himself mosdy playing on special teams Then he got his first break at the expense of White Midway through the 2001 season White went down in a game agaiast Central Florida Fiefia came on and rushed for 42 yards on right carries tun late in the scoring on a fourth quarter to preserve a 30-2- 7 win “That was the best play that I can remember so far (during his Aggie career)” Fiefia said “Emmett got I hurt and we had to score to win broke a tackle and scored” His best game before this year actually came in the season finale of 2001 White went down early with an injury against Fresno State and Fiefia came in and rushed the ball 16 times for 116 yards and a score But the Aggies got blown out That’s probably why he remembers the Central Florida game more Then came 2002 a year he would probably like to forget “It was really tough last year” he admitted “The job was mine but then I was coming off knee season” Middle Tennessee at Idaho Utah State at North Texas New Mexico St at State-Wyomi- wanted to be a running back As a sophomore the : and fiwo-dee- BD DD p ( 9) i The last time the Aggies faced the Cowboys they produced 571 yards of total offense which ranks as the 11th best offensive day in school i ' ' i t history v i t ‘ The Aggie defense has not recorded more than 11 interceptibns in a season since getting 14 in 1997 and has averaged 88 interceptions over the last five years However through just five games this year the USU secondary has already come up with six picks just one shy of last year's total of seven v In his last outing Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet became the career leader in passing at the school He enters tonight’s contest with 8104 yards through the air ' v i Utah State has had 34 different players start a game this year including 1 5 who have made their first career starts this season Only 10 players have started all five games this year Of the 34 starters 1 2 are seniors 13 juniors five sophomores and four freshmen The Cowboys love to pass and some current streaks prove that Bramlet has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the last 13 straight games Wide receiver Floyd has caught at least one pass in each of the last 36 consecutive games and fellow receiver Ryan McGuffey has caught at least one pass in 35 straight games Mal-co- m has had a different in each of the last receiver leading three games as far as number of Utah State receptions and each have had at least seven catches Kenny Coleman caught seven for 67 yards last week Chris Stallworth had seven for 60 before that and Chris Cooley had eight for 78 at Arizona State r i COWBOYS COWBOYS DEFENSE M ' Buck defensive end 43 John Flora 96 Adam Diehl Nose guards 55 Zach Morris 59 David Gough Defensive tackle 62 Jacob Bonde 90 Casey Adams Defensive end 91 Brandon Casavan 92 Anthony Jones Jr Will linebacker 29GuyTuell 31 JeffTatnall Mike linebacker 30 Randy Tschamer 35 Shane Powell Sam linebacker 47 Tyler Gottschalk 45 Austin Hall Cornerback 8 Chris Dixon 3 Terrance Butler Strong safety 4 Jay McNeal 21 Martial Rosales Free safety 7 Jacque Finn 5 Chad White Cornerback 2 Roderrick Jackson 18 Leonard Jones SPECIAL TEAMS Punter 46 Luke Donovan Place-kicke- r 40 Deric Yaussi mama OFFENSE' ONE-BAC- K Left tackle 73 Chase Johnson 64 Ben Penfold Left guard 66 Isaac Morales 68 Mark Schwarz Center 70 Trenton Franz 75 Drew Severn Right guard 75 Drew Severn 77 Dan Fisher Right tackle 69 Jason Karcher 72 Matt Kostelnick Tight end 42 Aaron Robbins 84 Chris Cox Wide receiver - X 88 Malcom Floyd 89 Jason Amos Wide receiver - Z 85 Ryan McGuffey 22 Josh Barge Wide receiver - Y 9 Jovon Bouknight 87 Jarreau Grant Quarterback 14 Casey Bramlet 17 Corey Bramlet Running back 28 Derek Armah 20 Ivan Harrison ck 42 Aaron Robbins 82 MarshallSchaap TOP INDIVIDUALS UTAH STATE Yards ' 370 27 Att RUSHING David Fiefia Travis Davis 74 8 Richard Watson 10 Travis Cox PASSING Travis Cox' 51 i RECEIVING Chris Stallworth 50 34 11 T1 6 01 u 175-90-- Avg Catches Yards Chris Cooley Kenny Coleman David Fiefia 135 2 0 0 740 55 1 2 Avg YdaG 134 109 "254 19 18 15 13 TD YdaG 2098 Yards 1049 4 YdsG 196 151 129 101 99 508 653 302 258 VI- AGGIES AGGIES DEFENSE OFFENSE ' Left tackle 4l Justin Jackson 96 Tim Jessop ' Nose guard TD 5 TD t 0 1 MULTIPLE Left tackle 3-- 4 92 Ronald Tupea 75 Ryan DeQuillettes Right tackle 37 John Chick 7 90 Michael Gates PUNTING Ast Total TFLYds Sacks 23 46 33 32 28 27 27 21 19 14 16 14 Yards No Avg 35 1478 422 t Att Derek Armah 77 Ivan Harrison 20 Casey Bramlet 41 Yards 297 84 24 Avg Ben Chaet RUSHING Yards PASSING Casey Bramlet RECEIVING Ryan McGuffey Jovon Bouknight Malcom Floyd -- -- 39 42 06 197-108-- 1457 2 Catches Yards 35-1- 1 1 010-- 2 05-- 1 30-- 6 0 0 0 1 45-1- 6 0 0 Long 63 120 YdaG 594 168 TD -- 48 YdsG 2914 Avg YdsG 8 1 0 0 TD 12 TD TACKLES Tyter Gottschalk CenterJ : Quarterback Randy Tschamer Guy Tuell PUNTING No Luke Donovan 31 61 Victor Eti ' 59 Aric Galliano 77 Greg Vandermade Stud linebacker Right guard 91 Nate Putnam 63 Trevor Hutton 74 Grant Calverley 43 Ryan Taylor Mac linebacker Right tackle 30 Robert Watts 78 Elliott Tupea OR Sam linebacker 65 Brenen Bumingham 49 Rodney Wilson Tight end 46 Jared Johnstun 87 Jason Stephens Will linebacker 86 Patrick McNutt r 40 Nate Fredrick Fullback 48 Jake Stewart 47 Trent Nate Left cornerback Wide receiver - X 23 Reggie Wilson 10 Chris Stallworth 6 Marvin Clark 5 Raymond Hicks Wide receiver - Y Strong safety 21 Mike Rosencrans 80 Jason Thomas 4 Joe Lindsay 18Tony Pennyman Free safety Wide receiver -- H 9 Terrance Washington 81 Kenny Coleman 1 Derrek Shank 82 Joel Higginson Wide cornerback receiver - Z Right 2 Mark Estelle 3BarryTolli 18 Jerome Eason 29 Cornelius Lamb : Solo Robert Watts 23 Terrance Washington 12 Derrek Shank 13 14 Rodney Wilson 11 Nate Putnam Mark Estelle 13 TACKLES 72 Donald Penn 65 Brenen Bumingham Left guard 77 Greg Vandermade SPECIAL TEAMS 4 Travis Cox Punter 16 Bryan Black 15 Ben Chaet Yards 1331 Avg 429 Long 57 120 10 m Place-kick- ‘ er 13 Justin Hamblin Tailback 39 David Fiefia 7 Richard Watson l |