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Saturday, October 28
Dennehy has Utah State exceeding expectations
By Mike Sorensen
Special to ESPN.com

When Mick Dennehy came down from the University of Montana to replace Dave Arslanian as the head coach at Utah State, not many folks gave him or his Aggies much of a chance this year.

Nearly every football publication picked the Aggies for a lower-division league finish and many picked the Ags for last. That's exactly where Dennehy's fellow Big West coaches pegged the Aggies at the Big West meetings in July -- dead last.

So here it is late October and although it's still early in the Big West race, look who's in first place all by themselves at 2-0.

“ I don't think they surprised themselves. The kids have been realistic, but I think they expected this. ”
— Montana coach Mick Dennehy

Yep, it's the supposedly awful Aggies, who are coming off an impressive 31-14 victory over Idaho, which was expected to challenge Boise State for the league title. That win comes on the heels of a 17-12 road win at North Texas the week before and the Ags are favored to beat 0-8 Arkansas State at home this week.

While Dennehy wasn't exactly left with a bare cupboard when he took over for Arslanian, he wasn't happy with the academic standing of many of his players, nor the ability of some after observing them in spring practice in April.

So Dennehy made some tough decisions and sent several players packing, leaving him with just 66 scholarship players (Division I-A teams are allowed 85) to work with. Then third week of the season, he lost two-year starting quarterback Jeff Crosbie to a season-ending thumb injury after losing starting strong safety Aminifu Johnson two days before the opener. In addition, two veteran defensive linemen have been out most of the year with injuries, along with one returning starting linebacker.

After losses to Texas Tech, Arizona State, Utah and BYU all between margins of 21 to 24 points, the Aggies are competing well against Big West opponents. Dennehy said his offense finally had "the light come on" and that the defense has put together full games after playing well each week except for five or six plays in the losses.

"I don't think they surprised themselves," said Dennehy of his players recent success. "The kids have been realistic, but I think they expected this."

In knocking off Idaho, the Aggies rolled up 569 yards, 220 more than in any previous game, including 439 through the air behind sophomore quarterback Jose Fuentes. On the other side of the ball they held the 10th-ranked offensive team in the nation, which had been averaging over 30 points per game, to just 14 points.

If he continues to find success, Dennehy could become the first USU coach to post a winning record in his first season since Phil Krueger went 7-4 way back in 1973. By the way, Dennehy is the seventh USU head coach since Krueger.

But according to Dennehy, there's still a long ways to go.

"Our kids grew up an awful lot today," he said after the Idaho win. "I don't know if we're good yet, but we're getting there."

Around the Big West

Boise State
Coach Dirk Koetter was worried about North Texas, the only Big West team he hadn't beaten in two years prior to Saturday's game and he was concerned after one quarter Saturday when the score was 0-0. But all his worries evaporated in the second quarter when his Broncos exploded for 38 points on their way to a 59-0 romp. ... Something must give this week when the Broncos take their 13th-ranked passing attack (289.7 ypg) against New Mexico State, which ranks 26th in the country in pass defense, allowing 186 yards per game. ... Two of the top players for the Broncos this year have been sophomore safety Quintin Mikell and freshman tailback David Mikell. Last week Quintin was named Big West defensive player of the week after getting nine tackles and a pass breakup in liminted action. Meanwhile David ran for a career-high 122 yards and three touchdowns, subbing for the injured Brock Forsey. By the way, the two Mikells are not related. ... Quarterback Bart Hendricks leads the Big West in total offense, averaging nearly 300 yards a game with 20 touchdown passes and is 6th in the nation. ... Nick Calaycay is second in the league in scoring, averaging 8.6 points a game. He's 9-for-10 on field goals and is 33-for-35 on extra points. ... Jeff Edwards ranks 11th in the country in punting with a 43.6-yard average.

New Mexico State
New Mexico's State 35-29 victory at Arkansas State marked the Aggies' first-ever overtime victory. NMSU had been 0-3 in overtime contests, including a 34-31 loss on the Aggies' last trip to Jonesboro in 1998. ... The win marked the first time since 1995, the Aggies have won their conference opener. ... After shutting out the Indians in the first half, the Aggies trailed 29-19, before scoring 10 points in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime. ... NMSU is 8-for-10 on fourth-down conversions this season and had two in its game-tying drive last week. ... Freshman Dario Aguiniga hit on all three of his field goal attempts last week, including an 18-yarder with seven seconds left to force overtime. Before the game NMSU had been just 1-for-8 on field goal attempts. ... P.J. Winston's seven receptions for 114 yards at ASU marked career highs and Aggie season highs in both categories. ... New Mexico State has scored more than half of its points (52.1 percent) in the second quarter this season. ... Senior cornerback Jascon Willis is tied for 31st nationally with three interceptions in seven games, senior running back Chris Barnes ranks 26th in the nation in rushing with 99.4 yards per contest and freshman wide receiver Ronshay Jenkins is tied for 44th in the country in punt returns, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt. ... Senior tackle Mick Rodemeyer suffered a torn MCL in his right knee at Arkansas State and will miss the Boise State contest. ... Sophomore tackle Terry Givens sprained his right ankle in the ASU contest but is probable for Boise State.

Utah State
After their big 31-14 win over Idaho, the Aggies didn't sweep all-Big West player of the week honors, but they came close. Jose Fuentes, who produced the fourth best passing day in USU history with 421 yards and Aaron Jones, whose 233 receiving yards was third best in Aggie history, were named co-offensive players of the week. And Steve Mullins was named special teams player of the week after averaging 44.1 yards per punt and five times punting the ball inside the 12-yard line. ... Emmett White, who moved into the No. 1 spot in the nation in all-purpose yards with 203.9 yards per game, has never been named Big West player of the week this year. ... White is also 10th in the nation in kickoff returns and 28th in rushing. ... Brad Bohn became the school's all-time leading scorer Saturday with a field goal and four extra points, giving him 252 points for his career. Bohn also broke the career record for PATs with his 91st PAT Saturday. ... Linebacker Jesse Busta came up with his second interception of the season on a pass deflected by Brent Passey. ... The Aggies rank 23th in the nation in net punting and 27th in kickoff returns. ... After getting burned for eight touchdown passes in the first three games, the Aggies have allowed just one touchdown pass in the past four games.

Idaho
After getting upset by Utah State 31-14 last week, the Vandals have a week off to regroup before facing North Texas on the road Nov. 4. ... Willie Alderson continues to lead the Big West in rushing with a 113.0-yard average after picking up 155 yards against Utah State, including an 80-yard scamper and two 1-yard touchdown runs. ... Quarterback John Welsh fell to No. 2 in the Big West in total offense and passing efficiency behind Boise State's Bart Hendricks, but he still ranks No. 7 in the nation in total offense and No. 19 in passing. ... Idaho coach Tom Cable couldn't figure out what hit his team after the loss to Utah State. "They whipped us," he said. "We got outhit, outhustled and outblocked. It's scary." ... Three Vandal receivers rank 3-4-5 in the league in receptions. Chris Lacy and Josh Jelmberg both have 33 catches while Alderson has 32. Mike Roberg is 10th with 25 catches. ... Lacy ranks 26th in the nation in kickoff returns with 23.9 yards per return. ... Chris Nofoaiga, last year's Big West defensive player of the year, came up with 14 tackles against Utah State, including the only sack of the game.

Arkansas State
As if things couldn't get any tougher after close losses to Memphis and Richmond and a double-overtime loss to North Carolina State, the Indians blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to New Mexico State in overtime. ... Robert Kilow, the Indians' best all-around player, ranking 4th in the country in all-purpose yards and 9th in receptions per game, may have cost the Indians the game with two late fumbles. One came on a kickoff return when he was caught from behind and fumbled into the end zone and the other came on the first offensive play of overtime. ... Jonathan Adams produced the best game of his career with a 183-yard rushing effort against New Mexico State Saturday. With 731 yards, he's on track to pass the 1,000-yard mark. ... Cleo Lemon had an outstanding .783 percentage against New Mexico State with 18 of 23 completions, but it's only fifth on the school's all-time record chart. ... Inside linebacker Charles Mabry continues to lead the Indians in tackles with 78, well ahead of free safety Sean Mitchell, who led the team the last two years. ... According to the NCAA website, ASU has played the 10th toughest schedule in the country so far this year. ... The Indians play Utah State this week at Logan, where they lost 20-14 last week.

North Texas
The Mean Green go out of conference this week to play UL Lafayette (0-7) for the first time in 18 years. However, next year, the two schools will both be members of the Sun Belt Conference. ... The Mean Green hit rock bottom last week, losing 59-0 to Boise State. Not even No. 3 Kansas State beat them that bad. ... One of the few bright spots in last week's game was the running of Aaron Holly, who had his best game since the season opener, leading UNT in rushing with 57 yards on 11 carries for an average of 5.2 yards per carry. ... Sophomore Ty Jackson leads the team in both punt and kickoff return average, averaging 9.8 yards per punt return and 20.1 yards per kickoff return. He had a career-best 40-yard kickoff return against Boise State. ... Of the 42 players listed on UNT's two-deep chart, 28 are either freshmen or sophomore. ... Against Boise State, true freshman Taylor Casey, playing in place of injured senior linebacker Fred Pertile, had a career-high 10 tackles including six solo and one for a loss ... Three true freshmen, quarterback Scott Hall, defensive tackle Brandon Kennedy and tackle Nick Zuniga, are all starting. ... Senior wide receiver Byron Curtis, a former walk-on, leads the team in receptions (16) and receiving yards (236) and has caught a pass in all seven games this season. ... UNT leads the league in only two categories, punt returns and fewest penalties. Don McGee is tied for first in the BWC in interceptions.




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