Rocky Henry wasn't even on the list when Utah announced its group of recruits last spring. Nor did he participate in spring ball. But somehow he showed up No. 1 on the depth chart before fall practice even started.
Since then, Henry has proved his worth with 15 catches for a team-leading 301 yards and three touchdowns, including the exciting game-winner last week against Fresno State.Henry came to Utah because of a longtime family connection with Ute assistant Fred Graves and persistent recruiting by the Utes.
After Henry grew up in Columbia, Mo., and attended nearby Kemper Military Institute Junior College, the University of Missouri thought it had Henry signed, sealed and delivered. But even though Henry had verbally committed to play for the Tigers, he gave the Utes a second look and decided to come west.
His father, Lloyd Henry Sr. had played for Graves when Graves was an assistant at Northeast Missouri State in the mid-1970s.
"I decided to follow in my father's footsteps," said Henry. "This is the place for me."
Henry signed late and had to finish up some classes in the spring, so no one really knew about him until he showed up No. 1 at the wide receiver position before camp even started.
"We had looked at film and knew he was pretty good," said Graves. "He had the speed and could make plays."
He certainly proved that last Saturday night.
LINEBACKER SHUFFLE: One of the big concerns of Ute coaches this year has been the play of the linebacking corps.
At the start of the season, the Ute linebacking starters were Chris Godfrey, Jason Hooks and Mark Livingston. When the Utes play UTEP this week, the starters could be freshman Kautai Olevao, freshman Tom Rosser and JC transfer Armand Boglin.
Godfrey and Olevao have been splitting time at the "stud" position, while Dave Cunningham played the middle position in place of the injured Hooks the last two weeks. Boglin has taken over the "whip" position for Livingston.
"We're shuffling the deck," said linebacker coach Bill Smith. "We have not played with effectiveness at all. We're young with not a lot of experience, but we've got to be more productive."
INJURY UPDATE: Juan Johnson is the latest Ute to join the injury list. Johnson has "turf toe" a painful injury that is especially tough on running backs. If Johnson is unable to play Saturday, the Utes will miss him but have good backups in Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Teneil Ethridge, Omar Bacon and Rob Hamilton, who became eligible last week . . . Hooks is questionable this week at linebacker . . . Defensive lineman Jeff Kaufusi in unlikely to play this season because his torn hamstring hasn't healed properly.
STATS & STUFF: How would you like to have Kevin Dyson's passing rating right now. It's 816.4 after he threw a 46-yard touchdown pass last week. The NCAA season record is about 175 . . . Despite missing two field goals last week, Daniel Pulsipher leads the WAC in field goals with 1.5 per game and is 15th in the nation . . . After starting out at the bottom of the WAC offensive and defensive stats, Utah has moved up to 6th in total offense and 5th in total defense. The Utes are doing better in scoring offense (4th) and scoring defense (2nd). They're are also tied for 2nd in turnover margin . . . Juan Johnson ranks 49th in the nation with 96.3 yards per game and 7th in the WAC.