LOGAN — If Jake Hutton would have sat back and waited for football opportunities to come his way he would most likely still be in his Idaho home playing Nintendo.
Instead, the 6-foot, 224-pounder, is the starting middle linebacker at Utah State.
Hutton, who was the Idaho Defensive Player of the Year two years ago, wasn't offered a scholarship after high school at a Division 1 or Division 1-AA school, but he was asked to walk on at several places.
"I was disappointed, I was pretty good in high school," he said.
He eventually chose Utah State, to be with teammate Cole Nielson (who is currently serving an LDS Church mission), and the situation couldn't have been better. He came in January 2005, after Brent Guy took over for Mick Dennehy, and prepared himself for spring football.
"I worked hard. When I got in there I made the most of my opportunities," he said. "Last year, everyone was learning the new defense so when I came in during spring ball that gave me an advantage because no one else knew the defense. I just learned it as one of the guys. I made a few plays and earned a spot."
He earned more than just a "spot" on the team. He started at outside linebacker and eventually led the team in tackles with 87, becoming the first freshman in school history to lead the team in tackles.
His 7.9 stops per game last season ranked third among all freshmen in the country.
For that, the rewards started rolling in: third-team freshman All-American by The Sporting News, a well-deserved scholarship, and a move to middle linebacker — the position at which he excelled as a senior in high school where he tallied 121 stops.
"The first thing I noticed when we put him out there was how tough he was in the zone coverages and filling the windows behind him and closing the windows of the quarterbacks," said Guy, who was a walk-on at Oklahoma State in the early 1980s. "He's instinctive, and that guy (the middle linebacker) has to be instinctive."
Hutton will be asked to fill the shoes of Matt Wiser, who played every snap at that position for the Aggies last year.
"He's done an exceptional job in these 11 practices proving that he can play there," Guy said. "He's not the prototypical guy in size, but he's a guy that plays hard."
He will be the anchor in the defense and he'll most likely start alongside two other sophomores, Darryl Fields and Devon Hall.
"I love to play middle," he said. "It's fun to play fast."
Hutton started all 11 games last year at outside linebacker, and in his first collegiate game he had six tackles and a forced fumble against Utah. He recorded a career-high 12 tackles in the season finale against New Mexico State, bettering his previous career high of 10 set against Idaho. During a three-game stretch he had nine tackles each against San Jose State, Fresno State and Boise State. He also had eight tackles against UNLV and Alabama.
Guy hopes Hutton's success will continue at the new position.
"I think it's going to enhance him," Guy said. "He's got two big tackles (Brian Soi and E.J. Reid) that are going to keep people off him."
The Aggies will practice today from 4-6 p.m. and will close out spring drills Friday with practice from 6-8 p.m. A light scrimmage is planned for approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday at Romney Stadium. It is open and free to the public.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com