Utah State special teams coordinator and running backs coach Dave Ungerer has been named a nominee for the 2015 Broyles Award, it was announced Wednesday by the Rotary Club of Little Rock.
Ungerer is one of 34 coaches nationwide to be nominated for the award. He is joined on the list by fellow Mountain West assistant coach Will Friend, who is the offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Colorado State.
The Broyles Award honors the top assistant coach in college football and was established in 1996 to honor legendary Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles, who had a track record of producing some of the most successful assistant coaches in college football history.
The five finalists for the Broyles Award will be announced on Monday, Nov. 30. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Marriott Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Under Ungerer, who is in his third season with the Aggies, Utah State ranks second in the Mountain West and sixth nationally in kickoff returns (27.4 ypr), fourth in the MW and 50th in the nation in punt returns (9.2 ypr), and eighth in the MW and 69th in the nation in net punting (37.4 ypk).
The Aggies have also blocked two extra points and two punts to rank first in the conference and tied for fifth nationally with the four blocks.
Individually, junior WR Andrew Rodriguez ranks tied for first in the MW and tied for ninth nationally with his one punt return for touchdown, and he is first in the MW and 23rd nationally in punt returns (10.0 pg). Senior WR Hunter Sharp ranks tied for second in the MW and tied for ninth nationally with his one kickoff return for a touchdown.
Junior PK Brock Warren ranks fifth in the MW and 66th nationally in field goal percentage (.727), sixth in the MW in field goals made with eight, ninth in the MW in extra point percentage (.946) and 10th in the MW in scoring (5.4 ppg).
Fellow junior PK Jake Thompson ranks 10th in the MW in field goals made with three, while redshirt freshman P Aaron Dalton ranks ninth in the MW and 61st nationally in punting (41.3 ypk). He has had 22 of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line this season, including all three in the Aggies’ 31-27 come-from-behind victory last Saturday.
In the running game, Utah State has rushed for 1,813 yards and 19 touchdowns on 409 carries this season. The Aggies average 164.8 rushing yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry.
Utah State is very successful when it runs the ball under Ungerer. The Aggies have won 20 straight games with a 100-yard rusher, including a 3-0 record this year. They have also been victorious in 24 of their last 25 games when they rush at least 40 times, including a 5-0 record this year, and won 21 straight games when they rush for 200 yards, including a 4-0 record this year.
In the Aggies’ 31-27 victory against Nevada, junior RB Devante Mays rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high-tying 22 carries. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry on the day and had runs of 35 and 32 yards, respectively, giving him a team-leading 10 explosives on the season.
Utah State trailed 27-7 early in the second half, but Mays helped spark the comeback with a 5-yard touchdown run and a 2-yard score less than three minutes apart in the third quarter. The Aggies scored the final 24 points of the game for their largest comeback since rallying from 21 down against Hawai’i on Nov. 5, 2011.
With the two scores against Nevada, Mays now has a team-leading nine touchdowns on the season, which ranks fourth in the Mountain West and 49th nationally. He also leads Utah State in rushing with 788 yards on 134 carries and ranks second in the conference and 35th nationally with his 5.9 yards per carry average, which also ranks ninth all-time in school history for a single season.
Utah State closes out the regular season at home on Nov. 28, when the Aggies welcome in-state rival BYU to Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. The Senior Day game kicks off at 1:30 p.m., and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.