Utah State’s ‘Dynamic’ Jalen Royals Poses Problems for Pokes
LARAMIE -- Ashton Jeanty might be the rushing king of the Mountain West, but Utah State's Jalen Royals is nipping at his heels in the all-purpose yards category.
The senior wideout should also be mentioned in the same breath as San Jose State's Nick Nash, UNLV's Ricky White and Colorado State's Tory Horton, too.
"He's a good player, but he's also pretty dynamic with the ball," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said Monday during his weekly press conference. "He's Horton-like, in that way ... He's an explosive receiver and does a lot of great things for them on the perimeter
He sure is.
Royals has already hauled in 55 passes for 834 yards. That's 119.1 per game. Those stats are all good enough for second in the Mountain West. Only Nash has been better with 72 grabs for 904. Nash (11) and White (9) are the only two wideouts with more touchdowns than Royals' six. His 15.2 yards per catch is the best mark in the league.
Royals stands alone when it comes to conference play.
In just three games, all Aggies losses, he leads the way in receptions per game (10), touchdowns (4) and yards per game (184.7).
Where this senior really separates himself is on special teams.
On just nine kick returns this fall, Royals has rolled up 184 yards, including a long of 26. That's an average of more than 20 yards an attempt. More than 160 of those yards have come against Mountain West opponents.
In other words, he's heating up.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Georgia product has accounted for 1,021 total yards through seven games. Jeanty, Boise State's Heisman hopeful, has 1,248 through six.
Wyoming's secondary will be intact for the first time since Week 2. Isaac White returns to the fold after missing the previous two games with an ankle/ foot injury. Wyett Ekeler, a fellow senior safety, made his way back to the lineup last Saturday in San Jose. He played with a pair of casts, thanks to broken thumbs. That didn't stop the Colorado native from tallying three tackles and picking off a Walker Eget pass.
Wrook Brown drew the task of covering Nash last Saturday inside CEFCU Stadium. The junior nickelback limited the 6-foot-3 slot receiver to just nine catches (on 19 targets) for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Yes, that's limiting.
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The guys on the backend will not only have to deal with Royals. He's bringing his friends. On the opposite side, Kyrese Wright has already turned 25 catches into 345 yards and two scores. No other running back has been fed more than Rahsul Faison in league play. He's rushed for 271 of his 666 yards over the last three weeks.
Spencer Petras, Sawvel added, orchestrates it all.
The 6-foot-5 Iowa transfer is completing 66% of his passes during his lone season in Logan. He's connected on 11 touchdown tosses. He has 1,631 yards through the air under his belt in this wide-open spread attack.
Utah State's offense ranks 13th overall in the nation, averaging 469.4 yards an outing. More than 310 of those come from the right arm of Petras.
The senior quarterback has Sawvel's full attention.
"The thing that he does a really good job with is he sees the field well," the rookie coach said. "He gets the ball to people in spaces so they can do things with it to where they catch the ball and then have the ability to run after the catch. He delivers a pretty accurate ball. He's got a good arm.
"They spread people out all 53 yards on the field, width-wise. He's got the arm to get it the full field. I think anytime that you deal with having to defend that much grass, you know, it's always a challenge, defensively."
Kickoff between the Cowboys (1-6, 1-2) and Aggies (1-6, 0-3) is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Time. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players