Oct. 9—Asher Cunningham
The junior middle linebacker made the most important plays for Utah State, forcing two turnovers — the second one led to the Aggies' go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Cunningham stripped Cougars tight end Jack Pedersen just before his knee hit the turf on a third-down play with under eight minutes left, then the linebacker pounced on the ball deep in WSU territory, setting Utah State up to take its first lead. Cunningham also laid a hard hit on WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick in the third quarter, knocking the ball free. It was recovered by the Aggies, and they scored a touchdown five plays later to flip the game's momentum. An Elon transfer, Cunningham finished with a game-high and career-high 17 tackles, half a sack and two tackles for loss in the run game. The 6-2, 240-pounder now has 52 tackles for the season, which will likely land him in the top 20 nationally after the weekend's slate of games.
Jirah Leaupepetele
A nose tackle's efforts often go unappreciated. But the 349-pound Leaupepetele deserves some recognition after his gap-plugging effort for a Cougars defense that didn't surrender much on inside running plays. Leaupepetele overpowered blockers for two solo stops at the line of scrimmage. The junior Eastern Washington transfer also recorded his first full sack of the season during the third quarter, pushing through the Utah State line to wrap up Grady Brosterhous on a second-and-13, effectively stopping a key possession for the Aggies, who trailed by six points and appeared to have momentum. With under three minutes remaining in the game, on a critical third-and-short, Leaupepetele stood up his blocker and brought down Aggies running back Javen Jacobs just before the line to gain, forcing a punt and keeping WSU alive. Leaupepetele tied for third on the team with five total tackles.
