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LOGAN — Utah State wide receiver JoJo Natson expects to make a play every time he touches the ball.
When the Aggies’ receiving corps wasn’t making those plays happen in the first half against Idaho State, Natson took to an area of the game where he knows he can be a one-man wrecking crew: special teams.
Natson’s 52-yard punt return with about 90 seconds left in the second quarter helped spark Utah State’s listless offensive performance and roll by the Bengals 40-20 on Saturday night.
Not that head coach Matt Wells is surprised by the "special" effort by Natson.
“JoJo is a special player. He made some nice plays in punt return, and in the passing game as well,” Wells said. “When you give him a chance to get started, he’s got a chance on punt returns to make a difference. He’s an elite punt returner.”
For Natson, the credit goes to his blocking schemes on special teams, an area of the game the Aggies (1-1) focus on during practice every week. That third, often-forgotten facet of the game was on full display against Idaho State, with Nick Diaz booting a pair of field goals, Jaron Bentrude averaging 40.6 yards on seven punts, and Nick Thompson totaling 489 yards on eight kickoffs.
JoJo is a special player. He made some nice plays in punt return, and in the passing game as well ... When you give him a chance to get started, he's got a chance on punt returns to make a difference. He's an elite punt returner.
–Utah State coach Matt Wells
“It’s something we really take pride in, not just offense and defense,” said Natson, who led the Aggies with 146 all-purpose yards. “Our coaches make us focus, so we do well on special teams. We have guys who take pride and they really dive into special teams; I think that’s what it is. The coaches put us in the right positions, and we just go out there.”
Natson also jumped into the backfield on offense. His longest reception — the longest completion from Chuckie Keeton on the night — went for 24 yards, but Natson came out of the backfield for a 29-yard game with about six minutes remaining to set up Keeton’s rushing TD from 12 yards out.
Keeton completed 13 of 30 passes for 116 yards and an interception Saturday, but only Natson and Wyatt Houston (two catches, 17 yards) caught more than one ball from the senior signal caller.
But returning punts has become a staple of Natson’s playing time at Utah State. The junior has put behind him a run-in with law enforcement from the summer, and he’s finding the decision-making of a veteran on this year’s Aggies squad with high expectations.
“I like punt return. Coming into college, I didn’t know I would play punt return,” Natson said. “But coaches told me they were giving me that opportunity, and I should make the best of it. I’m thankful they gave me that opportunity.”
2 more wide receivers hurt
Wells said wide receiver Shaan Johnson remains out with an injury for the Aggies, and Brandon Swindall went down with a lower leg injury on one of the Aggies’ opening series Saturday night.
Swindall will have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury, but Wells acknowledged "it doesn’t look good" in his post-game press conference before mentioning several options to test Utah State’s depth on the outside.
“The quality of that depth is going to be tested extremely,” Wells said, pointing to guys like Hunter Sharp and Ronald Butler. “We have some depth at that position. Now those guys are going to have to step up and play quality reps; not just reps, but quality reps.”
