Great Clips of the Week: Aggie kicker has record night in win over NMSU

SPLITSVILLE — With two FBS schools that struggled offensively Saturday night, you might have missed some of the points that were being put up in other parts of the state.

There was little confidence inspired in the offenses of both BYU (in a 21-18 loss to Cal) and Utah (in a 17-6 win at Northern Illinois).

But Utah State’s kicker out-scored them both — and that is why he leads our Great Clips of the Week.

As always, click the video above for the rest of the best.

Eberle magic

Dominik Eberle is a Utah State junior, a German-born college football player, and “a very good kicker who possesses a very strong leg,” if you believe the quote in the Aggies’ football media guide.

He’s also now an NCAA record holder.

Eberle scored 24 points Saturday in Utah State’s 60-13 win over New Mexico State, including six field goals and six point-after touchdown attempts, tying an NCAA record for most single-game points by a kicker.

“Tonight was just one of those nights where I was happy to be out there with my team, giving everything I’ve got,” said Eberle, who was introduced to the media first after Saturday’s win. “They blocked really well for me. Our snapper (Brandon Pada) did a great job. Our holder (DJ Nelson) should have been the holder of the year last year and I just kicked the ball well. What else can I say?”

He also became the first kicker in 12 years to make three field goals of 51 yards. Wake Forest’s Sam Swank was the last to do so, with boots of 51, 53 and 53 yards back on Oct. 14, 2006.

A 2017 Lou Groza Award finalist (Utah’s Matt Gay ended up winning the trophy, if you recall), Eberle’s national record tied his own school record for field-goal attempts, and he also added 754 yards on 12 kickoffs, including nine touchbacks.

“You can’t over-coach him,” Utah State coach Matt Wells said. “That kid is a driven young man. He’s a great teammate, every one of these guys love him. He owns his performance and all he does is put his head down and work.”

Welcome to college football, Josh Davis

Josh Davis didn’t play in Weber State’s opening football game, which the Wildcats lost 41-10 at Utah.

But maybe he should have.

In his first collegiate action, Davis ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns to carry Weber State to a 24-17 win at Cal Poly.

Davis, a two-time KSL Game Night Live Class 4A MVP, was lightly recruited out of Alta — despite finishing his senior season with 3,836 all-purpose yards, the most in Utah high school history. He ended up in Ogden, and the 5-foot-9, 185-pound running back used a redshirt on his freshman season in 2017 after suffering a season-ending injury in the opener against NAIA Montana Western.

After opening the season with back-to-back road games, Weber State returns home Saturday, Sept. 15 for a 6 p.m. kickoff against South Dakota.

Here's a reminder of what Davis did in high school.

Serena’s kerfuffle

First thing comes first: Naomi Osaka won a thrilling U.S. Open final against tennis legend Serena Williams on Saturday.

But very few people are talking about the winner.

Instead, the talking points revolve around Williams’ confrontation with the chair umpire, and have sparked debates surrounding sexism — and even racism — in tennis.

Williams was later fined $17,000 for rule violations during the final, which included three code violations of “verbal abuse” toward chair umpire Carlos Ramos, being coached during a match, and breaking her racket.

The U.S. and international tennis standout won $1.85 million for her runner-up finish to Osaka, who took the final 6-2, 6-4.

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