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After a sluggish start to camp, Utah State's offense was firing on all cylinders today.
"It's a lot about execution; the things that we do and controlling what we do," wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight said after practice.
What the offense did do today in the red zone, was score three touchdowns in a matter of minutes. In fact, their first play was a 20 yard touchdown pass over the middle from Chuckie Keeton to D.J. Tialavea. Next play, Jojo Natson scored on a reverse; and then, in a matter of minutes, Keeton found sophomore Brandon Swindall in the endzone for another score.
"It was fun," Swindall said of the touchdown stretch. "Scoring first play, come back again and score on the second play; it was pretty impressive for us."
No matter what it takes, I'm going to be that playmaker.
–JoJo Natson, sophomore WR.
"Hats off to our defense, they've been doing a great job setting the tone. We challenged our guys to match up with their intensity and they did," Bouknight added.
The wide receivers, as a group, had a very strong day; which is great news considering the group lost their two biggest playmakers, Matt Austin and Chuck Jacobs, to graduation.
The Aggies have signifigant depth at the position with returning seniors Travis Reynolds and Travis Van Leeuwen leading the way. Mix in Swindall, Natson, Alex Wheat, and junior college transfer Ronald Butler; the Aggies have a plethora of guys to catch the ball. But what they don't have just yet, according to Bouknight, is their playmaker.
"We've got to find out who our guys are, who our playmakers are, who's gonna make the plays, who's gonna be the next guy."
Natson believes that it's him.
"I told coach (Bouknight), I'm gonna be that playmaker. No matter what it takes, I'm going to be that playmaker."
Don't let Natson's small stature , 5'7 and 157 lbs. fool you; he's a big time talent. He a saw a significant amount of action in 2012 as a true freshman, playing in all 12 games and catching 17 passes for 132 yards.
"He's very electrifying," Bouknight said of the sophomore. "He's very quick and he's dangerous and he's now beginning to have the confidence. He took the task of he knows he's a starter and he's making plays each day."
Natson is also the team's primary punt returner and he embraces more opportunities to help the team.
"I have more chances to change the game around and make more plays; be a big impact for the team. I just feel so good about the season coming up; I feel real good."
