Impact felt from local freshmen

San Jose State football coach Dick Tomey, who was also a long-time coach at the University of Arizona, paid Utah State freshman quarterback Riley Nelson the ultimate compliment after seeing him lead the Aggies to their first win of the season with a 13-12 victory over Fresno State in his first career start last Saturday.

"You wouldn't know he's inexperienced by watching him play against Fresno," Tomey said. "I thought that was as impressive of a first performance as a starter as I have ever seen. If there was a guy that played his first game and did a better job than that, I don't know who it would be."

Nelson went 6-for-6 for 57 yards, had three carries (one was a sack for a loss of 3 yards) for 32 yards and completed the game-winning 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Robinson in the Aggies' final 80-yard, game-winning drive.

"He showed great poise," Tomey said.

In his first action against Idaho one week earlier, Nelson went 3-for-3 for 50 yards and rushed for 17 more in the 41-21 loss. He entered the game with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and led the Aggies to their first touchdown of the game since the eight-minute mark of the first half.

"He has everything you need," Tomey said. "He looks like he has poise. He is very intelligent, it appears. He can get the ball to the open receiver and get it off quickly, and he can run."

He is the first of the latest 11 first-time Utah State starters to lead the Aggies to a win.

Nelson, a Parade High School All-American, is one of 21 Utah high school seniors last season to sign with one of six different Div. I football programs, and one of four to see game time with his team.

"I thought that was a great class," Bingham football coach Dave Peck said. "You're going to see some kids in that group go on and be a big success in their programs."

Orem's Ryan Freeman is one of eight players who signed at BYU. Freeman, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman, has been gaining experience at a variety of positions.

"Right now on the depth chart, I'm backup right guard, left guard and center," Freeman said. "In the last game (against San Diego State), I played all three positions."

Freeman's emergence has something to do with the spate of injuries the Cougars have suffered on the offensive line. He saw some action against Tulsa, then played extensively against Utah State. In the win over TCU, he played in three series.