April 8, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Heading into the 2008 Utah State football campaign, Aggie head coach Brent Guy turned his focus to adding depth on the defensive line.

With the loss of two senior defensive tackles, including four-year starter Frank Maile, the Aggies return just two tackles with Division I experience in Alan Bishop and Jervon Graves.

Stepping in to fill that void this year are juniors Casey Davis and Magnum Mauga. Both are junior college transfers who signed with the Aggies in December and are in the midst of spring drills.

Davis, who is 6'3" and weighs in at 285 pounds, transferred from Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. While at Snow, he gained first-team all-Western States Football league honors and was a first-team all-region selection. Davis also recorded 49 tackles for the Badgers (20 solo and 29 assists), with 23 tackles for loss and four sacks.

Mauga joins the Aggies from Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., weighing in at 290 and is 6'0". Mauga, (pronounced Maw-gah), registered 80 tackles, 10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions last season. Mauga was a Joe Roth Award recipient, honoring the best junior college player in the San Diego area. He was also named to the all-California Junior College team and received all-Foothill Conference accolades. Mauga also has a wife, Brianna, and son, Isaiah (four mo.) who are back home and are hoping to move out to Logan this summer.

"I'm living out here for my wife and son right now," said Mauga. "I'm trying to make a better life for my family and my main focus is to get my degree."

Mauga is working on a dual degree in interdisciplinary studies together with communications and psychology. Davis has yet to declare a major, but most likely will do something in business.

One thing they both can agree on is that Logan is a great place to live, with very few distractions.

"I love it, you can't beat the scenery," exclaimed Mauga. "People out here are very nice and very pleasant. They are very helpful, everything is convenient and you don't have to go too far."

So what brought Mauga and Davis to Utah State? For Davis, it was close to his home of Riverton, Utah, which makes Logan a place that was convenient for his family to come and support him and the Aggies. Mauga comes from a much farther hometown of San Diego, Calif. For him it wasn't about convenience, but a place to start fresh, get a degree, get some playing time and be somewhere that people wanted him to be.

"I wanted to go somewhere that I was able to play and where the coaches wanted me to be and I felt that from Coach Guy when he came to talk to me in San Diego," added Mauga. "I then came for a visit and met with the d-line coach (Danilo Robinson). I liked him, and seeing that I could spend two years with my coach and get along with him, I knew that he could teach me something, so I came out here. Overall, it's academics and to get a new start."

Both players come from large families which attracted them to the "family oriented" Aggie football team.

"I love them, everyone out here is family," said Mauga "They're willing to work with you, they want to work with you, they push you, they work together and they cooperate with you. If you need a ride somewhere, they pick you up. Everybody is out here trying to get their playing time. They're really trying to play, they're trying to get their spots, but at the same time we're all brothers in this game and everybody is friendly."

Davis is the oldest of six children and he has three brothers and two sisters. He is enjoying his time playing collegiate football and setting the pace for the younger siblings to follow.

For the Mauga family, football definitely runs in their genes. Magnum falls in the middle of the line of eight boys. Older brothers Dallas and Rainbow played for Sacramento State, while oldest brothers Chris and Ben played at Grossmont, and younger brothers Casey, Hutch and Homer will begin playing for Grossmont this fall.

"I'm just out here setting an example for my little brothers, trying to let them know that football is the easy way to get up and get out of there, out of the hood and all that stuff," said Mauga. "It's not easy back home where I come from, but with the Lord on your side you can never go wrong. The Lord brought me this far and I'm not going to mess it up."

Both Davis and Mauga agree that the team is looking really good this spring and there will be a lot of talent on the field this season as they compete to be on the top of the Western Athletic Conference in 2008.

"We're looking pretty good," said Davis.

Mauga added, "I see a lot of athletes out here, they're looking awesome! There are plenty of people out here that can play."