Oct. 2, 2008

LOGAN, Utah -

By Dave Archer, USU Athletic Media Relations

For Utah State seniors De'von Hall and Derek Hoke, their upbringings couldn't have been more different. One grew up amidst the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, where he quickly became a two-way football star at Cleveland High School. The other was raised in Hickory, N.C., never actually playing competitive football until his junior year in high school, shortly after moving across the country to Pleasant Grove, Utah.

But their respective paths have paralleled for the past four years, as both now find themselves setting the example and providing vital senior leadership on Utah State's football team.

For Hall, coming to Logan was somewhat difficult, as no one would mistake the quiet, laid back lifestyle found in Cache Valley with the southern California life he was used to. Rather than look at that as a bad thing, however, Hall chooses to focus on the positives that change has provided.

"It's totally different," he said. "It's a whole lot slower, it's a different community. But it helps you stay focused on football."

That focus has been evident from the moment Hall suited up for the Aggies. Beginning with his freshman season in 2005, Hall has played an important role on the Aggie defense. He played 11 games at linebacker that year, which included starting six. As a sophomore, his numbers continued to improve. He wound up playing 602 plays, good for second overall on the team, and finished with 68 tackles. Last year, as a junior, he ended the year with 69 tackles, which ranked fifth on the team.

Going into this season, Hall was asked to make an adjustment in his game, shifting from linebacker to safety. With his experience within the system, however, Hall says the transition has been a smooth one.

"I've just been getting my feet better, getting my footwork right as far as coverage goes," he said. "Other than that, everything else has come pretty natural to me. I've played in this defense for four years, so I pretty much know the ins and outs."

Head coach Brent Guy said he's been impressed with Hall's ability to bounce back from nagging injuries and make the adjustments that he has and is counting on him to be a leader on defense this season.

"De'von got beat down a little bit early in his career, he missed some games because of his shoulder," Guy said. "Now that we're playing him at safety and linebacker, we're hoping we can get a whole season out of him."

On the other side of the ball, offensive lineman Derek Hoke has also overcome his set of challenges on his way to becoming the starting right tackle for the Aggies this year. He actually never played competitive football until his junior year at Pleasant Grove High School, where it didn't take long for him to get noticed by local college programs. For Hoke, the decision to come to Utah State was an easy one.

"They showed that they needed me more," he said, noting other schools, like the University of Utah, had expressed interest in him. "I believed in what the coaches told me, and I saw a future for the program. I wanted to be a part of the rebuilding and bring it back to where it should be."

Hoke played in six games as a freshman before going down to injury, and saw limited action as a backup during his sophomore year. Last season, Hoke started all 12 games at right tackle and, according to Guy, has worked hard to maintain that starting position this year.

"Derek did a really good job this summer, he was one of our best workers in the weight room," Guy said. "His strength levels (were) his biggest problems - being able to handle guys' upper body stuff. That's what he made the biggest improvement on, and where you can see the biggest difference in the way he plays."

For both Hall and Hoke, the importance of having a winning record this season can't be stressed enough. The Aggies have won just seven games during their careers and both want to help change that trend and turn the program into a winning one.

"I definitely want to leave my stamp on the program, leave here with a bowl victory and feel like I started to put this program in the right direction," Hall said.

Hoke added, "I kind of came in during the rebuilding time and I've wanted to see this team make that progress we should have made. I knew it would be hard, but it gives me more motivation to see things change around here. As much as I love this program, I want to see things go off in the right way as I leave and continue down the road to become a good football school again."

The key to that, according to Guy, is having players like Hall and Hoke - players who play hard through the good and the bad, are 100 percent loyal to the program and are dedicated to helping the team win.

"That's what it takes to build and have a winning program, and hopefully we'll continue to see that happen," Guy said. "The seniors are a big part of making sure that the guys continue to practice hard and hang together. We're a family and they make sure that we don't get divided and let anybody outside divide us. It's easy when you open the season 0-3 and you've been beaten like we were beaten before the Idaho game to start dividing each other, and they didn't let that happen and they won't let that happen. Their senior leadership is part of the reason why we won the Idaho game."

So as their paths, once completely opposite in nature, continue to take them down a similar road, Hall and Hoke are doing all they can to see that it leads them to more victories, and to a place where winning will once again be a part of the Utah State tradition.

-USU-