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Logan • Utah State has used its bye week to refine a running game crippled by injury, according to coach Matt Wells.
Senior running back Devante Mays has played one snap since suffering a leg injury at USC on Sept. 10. Going forward, his status remains unclear.
In Mays' absence, junior Tonny Lindsey Jr. has emerged as the Aggies' No. 1 running back.
Behind him, Wells and his staff were juggling LaJuan Hunt and Justen Hervey — at least until Utah State's most-recent 31-24 loss at Colorado State.
Against the Rams, wide receivers Gerold Bright and Kennedy Williams moved into the backfield and gave Lindsey an occasional breather.
Bright, a redshirt freshman who played running back at Escambia (Fla.) High School, ran five times for 50 yards. He scored on a 41-yard run.
"He went in and did a pretty good job," said Wells, who promised to "expand" Bright's role "because he deserved it."
The play of Bright and Williams probably added to Lindsey's effectiveness because they provided him to rest for "maybe 20 snaps," Wells said.
Lindsey rushed for a career-high 137 yards on only 17 carries against Colorado State.
"He ran extremely hard, made some nice cuts in the run game and some nice reads," Wells said. "… His mindset was good."
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Rodriguez sacrifices, plays well
Utah State senior receiver-punt returner Andrew Rodriguez has played well in both roles.
A senior from Allen, Texas, who started his college career at Houston, Rodriguez is the Aggies' fourth-leading receiver behind freshman Rayshad Lewis, sophomore Ron'Quavion Tarver and senior right end Wyatt Houston.
Heading into Saturday night's game against Fresno State at Maverik Stadium, Rodriguez has 17 receptions for 174 yards and a touchdown.
"With the emergence of Rayshad, we moved Andrew outside and he took it in stride and learned what to do," Wells said. "He's done a nice job as an outside receiver, when playing inside would be more of a natural fit for him."
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Wells: Assault issues are addressed
Former Utah State linebacker Torrey Green was recently arrested and charged in connection the alleged rape or sexual assaults of five women between 2013 and 2015, when he played for the Aggies.
Green was charged with four counts of first-degree felony rape as well as first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping and second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
Wells has not discussed the specifics of the case, other than to deny knowing anything about it until a few days before the Salt Lake Tribune broke the story.
In general, however, Wells said, "We talk about these kinds of situations with our team regularly. … It's about continuing to address and educate young men on core values - right from wrong and how to treat people, how to treat women, how to respect other people, continual education and continual focus on all societal issues at hand.
"We do that with coaches, we do that in position meetings and we do that with outside speakers being brought in. There is constant education going on from our athletic department and our coaches on core values and these issues at hand right now."
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Seefeldt a finalist for CLASS Award
Defensive lineman Travis Seefeldt has been selected as one of 30 candidates nationwide for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award.
The award is presented annually to a Football Bowl Subdivision senior who demonstrates notable achievements in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages them to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Seefeldt was one of just two Mountain West Conference players named to the list. He joins Air Force's Weston Steelhammer.