Jaron Pula

Howdy from Terminal A of the Salt Lake City airport. I'm getting ready to board my flight back to the Lone Star State but wanted to take some time to talk about my trip to see A&M QB commit Helaman Casuga.Let's start with this: The kid, who was having a sterling senior season, had probably the worst game of his prep career. In a matchup between two of the best team's in Utah, Casuga's Corner Canyon team got doubled up by Lone Peak - a squad with their share of P4 commits, as well.It was apparent to my eye in warmups that the visitors were going to up against from a physicality standpoint. Lone Peak was impressive along both lines of scrimmage and was anchored by BYU pledge Bott Mulitalo. On top of that, they've got what is probably the best duo of wide receiver/defensive backs in the state in brothers and Utah commits Kennan Pula and Jaron Pula - the latter of which had an absolute monster night as a pass catcher. Before the game, I was told that the home state Utes had to fight off a push from Kalen DeBoer and Alabama to keep the Pula bros from heading to Tuscaloosa. They definitely looked the part of front line SEC prospects.For Casuga, the pressure created by the Lone Peak resulted in a sped up clock and an overall lack of rhythm to his performance. He threw 4 interceptions in total - one of which was a result of him getting hit from the front side on release, and the ball popped up in the air more like a punt than a throw. The other 3 were a combination of missed reads and inequities in timing between he and his receivers. I should also say that there were probably a half dozen drive killing drops from his pass catchers. On top of that, throw in Corner Canyon's starting running back going out with an injury on the second drive, and it was just too much to overcome against a talented team.Now, it wasn't all bad. There were some real qualities throws mixed into the night that highlighted Helaman's strengths and what made him such a coveted target for Colin Klein and Mike Elko. Early on, he showed great pocket awareness as he slid to his left then stepped up and dropped a deep ball right in the basket for a huge gain. Toward the end of the first half, he escaped pressure with a spin move, rolled to his left, threw off platform across the middle, and put the ball on his receiver's facemask in perfect stride. The aforementioned A&M offensive coordinator was at the game (on his birthday). He arrived in Salt Lake City early Friday morning and spent time with the Corner Canyon staff as well as Casuga's family.I caught up with Helaman after the game where he scored a lot of points with me from a maturity and leadership perspective. After a loss in a high profile game where he did not have his best stuff, he was respectful, accountable, and did zero finger pointing. I liked that. Kid has some real poise and moxie and was just eager to get back on the practice field.He'll be in College Station next weekend to see the Aggies play Auburn.Another interesting note on Casuga: A coach told me that he scored in the 99th percentile in the S2 Cognition tests that these quarterbacks take at Elite 11, and his responses in the "If/Then" scenarios were at the top of his class.Lastly, I was told definitively by his family that he will not be taking a mission trip and will move to Aggieland in January.