Matt Asiata

Matthew Retinai Asiata (born July 24, 1987) is a former American football running back.

He attended Hunter High School and played college football at Utah.

Asiata was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

Asiata is tied with a number of other Vikings players for the franchise record of most rushing touchdowns in a single game at three.

In his freshman year of high school in 2003, Asiata and the Wolverines won Hunter High's first UHSAA Class 5A football championship ever over Skyline.

He was also a member the state champion basketball team that same year.

After failing to qualify out of high school, Asiata spent two seasons at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he played as a running back.

In his first year, he rushed for 781 yards on 144 carries (5.4 ypc) and scored five touchdowns.

In 2006, his sophomore year, Asiata set a new school record for single-season rushing yards with 1,494 despite missing one game with a hamstring injury.

In a four-game stretch, he rushed for 459 yards (114.8 yards a game) on 61 carries (7.5 ypc) and scored six touchdowns.

Listed at 6'0" and 232 lbs, Asiata was given a three-star rating and was considered the 79th best running back in the nation according to Rivals.com. On December 11, 2006, Asiata committed to the University of Utah. He also had a scholarship offer from UNLV. Asiata attended the University of Utah from 2007 to 2010, where he went on to become an All-Conference pick at running back. Asiata finished his career with the Utes ranked third all-time at Utah with 24 career rushing touchdowns. He scored 26 total career touchdowns (rushing and receiving) to tie for third all-time. His 1,748 career rushing yards make him the school's fourteenth-leading rusher. During his college career, he had three 100-yard games, with a high game of 156 yards in 200. In 2009, he received an NCAA medical extension to his playing clock, allowing him a sixth year in 2010.

After breaking his leg in the very first game of the 2007 season at Oregon State, Asiata returned in 2008 and played in all 13 games with one start.

He led the Utes in carries with 146, rushing with a career-high 707 yards (4.8 ypc and 54.4 ypg) and touchdowns with 12, which tied for second-best in the Mountain West Conference.

He also had 13 receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown and completed 2-of-3 passes out of the "Asiata Formation," with both completions going for touchdowns.

His biggest outcome of the season came in Week 4 against the Air Force when he had 19 carries for 116 yards.

Other big games included 85 yards against New Mexico on November 1 and 83 against San Diego State on November 15.

The Utes went undefeated, going 13–0, and went on to face Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

The Utes won the game and created controversy over the fact that the Utes were not in the BCS Championship Bowl that was played between two teams with 1 loss each.

At the end of the season, Utah was the only remaining undefeated team in the country and was ranked #2 on the Associated Press (AP) Final Poll.

In his sophomore season, Asiata played and started in four games before breaking his leg during the game against Louisville.

Prior to the injury, he was averaging a league-leading 101.3 yards per game and his four rushing touchdowns also led the league at the time.

He finished with 74 carries for 330 yards (4.5 ypc) for an average of 82.5 yards per game and also had nine receptions for 88 yards.

In the season opener game, he carried the ball 36 times for a career-high 156 yards against in-state rival Utah State.

His 36 carries tied the fourth-best single-game total in school history.

The following week, he had 94 yards on 20 carries against San Jose State.

In his junior season, Asiata played in all 13 games, starting seven of them at running back.

He rushed 155 times for 695 yards (4.5 yards per carry).

His average of 53.5 yards per game ranked ninth in the Mountain West Conference, while his nine total touchdowns (eight rushing and one receiving) tied for ninth.

In Week 6, he had Utah's only 100-yard rushing game of the season with a 109-yard performance against Wyoming.

On October 30, he totaled 95 yards against Air Force on 26 carries.

In Week 12, he scored the game-winning touchdown against BYU on a 3-yard run.

He was fourth on the team with 32 receptions for 195 yards and one touchdown.

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On July 27, 2011, Asiata signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent after the lockout ended and spent training camp and preseason with the team.

He was released by the team during the final cuts but was then placed on the practice squad on September 5, but two days later he got cut.

After no NFL teams claimed his services, he spent a couple of weeks with UFL's Omaha Nighthawks on a tryout.

After spending 2011 out of football, James Saxon (the running backs assistant) convinced head coach Leslie Frazier to give Asiata another shot in the offseason of 2012.

On January 5, 2012, Asiata was re-signed by the team.

He achieved this feat three times; once in 2013 and twice during the 2014 season when he started nine games after Adrian Peterson was suspended.

Born in Garden Grove, California to Samoan parents, Asiata graduated from Hunter High School in West Valley City, Utah, where he was a standout running back for the Wolverines.