Tuesday, September 27. 2011Red, Blue And Pigskin
Last October the Cougars were reeling at 1-3. They made the trip through Logan Canyon to face a team they hadn't lost to in over 15 years. The Utah State Aggies were also sitting at 1-3. Both teams were looking for a victory that would turn their season around and propel them into a Bowl Game.
The Aggies ended up demolishing the Cougars. They handed them a serious beat down that seemed destined to be a turning point. And in a sense they were right. That game did cause a turning point for a team and propelled them into a Bowl game. Unfortunately for the Aggies it wasn't them. Instead that was just the second of four victories. The Cougars meanwhile began a tweaking to their coaching staff as Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall scape-goated defensive coordinator Jaime Hill, and took over as the Defensive Coordinator. The Cougars, went 5-2 the rest of the way to earn a trip to the New Mexico Bowl. A year later and both teams are in similar situations. The Cougars are in the throes of a disappointing season, while the Aggies just can't seem to make that jump. Once again both teams are looking for a season turning victory. New Verse, Same As The First
Hey Aggie fans, stop me if you've heard this one before. The Aggies open the season by playing a high caliber BCS team stronger than most think they should. They then are unable to follow up that momentum and struggle the rest of the yea. If it seems like a familiar song and dance for Utah State fans, that's because it is. During Head Coach Gary Andersen's first two years in Logan they opened the season by playing BCS teams strong, and then faltered for consecutive 4-8 seasons. Once again in 2011 Utah State gave Auburn an extreme upset scare to start the year. In week two the Aggies demolished a Weber State. After a week three bye, the Aggies welcomed the Colorado State Rams to Logan last week. The Aggies out played the Rams. They rushed and hassled Rams QB Pete Thomas all day. They had overcome penalties, turnovers and a whole lot of mental blunders. They were getting ready to receive a punt with an 8 point lead and just over two minutes left, and a victory seemed on the horizon. Instead the Aggies muffed the punt, and it was recovered by the Rams. Colorado State punched in the TD, and converted the two point conversion, and Overtime was upon them. Aggie running back Robert Turbin scored a TD in just two plays for the Aggies, but their defense, which had spent way too much time on the field, was unable to prevent the Rams from scoring a TD on their possession, or on their first possession of the second OT. Once again the Aggies leaned on Robert Turbin who scored on the Aggies first play of second OT. Now the Aggies were left with a decision, kick the extra point and go to Triple OT, or go for the win. Coach Andersen later would say the reason he decided to go for the win, is he thought his defense was gassed. He went for two, and the first play had a pass interference penalty. On the second attempt, Robert Turbin was ran out of bounds, and the game was over. This was the type of game that Utah State needs to start winning. They need to figure out how to stay out of their own way. Anderson has done a good job of making Utah State competitive, but now the biggest challenge for the Aggies is to turn a culture of losing, into a culture of winning. Simply being competitive or close won't be enough in Logan. They need to figure out how to take the next step, otherwise for the third straight season, the eulogy at the end will be all about wasted opportunities and potential. Rebound? If there is a good thing about having seven turnovers in a game, it's that there is plenty of file to review on how to cause turnovers. The Cougars needed every one of the three turnovers they forced to overcome another underwhelming performance by the Cougar Offense, especially from QB Jake Heaps, whom reader ThRhett proposes has his name changed to 3rd and 10. The Cougars victory was also assisted by their first Kickoff return in 13 years. Cody Hoffman's 93 yard return responded just as the Knights had taken a 17-10 lead late in the third quarter. The other bright spot for the Cougars was the resurrection of the Running game. Coming into the game, the Cougars running game was ranked 118th in the nation. The week previous the Cougars had managed a measly 11 yards against the Utes. This week the Cougars showed an increased dedication to running the ball, and they were repaid when Brian Kariya crashed in for the game winning TD. Other than that, this was another, overall, underwhelming, bordering on bad, performance by the Cougars. The Cougars gave up 400 minus 1 yard of total offense, and even when they seemed able to contain UCF QB Godfrey from running the ball, the Knights were having no problem moving the ball through the air. On the offensive side of the ball, the Passing game was non existant. Brandon Doman, who had moved to the booth, wisely kept the ball in the running games hands as the game came down to the wire. Once again QB Jake Heaps seemed entirely overwhelmed by the game. Heaps seems uncomfortable in the pocket, and you can tell that he is afraid of the oncoming contact. This was never more apparent than when during his throwing motion he flinched as there were defenders near by. Which Team Will Get Out Of Their Own Way So the question is, which team, The Aggies, or The Cougars, will manage not shoot themselves in the foot. The Cougars are looking for revenge after last year's embarrassing debacle, while the Aggies are looking to prove last season wasn't a fluke. This year the Aggies will have to handle, what is sure to be, a revved up LaVell Edwards Stadium crowd, and their Flash Mob. There are two keys to this game. First is, can the Cougar defense handle Robert Turbin. Turbin has shown through the early part of the season, that he truly is the best RB in the state of Utah. The Cougars are 85th in the nation giving up 117 yards per game. Turbin on the season has rushed for 365 yards and 8 TD's on the season. If the Aggies can get Turbin going, it makes the rest of the offense easier for Utah State. The second key to this game, is which QB doesn't hurt his team more. The Aggies are led by True Freshman Chucky Keeton. Keeton played great, making plays against Auburn using both his legs and his arms. However as the Colorado State game started coming down to the wire, one couldn't help but wonder whether the coaching staff really trusted him, as he was only allowed to throw the ball 15 times, completing only 9 of them for 86 yards. Meanwhile for the Cougars Heaps has continued to struggle, and all of Provo goes into each week wondering if this will be the week, that the Heaps they saw at the end of last season, and during fall camp, finally makes an appearance. As each week passes with Heaps struggling, we might have to start wondering if this is the real Heaps after all. Heaps, and the BYU passing game, may be in even more trouble of WR Ross Apo, who is the only WR to catch a TD reception this season, is forced to miss the game thanks to a concussion suffered against the Knights. Both teams come into this game with their season on the brink. The Aggies are trying to get over a tough loss, and are trying to show that they are indeed ready to make the jump. The Cougars are struggling to find meaning in their season. They know they have an easy stretch of games coming up, but a victory against the Aggies might be their last chance to have a legitimate win on the season. A Pac-12 Homecoming A well needed bye week for the Utes has come and gone, and now they prepare for their Homecoming game. This is a different homecoming this season, as it also corresponds with the first ever home Pac-12 game for the Utes as the welcome the Washington Huskies into town. The Huskies are 3-1 on the season having just knocked off the Cal Bears. They are also a team with a Dr. Jekyll Offense, and a Mr. Hyde defense. Offensively, the Huskies are enjoying what happens when the QB running your system is actually able to run the system. Despite being a top 10 draft pick, Jake Locker was never really built for the system Sarkisian has wanted to run in Washington. Sophomore Keith Price has the Husky passing game clicking with 983 yards passing and 14 TD's on the season, with only 3 Interceptions. Not only are the Ute defensive backs going to be tested by the Husky air attack, the front seven will also be tested thanks to RB Chris Polk who is 2nd in the Pac 12 in rushing. Too make matters a bit more difficult, Price is also a scrambling quarterback. While scrambling he continues to look down the field for the pass. This means that Utah is going to have to make sure that when they rush the QB, they do it in a way that keeps contain, so that Price doesn't get to the corners. Defensively, the Huskies have been vulnerable. Eastern Washington, Hawaii, and Nebraska all were able to torch the Husky defense. This should give the Utes some hope. For Utah to win, they need to get John White IV going early. So far through all three games, White has shown a propensity for getting stronger as the game goes on. While that's always a great aspect to have, due to Washington's ability to score points, the Utes will need White going from the onset. This will allow some of the pressure to be taken off of Wynn. Another important aspect will be how well the OL does. Wynn has shown this season that when he gets protection, he's able to find the holes in the coverage, and deliver the ball to his WR's who will then turn it into a big play. When Wynn has been pressured, his decision making goes down. It is unclear at this time if LT Tony Bergstrom, who strained his knee against BYU, will be back for this game. It may sound like a copout, but whichever team controls the line of scrimmage the best will be the victor. Both teams must stop the run, and both teams must pressure the opposing QB to make him make mistakes. For the fans, this week is the realization of something many thought would never happen. Joining the Pac-12 has been the dream for many Utah fans ever since the Pac-8 took Arizona and Arizona State from the WAC. Many wondered if it would ever happen, especially as Utah struggled for any recognition in the late 80's. As Utah rebuilt their program, and eventually busted the BCS, twice, there was always that bit of disrespect that comes with the Non-AQ label. Now that label is gone, and fans in Utah get to enjoy their first home game in a "big boy" league. The culmination of the process started with Ron McBride finally comes to fruition. The Inevitable Has Happened Back when the Utes were in the Mountain West, I spent many a time wondering how in the world the New Mexico Lobos hadn't yet fired Mike Locksley. Locksley replaced Rocky Long has head coach. Long had success for the Lobos, Locksley not so much. To make matters worse, not only id Locklsey's Lobos suck off the field, but his tenure was field with off the field distactions, including a physical confrontation with an assistant coach and an instance of sexual harrasment with a secretary. Finally after losing to Div. 1-AA Sam Houston State, on the same weekend that a recruit was caught drinking and driving in a car owned by Locksley, the Lobos had enough, and fired him, bringing to an end his 2-26 career. It's too bad, it was always enjoyable to make fun of the disaster he had wrought. Programming Update Some programming updates for both the Utes and the Cougars this week. For the Utes, the game on October 8th against Arizona State has been announced as a kickoff of 1:30 p.m mountain time. This game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports, channel 683 on DirectTV, 414 on Dish and 52 on Comcast. The Sun Devils are coming off of a dismantling of the USC Trojans, and the game against the Utes is considered by many to be the game to determine the Pac-12 South, so Utah fans plan now to be there and ready for the earlier kick. For the Cougars, their game against San Jose State on the 8th will be a little bit later. ESPN has announced that the game will be televised on ESPU (Channel 208 on DirectTV, unsure about Dish and Comcast.) It will also have a late kickoff of 8:15. Unfortunately for Cougar fans, these late games may become the norm this season, especially if they continue to struggle. But here is a question for everyone. The typical Football game runs about three hours and thirty minutes. If it's a close game, an overtime game, or a sloppy game with lots of penalties and incomplete passes, games can run longer. So what happens if this game runs past the three hour forty five minute mark, forcing BYU to play on Sunday? Trackbacks
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