A much belated Air Force recap

Well la-dee freakin da!!! Turns out Google finally decided to let me log into my own account that I use to run this here website after a few days of issues that wouldn't allow me to do but two things; Jack and Shit... and Jack left town.

I promise that soon these recaps will start coming after games, or at least the next day, rather than half a week later...

Anyway, let's just get right at it.

SUMMARY
Matt Wells gets his first win in emphatic fashion, going into a tough place to play against a tough team and demolishing them. He may have been outcoached at Utah, but Wells was the guy doing the outcoaching in this one. Every adjustment that needed to be made for the second half was indeed made. 

Most impressive is how much the Aggies dominated the third quarter. That didn't happen much last year, and certainly didn't happen against Utah. The pass coverage in the first half was clown shoes at best, but it at least got its shit together in the second half. Still very very concerned about what they're going to do moving forward, because if they continue like the trend has been through two games, a few teams are going to torch them in a bad way.

NOTES

 - Penalties... Those need to be cleaned up. There were some pretty god-awful calls out there, because apparently a team's welcome present to the Mountain West Conference is a middle finger and a bunch of yellow flags. Still, they could do much better.

 - Speaking of penalties though, that whole "Illegal Snap" call was an absolute lifesaver for USU. The defense was gassed as could be after two long drives by Air Force, the second of which came on an Aggie turnover. That gave them much-needed extra rest as the offense sustained a lengthy drive into the quarter break.

 - Wide receivers were great again. Blow away by this unit so far.

 - Also, that Chuckie Keeton kid is alright.

 - Jake Doughty had another monster game, as did Zach Vigil.

 - A sneaky great game from Eric Schultz too. Seemed like every third play he had his guy buried in the dirt.

 - Still waiting for Joe Hill to mercilessly slay opposing defenses... Also still believe that he will

AH HELL!!! You saw the game. Blame Google for this taking so long to come. Weber State this week. Be there.

After taking time to make sense of it all...

I had myself prepped to deal with a loss against the Utes. Hell, I pretty much predicted it. Still, that one stung, and that sting kept me from wanting to write any kind of post game.

But in honor of me finally putting on an actual shirt for the first time since Thursday night, I figure it's time to recap things from last Thursday.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Both of these teams are good. Very good even. Utah's defense was about as good as expected, while their offense executed fantastically. Travis Wilson showed all kinds of flashes of the potential that made him such a highly rated recruit. And along with him was a receiving group that was also as good as advertised, as were their tight ends. I'm not sure USU is going to face another team this year that has an all-around passing attack possessing the quality of quarterback, receivers, and tight ends that Utah has.

Still, the USU defense wasn't as great as they should have been. I can understand Utah getting a few of those deep passes like they did, but not THAT many. Before this game I had concern about the pass coverage abilities of the USU safeties, but that was really only due to having not seen them do it very effectively yet, mainly Mo Alexander. After that game, the concern is now due to having seen them struggle in that area. In Alexander's defense, he still had 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two pass breakups. So imagine if he locks down that pass coverage aspect of things?

But the safeties were not the only concern. The pass rush wasn't quite what I'd hoped it would be, and Wilson made full use of that. Also, how did Rashard Stewart not get more snaps? I'm not sure I saw him on the field once. After that camp he had, that blows my mind.

WHERE THINGS WENT WRONG
The pass coverage and pass pressure was bad. The run stopping was as good as advertised until the later end of the fourth quarter when the defense had to have been gassed as hell from spending the entire second half on the field.

Three things really shot this game in the foot for the Aggies though...

3. Chuckie Keeton's cramp deep in the red zone
The Utah defense took the field on that play with Craig Harrison in at quarterback knowing with 100 percent certainty that they could sell out on the run. And they did. And it crushed that drive for the Aggies. A touchdown there might have broken their backs, instead the Utes kept USU out of the end zone and themselves in the game.

2. Nick Diaz's missed PAT
Seriously, how the hell does this keep happening? The later minutes of that game are a totally different story if the game is 27-27 and Utah has to play FOR the lead rather than to KEEP the lead. That is piss f***ing poor to miss a PAT in that situation. Not to say the Aggies would have surely won, but the way both teams would have played things out in a tie would have been different than if one has a late lead at home.

1. The onsides kick...
The USU offense was absolutely rolling from the start of the second quarter all the way into the third. So when the Utes finally broke through for a score of their own, they had a little bit of the momentum back. Whittingham has the balls to try an onsides kick in situations to swing momentum heavily his direction. He went for it and got it, and that momentum was completely in the hands of his team after that. 

SUMMARY
The Aggies got outplayed when it mattered, and outcoached for the early and late parts of the game. Not entirely unexpected with a rookie coach in one of the toughest games of the year. Utah is very good and USU should be able to take plenty from this game, just not a win unfortunately.

We saw how good USU can be in certain areas, as well as where they need to improve.

NOTES

 - Chuckie Keeton was simply spectacular... He did everything we knew he was capable of and more. That was probably one of the three toughest defenses he'll face this year, so go ahead and be excited about what else he'll do this year.

 - The wide receivers stepped up. Huge even. Major props to them as an entire unit for what they did last Thursday. Travis Van Leeuwen was the reliable target all over the place that Chuckie needed, Jojo Natson was like USU's own personal Wes Welker and a first down machine, all while Brandon Swindall stepped up as the red zone threat this team needed. Fantastic work by this bunch. If the running game gets going, this offense will be stellar all over again.

 - The top three linebackers lit up the stat sheet like you'd expect... Jake Doughty racked up 16 tackles, Zach Vigil had 10 tackles, half a sack, and a forced fumble, and Kyler Fackrell had eight tackles, two TFLs, a sack, and a forced fumble.

 - Terrell Thompson however, did not register any statistics... That's not okay.

 - Joe Hill was okay, but didn't really make a significant impact. I want to believe he can be close to as good as Kerwynn Williams, but I still haven't seen Hill's ability to bounce off tacklers like KW could. And while I believe Hill has better top-end speed than Williams does, he doesn't accelerate nearly as quick as Kerwynn. In fairness to Hill, Williams also struggled to get big yards against some of the better defenses faced last year, so I'm eager to see what Hill can do against Air Force. 

Utes are still an uphill battle for the Aggies

Poke your head around the internet. It seems like a whole lot of Utah State fans have got a win on Thursday for the Aggies written in ink. After an 11-2 season in 2012, returning a ton of talent on both sides of the ball, and a win over the Utes in the second game of last year, you can understand where that excitement is coming from.

If you ask me though, this is still an uphill fight for the Aggies. Here's why...

1. HISTORY
Not going to dive any further back than last year with the history of the series. Neither team's current state is at all reflective of where they were even just three years ago.

Post-training camp grades: Defense

Part 3 of 3: Defense

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships, yada yada yada...

Look at USU football in the Andersen/Wells era though. The offense was very good from the start back in 2009 with the likes of Robert Turbin, Diondre Borel, and Stanley Morrison racking up stellar numbers and putting up points. 2010 wasn't as great with the injuries to pretty much everyone who mattered. But in 2011, the offense was back at it.

As good as the offense was though, USU only racked up a combined record of 15-22 from 2009-11. Put in an elite defense, and the 2012 Aggies win 11 games and a WAC championship. No other evidence is really needed. So let's get at the grades after camp.

Post-training camp grades: Offense

Part 2 of 3: Offense

OFFENSIVE LINE
Where it all begins for the offense, and USU has five returning starters. This unit is anchored by a trio of stars in Jamie Markosian, Eric Schultz, and Tyler Larsen; all three guys earned all-WAC honors last season. Kyle and Kevin Whimpey took huge steps forward as the season rolled on in 2012, and while both might be better suited as interior linemen, Kevin still was solid enough at left tackle by season's end.
Depth is still a big question here, and I'm still crossing fingers that Kevin Whimpey can handle some of the bigger guns around the edge that the early part of the schedule will test him with, but there's no doubting the prowess of five returning starters.

Preseason grade: A-

Post-training camp grades: Special teams

Training camp is wrapped up and game week is upon us. There's a crazy amount of excitement going around, and why the hell not? But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in excitement when you see an impressive product in practice.

Seeing weaknesses and imperfections gets a little bit harder though. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and give an honest critique of what I've seen through camp and break down every position group and give them a preseason grade. So let's get at it!

Part 1 of 3: Special teams

KICKERS
This one worries me a little bit, simply because it seems that Nick Diaz hasn't solidified the job he had locked down to finish last season. Diaz was 10-of-13 last season with one blocked kick and two misses appearing to be centered, just without enough leg. He still hit 5-of-7 from beyond 40 yards, including a season-best 53-yarder.
Josh Thompson seems to always perform in practice, but has connected on just 10-of-16 field goals for his career, including only 8-of-14 from inside 40-yards. He's also missed two PATs in his career, which is concerning as to why Diaz hasn't been dubbed the clear-cut favorite. Younger brother Jake Thompson could very well be the guy for kickoff duties with his strong leg.
We've seen Diaz excel before and the job should remain his. The uncertainty hurts the grade for this position though.

Preseason grade: C+
_____

PUNTERS
The only name you need to know here is Jaron Bentrude. The job is his and he's looked solid in camp just like he did during spring practice. There's been a few flubs here and there, but his kicks have been booming at times. Now it's all about consistency.

Preseason grade: B
_____

KICK RETURNERS
This one is full of intrigue. A whole bunch of guys took reps in this role during camp and based on what I saw, I think this team has plenty of people capable of filling in for the fine job done here by Chuck Jacobs last season. The two I liked the most were Tay Glover-Wright and Travis Reynolds. We all know about Reynolds' athleticism and if he has room to run, he's a safe bet to produce.
Glover-Wright is who I like the most here though. Watching him run I feel like he has the potential to be the Devin Hester of the Mountain West Conference. His athleticism is just freaking ridiculous.
Kennedy Williams is one other X-factor here, and considering the success his brother had as a kick returner early in his career, it's not outlandish to think Kennedy could thrive too after the camp he's had.
Any of those three would be good bets, but I like The Hyphen best. Regardless, the outlook here seems bright.

Preseason grade: B+
_____

PUNT RETURNERS
Cam Webb was the perfect possession-oriented punt returner last season. With the right protection on punt returns, this season could see a higher average return than 8.8 yards from the team's go-to punt returner. This is another role where a handful of guys saw reps, but the three that stood out to me most were Jojo Natson, Travis Van Leeuwen, and Kennedy Williams. Van Leeuwen would be the safe bet kind of guy, much like Webb was, and that's not a bad thing at all. Natson and Williams are similar in that they accelerate quickly, have good speed, and crazy agility.
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Natson, just because his hands seem more proven in catching the ball. Any of the three would do fine though.

Preseason grade: B-
_____

LONGSNAPPERS
This one is completely on lockdown by Nate Needham. Not really any question about things here either. Dude is solid all-around.

Preseason grade: A 

Separation starts showing in second scrimmage

Felt good to be back at the stadium watching the Aggies after a weekend getaway for this guy. Without being able to see the first scrimmage, I can't really speak to what improved since then, but I can comment on plenty more that I saw and liked.

So let's get right to it...

• Not that this was a secret to anybody, but Chuckie Keeton is good. He's really good. And he's getting better playing against this defense. He sees the field so much better than he did even a year ago, he adjusts to throws with defenders crashing in on him, and he still knows when to tuck it and run. He was spectacular on Wednesday.
• Wide receivers looked as good as they have all camp. Jojo Natson looked like Keeton's favorite target, consistently getting open and doing things with the ball once he had it. His size will always be a disadvantage, but he still looks very much like he knows what he's doing out there. Hayden Weichers had a few nice grabs too, including the longest catch of the day when he broke loose over the middle for a 42-yard catch. This unit still has a ways to go before I could say I'm fully confident in them, but the improvement is quite noticeable.
• The second team defense had Jeremy Morris and Tay Glover-Wright at cornerback. From that, you can take it that Rashard Stewart currently has a hold on the spot opposite Lawson on the first team. Still, for how well Morris has performed in camp, and with Tay Swoosh being Tay Swoosh, that position is really damn good!
• Hadn't really heard or seen much from sophomore linebacker Torrey Green, but he had a pair of plays that stood out pretty well. On one, he hulked his way through the line for a tackle for loss, and on the next chased down the ballcarrier all the way to the sideline with some pretty good speed. Somebody to definitely keep an eye on in the future.
• Tyler Larsen didn't play much, and it's not tough to imagine why. Without him though, Jamie Markosian was the backup center of choice, with Sini Tauauve'a sliding into his spot at left guard... just in case you're curious about the actual two-deep on the offensive line.
• This year's camp has seemed like it's had a lot more downs than ups for Jeff Manning, but Wednesday he looked totally dialed-in! His throws were pretty on point, and were it not for one drop and a deep ball that Brock Bird should've had but seemed to kind of just give up on, Manning would have 5-of-5 passes. Been saying it all along about the kid's potential, and today he finally showed a little bit of it.
• Darrell Garretson on the other hand was all over the place. The speed of a college practice seems to still be overwhelming to him, and it shows.
• Three sacks for Kyler Fackrell... Kid ain't bad.

That's all for Wednesday's scrimmage. Let's do it again on Saturday!

Practice moves over to Romney Stadium on Tuesday

To calm a lot of people's nerves, Tuesday marked the first sighting of wide receiver Ronald Butler practicing with the team. Due to the rules stating that players must have x-amount of practices before adding shoulder pads, and then full pads after that, Butler was limited in what he do, but it appears everything is sorted out now.

Things are starting to look more crisp all around as guys look to have the bulk of their rust shaken off after a few practices. Now with contact entering the mix, you can see just how competitive so many of these guys are. Even after some plays are blown dead, you'll see ballcarriers still running, while defenders are still trying to stop them, and both sides trying to get the best of one another. Things get a little chippy at times, but after those little shoving matches are over, you've still got two guys competing at a high level. Pretty alright if you ask me.

Shoulder pads enter the mix for third practice

On day one of practice, the theme was mostly to get a feel of where guys were and see how they progress as camp rolls along. Monday in the third practice of camp, shoulder pads entered the mix, along with a light amount of contact.

There's still obviously plenty to keep an eye and position battles to be won throughout camp, but there are still observations to be had. So here's what I spotted on Monday...

• Alex Wheat looked okay when camp opened on Friday. Monday, Wheat looked like the best of all the wideouts. He's practicing hard, catching balls, and even made a few very eye-opening catches in one-on-one drills against the cornerbacks. Much like how Rashard Stewart was the my star of Friday's practice, I'd dub Wheat as Monday's overall standout.

First practice is in the books

Took my own picture for once

Finding too much excitement in a first practice is something I was guilty of in my younger years. These days though, I've learned well enough that a first practice is exactly that, and shouldn't come with too much excitement or worry. There are a lot more practices to go and plenty that can change.

Still, there are observations to at least be had and impressions to take away. What is exciting to keep an eye on is if the good aspects can be sustained and if the sore spots can be improved upon.

So after a day of casually observing the first practice, which only included helmets, here's some bullet points...

Training camp opens in year one of the Matt Wells era

The self-imposed (or self-enjoyed) summer hiatus is complete. The Sagebrush Spot is back!

With football beginning practice Friday, there is finally some good, solid, hard news and excitement to write about. It's been a long summer, filled with plenty of laziness (or rather, not filled with much at all)... Let's just get right down to what's on my mind as camp opens.

PRESEASON TOP 25 VOTES
No big surprise here, just pretty cool to actually see it. I've got to think that if Andersen was still here, we'd have fallen somewhere in the 22-25 range, but hey... Start the season with a few wins, and Wells could suddenly be steering the ship of a top 25 team early in his first season.

Utah is going to be a tough-as-hell win to pull off, but if this team can do it, that right there might grab enough attention to climb into the top 25 if a few teams in front of USU lose/struggle.

USU basketball adding another point guard

Oh hey! Bet you didn't think this website still existed, did you? Sometimes we all need a nice little 19-day break, and I just might take another one of those soon. With the bulk of Spring football practices taking place not long after I usually go to bed (and certainly long before I wake up), getting reports on those hasn't exactly been doable for this guy.

But with news starting to come about in some places, as well as Saturday's Spring Football game looming large, there's suddenly things to write about.

Leading off the news is the verbal commitment of another player in basketball's 2013 class with point guard Viko Noma'aea.

Noma'aea was a 2011 high school graduate and first-team all-state basketball selection in the State of Nevada. He averaged 17.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and five assists per game during his senior season at Sierra Vista High School.

First football scrimmage looks like a first scrimmage

There's always a difference between running the team drills in practice and actually getting out in a competitive scenario like a scrimmage. So with this being the first scrimmage of the spring, there was undoubtedly going to be some rust. But that's about where we are every year around this point. This is where the team finds its kinks and starts really sharpening things.

I don't want to go reading too much into things that didn't go well, or getting overly excited about guys who put together a noteworthy performance. It was a first scrimmage. Plenty can change between here and April 20 and plenty likely will. Even after that, a lot more will likely change over the summer too.

Let's just bullet point some observations...

Gotta get down on Friday

There's still plenty going on in the college basketball world, and even some football finally! Even aside from football and the Big Dance, there's a little bit more that people seem to be talking about that it seems worth chiming in on, so I'm going to.

It's Friday, so we'll try and keep it short... (*UPDATE: failed miserably in the "keep it short" department. Read anyway so you can become smarter).

RUN AND GUN = ONE AND DONE?
Of the 16 teams to win on Thursday, only four of them rank in the top 100 nationally in possessions per game. Nine of those Thursday winners rank in the 200s or below in that category. In other words, making your possessions count for something is generally more valuable than running, gunning, and banking on getting more possessions in a game.

Obviously the sample size is small, and maybe this will all change come tomorrow. But it's still interesting to note at least. 

What to watch for during spring ball: Defense edition

Yesterday we ran down things to watch for and players to keep an eye on over on the offensive side of the ball. Today it's the defense's turn with part two of this spring primer for things you're going to want to be on the lookout for if you hit up any practices.

Let's get to it...

Defensive line

 - Much like the offensive line, this unit has a handful of seniors. The likes of Ricky Ali'ifua, Tryn Mesarch, and Eric Berntson need to show they're capable of pushing for reps as soon as this season.
 - No Al Lapuaho anymore, but given what both B.J. Larsen and Jordan Nielsen showed to be capable of last season, there might not be much of a dip here, if any. These two should both be providing plenty of quarterback pressure in the scrimmages this spring. How they do against the run is what they've got to prove they can do as well as Lapuaho.

What to watch for during spring ball: Offense edition

Here come the Aggies!!!

Chuckie Keeton is going to be the quarterback, the linebackers are a dynamite unit, and the offensive line returns all five starters.

Those are things we know to start spring football, among several other things, but there's plenty left out there that we should hope to see settled by April 20. At the very least, we should be hoping to see some guys step up and impress the coaches to give an idea about who will compete for the open position battles before fall camp.

So here's part one of a two-part series of what and who to keep a close eye on during spring football in 2013. Today is offense. Let's get at it!

Giving basketball a look ahead to 2013-14

Spring football got underway today, which is pretty freaking exciting! But there won't be shoulder pads in the mix for a couple more days, and not a whole lot to report in the department, so I'm going to hold off on talking about that until after Thursday when they practice in the afternoon and we can all go and get ourselves and nice, personal look at things.

In the meantime, let's give some quick takes on USU basketball's current forecast of how next season could play out with personnel. Obviously things could change a little bit between now and maybe the middle of summer, but my guess is it would be minimal.

On paper, USU looks to be in pretty decent shape for next year, assuming they can stay healthy this next time around. It's worth taking a quick look at, so let's hit these positions really quick.

The dust settles on unlucky 13

Selection Sunday came and went, and at no point was Utah State's name announced.

This feels anything but normal, but given the circumstances, I can't say it really feels all that upsetting either. Utah State was offered a bid in the College Basketball Invitational, which is a step up even from last year's inclusion in the CIT. But with half the team injured already, exhaustion undoubtedly having set in for the team, and a couple other nagging injuries among the last men still standing, the bid was turned down.

Most of me is happy with this decision. The guys have already had to give so much more into this season than players should ever have to, and with some players enduring injuries already, the risk is awfully great.

Were it not for Marcel Davis and Spencer Butterfield battling their nagging injuries, I'd say go for it. See if this team has one last epic fight in them. And I bet they'd be eager for the chance to step into the ring and keep fighting too. Can't fault Stew for wanting to protect his guys though.

Disappointment aside, I don't know how or why any sane person wouldn't be proud as hell of this team! They endured one player quitting, watching a teammate nearly die, another player quitting, a superstar getting injured, another superstar getting injured minutes later, and watching one player get carried off the bench to the locker room, later ending up in the hospital. And that's just the trials that involved personnel changes to the roster for periods of time.

Playing into unexpectedly heightened roles, moving to unfamiliar positions, and playing through nagging injuries were just condiments on the s*** sandwich that was served to Utah State basketball in 2013.

It obviously leaves one to wonder what 2013 could have been like had the roster not continually imploded throughout the year. At the same time, these guys are all going to be better moving forward because of what they endured during this hellacious season. And with the Mountain West in next year's sights, that experience is going to be huge!

Aggies ride a big red dog to victory on senior night

Utah State opened WAC play this season with a four-point win over UTSA, with Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed combining for 33 points. Ben Clifford and Tenale Roland weren't really factors in that game either, combining for only three points. So with that in mind, this game looked like a potentially dangerous one.

Nobody told the Aggies though...

USU came out, slowly built a small lead, slowly built on that lead, and slowly twisted the knife on the Roadrunners throughout the entire game.

It was all Clifford and Spencer Butterfield in the first half, with the two of them combining for 23 of USU's 25 points. Clifford kept on pwning n00bs in the second half, with Roland, Jarred Shaw, and even Matt Lopez getting in on the scoring.

When it all came down to it, the Aggies just kind of dominated in every area in this game. The bulk of those details are worthy of bullet points, so let's cut the crap and get to it!

NOTES

•  22 assists to only 10 turnovers!!! Happy happy, joy joy.
• Nine blocks for the team. It seems like they've been blocking the hell out of teams lately, which I'm just fine seeing more of!
• Oh hi Matt Lopez! Very nice to see you! Eight points on 4-4 shooting with two rebounds and two blocks in only six minutes will do just fine! Again, happy happy, joy joy!
• Spencer Butterfield only had three rebounds, which drops his rebounding average over the last two games to only 11.5 per game. Throw in 14 points and five assists and you've got another solid game, but really what else would you expect from him?
• Jarred Shaw seemed content to let Clifford steal the show down low tonight, but still finished with 11 points and nine boards. Next week is time for Shaw to really kick things into FYM, and remind everyone else in the WAC that he is Jarred Shaw, and they are not.
• Not a bad showing once again from Tenale Roland. He's really been a completely new player out there ever since Bracketbuster weekend. Scored 14 points (all in the second half), pulled down six boards, dished three assists, and even had a block.
• Marvin Jean's 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block are all pretty good looking. His 1-8 shooting is not. He badly needs to find his shot again because he can be a major X-factor going into next week if he gets hot.

SENIOR NIGHT - KYISEAN REED

It was heart-wrenching to have to bid farewell to this team's lone senior without him being able to suit up. It was the second year in a row too that a senior wasn't able to play because of injury. But for what it's worth, it looked like Kyisean was smiling for a lot of the game, and just seemed to be happy to be there with his teammates.

Everything about this dude just bleeds character. Whether it's how far he developed his game from last season to this one, to the reports of how good a student he has been at USU, there's nothing you could not like about this guy.

We'll be left to only wonder forever how much different this season could have been with him for these last couple months, and how special a moment there might have been if he'd thrown down one last high-flying dunk on his senior night.

Basketball aside, dude is going places in life. And even though his time was cut way too short, I know I'm not alone when I say I'm damn proud that Kyisean Reed is an Aggie!

Player of the Game: Ben Clifford

With 11 first-half points, it looked like Ben Clifford would finally break his previous career-high of 14 points. Turns out he shattered that, going off for 21 points to go with eight boards, three assists, and three blocks. All-around great game from him, but maybe most impressive was the ways in which he scored. Posting up, finishing on a fast break, hitting mid-range jumpers; all of it was a showing of how dangerous he can be as a player. He may never be a superstar, but he's been pretty steadily dependable through two full regular seasons now, and it looks like these major minutes he's been playing will really pay off down the road.

Aggies load up the statsheet for win No. 20

After that abysmal showing against Arlington last week that not even I could bear to write about, USU bounced the hell back on Thursday against probably the WAC's worst team. And even though Texas State is a total patsy, the Aggies pretty thoroughly dominated them, which is what they needed to do in this one.

The finish by USU pretty damn awful, but that's sort of tradition when the Aggies have a late lead. It seems like if the team is down big, they're the ones making the strong push late, and if they're up big, all basketball ability seems to vacate.

A win is a win though, and some of the numbers put up are pretty encouraging. Let's bullet point the rest.

Let's never talk about this night again...

This song seems to have the kind of somber feel that is going on right now... So if you care for music while you read, click ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj75Arhq5ho

If any Aggie fans told themselves at any point recently that it couldn't possibly get worse, the universe just delivered them a hearty bitch slap.

From the start, USU wasn't in this game. The eternal optimist in me hoped that maybe they could climb out of a massive hole much like they did back in a 2007 game against Oral Roberts to pull off a hard-earned win against the odds.

Basketball recruiting picking up for USU

With only one senior on this year's basketball roster and already three players locked in from the fall signing class, most everyone had assumed the Aggies were done recruiting for the 2013 class.

Not so fast though...

Last week, Stew Morrill got another commitment for the 2013 class, and then another over this weekend for the 2014 recruiting class. So let's run down what we know so far!

JOJO MCGLASTON - 6'4 shooting guard

Rumor had it before the New Mexico State game that the coaching staff wanted this guy pretty badly. Described by one person as a smaller Kyisean Reed, McGlaston is a stud athlete who can get way up in the air and shoot the deep ball. He's got a quick highlight reel here that you should see. 

Someone with his athleticism should be able to score the ball in a handful of ways, but maybe more importantly, become a lockdown defender. If nothing else, he appears to be in the mold of the kinds of athletes that Utah State will want as the Aggies move to the Mountain West next year.

Bracketbuster Saturday brings out Aggies' best

It's somewhat becoming a trend that post game write-ups from those Saturday games are going to come around much later than others. That whole "Saturday night" thing just gets in the way. You know how it goes.

But how about them Aggies, eh?

More and more these guys are looking like a strong, determined, cohesive unit. The kind the could catch some fire and shock somebody come WAC Tournament time. The weak points of this team seem to be shrinking, while the strengths are getting stronger.

And Saturday's game against Illinois State might have been the best example of it all yet this year. As has often been the case since this became an eight-man team, these guys won by playing pure Stew Morrill basketball. Good shooting, tough defense, sharing the ball, etc.

Aggies beaten at the buzzer again.

SHIT!!!

Not much else needs to be said.

Missed 3-pointers, missed free throws, and too many turnovers cost the Aggies their first win in Provo since the 2004-05 season.

NOTES

• Officiating took all the fun out of this game for quite a while. In their defense, both teams were playing aggressive as hell. A lot of those fouls were legit, and plenty other were very weak. It put guys from both teams in major foul trouble, which is a huge disadvantage for USU being pretty much a seven-man team right now. 51 total fouls called... It was annoying.
• Giving up an offensive rebound to give BYU that final possession is inexcusable. Should have been the Aggies looking to get off a shot in that spot.
• Jordan Stone was an absolute man out there. Easily the best he's looked in his career, scoring nine points, grabbing three rebounds, dishing two assists, and blocking four shots. Just as important, he never looked nervous or out of control with the ball.
• There's plenty of good and bad on the stat lines for both Spencer Butterfield and Marvin Jean. On the bright side, the combined for 32 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists. Down side is 4-16 shooting from deep, and eight turnovers. All things considered, they played well. Certainly well enough to win, but the defense by BYU was in their faces in to make things difficult.
• Speaking of turnovers, 18 on the game is bad. In games of this caliber, you can't do that and expect to win. Way too many of them can as a result of taking unnecessary risks too. That's got to be fixed by the WAC Tournament if this upset special has a chance of happening.
• Jarred Shaw vs. Brandon Davies was one of the big storylines going into this one. Shaw won that battle without question.
• USU shooting 17-27 from the free throw line is the difference maker in this game. If they had just made 74 percent of their free throws, USU wins.
• Marcel Davis needed to be more of a factor in this one. For how well he's been playing, it's tough to hold much of anything against him. Zero assists though is at least a tiny bit troubling.
• Tyler Haws just seems to be a whiny little bitch. Dude is incredibly talented, but just seems to be all-around unlikeable. I was never able to say the same about that other high-scoring guard who's playing for the Kings now, at least not based on my limited interaction with him via front row heckling.
• In maybe the biggest bit of irony of all time, BYU students chanted "Rogain" at an opposing player... In other words, fuck them and their bubble.
  
• All things considered, it's a hell of a fight put up by the Aggies. No moral victories though. USU should have won this one in Provo. Second loss at the buzzer in a week is brutal too.

Todd Orlando joins on as USU defensive coordinator

Two months after being hired on as head football coach, Matt Wells finally has his defensive coordinator. And by the looks of things, it was worth the wait! Wells had said something along the lines of, "Why make a good hire today when I could make a great one tomorrow?"

After losing a defensive coordinator responsible for leading one of the best defenses in the country in Dave Aranda, the pressure was on to make this hire count, and from looking at things, this appears to be a home run!

Todd Orlando joins the staff, adding what looks to be another defensive ace to the mix. In his career he's coached a top 10 defense in two different seasons, been in the top 30 another time, been to a BCS bowl, and spent the majority of his career coaching at a level on par with what the Mountain West looks to be.

Orlando's time at Connecticut should bring a handful of new recruiting ties to areas around the Big East, or at least what used to be the Big East. More importantly though, his two years at Florida International should bring a little bit more to work with from one of the most crucial recruiting areas in the country.

For right now, not a ton is known about Orlando or his coaching style, but more will likely surface in the coming weeks, or at worst, by the time spring practices are underway. To have someone with his track record to go along with the returning talent on the defense, it looks like an all-around great hire.

With Orlando handling the defensive coordinator duties, as well as coaching safeties, the only position coach still needed is a running backs coach and the staff will be complete.

Shaw plays the role of the warden. Good Aggies win!

Rivalry games... Gotta love em!

There's just something about that feeling of pure hate when you see that opposing team even warming up. It's like a whole new reminder of what you despise when you finally see them in person. Then it seems like pretty much everything they do just pisses you off more.

But a 19-5 lead can quickly turn all anger into joy, and that's what Utah State built early against New Mexico State. Then things suddenly took a swing into NMSU's favor, and it seemed to coincide with when Sim Bhullar went to the bench. After Jarred Shaw established early on that he was going to attack Bhullar down low and make him respect the mid-range jumper as well, Bhullar was largely ineffective. Shaw's mobility was the biggest advantage (outside of actual talent) that he had over Bhullar, and that was the difference maker in the paint.

Really outside of that run NMSU made following the 19-5 lead and the last minute of the second half, the Good Aggies never really seemed to lack total control of this game. They moved the ball well, shot well, limited turnovers, were aggressive while staying out of foul trouble... Pretty much everything a team needs to do to win against a bigger, faster opponent.

I only say "pretty much" because of how bad that last minute of play was for USU. I can't imagine managing that all any worse than they did. Tenale Roland looked like he was completely unaware of the 10-second rule, dribbling backwards more often than forward. And the team as a whole was way too content to just hold on to the ball in the face of a trap. And then the one time they get it up court, it ends up in the hands of Jordan Stone, sending him to the free throw line for the front-end of a 1-and-1 (which you could guess how that one ended up).

Valentine's Day heartbreak in overtime

The Valentine's Day heartbreaker

My biggest compliment about Utah State's play in the last few games is that they've been playing tough defense, efficient offense, and really just all-around Stew Ball.

Denver does all those things too though, and their team is healthy, so we knew this was going to be a tough one.

To Utah State's credit, there were a handful of times where it looked like this game was on the verge of getting away from them, but the Aggies manned up and kept it within reach.

REGULATION ENDING
The Aggies gave themselves plenty of chances to come out winners tonight. Most of those chances came at the free throw line, and unfortunately, they struggled pretty badly from there.

A-train keeps rolling at San Jose State

Hey look! A picture of a train!

This one was never even close...

For the past few games now, USU is playing pure Stew Ball. The Aggies are shooting great from the field, keeping opponents' field goal percentages down, and even cutting down on turnovers quite a bit from where they've been for the bulk of this year.

The end result? A team who many would criticize as being undersized and athletically inferior going out and dominating teams that might look better on paper. Stew Ball at it's finest.

If you're not falling madly in love with this team right now, I'm not sure you'll ever be satisfied

63-36, final.

Up next is the biggest weekend of games of the year, with the roadie to BYU coming up after that. Let's just go ahead and call these next three games "The Reckoning".

Utah State scores on Signing Day 2013

Changing of coaches and changing of hearts were the big stories of the last month and a half of recruiting for Utah State football. This year was different in the sense that the Aggies had a whole bunch of commits already pretty early in the football season, rather than things going down to the wire.

And despite the coaching change for USU, pretty much every recruit without family ties to members of the Wisconsin coaching staff held true to their commitment to Utah State.

Maybe above all else though, this recruiting class looks to contain a lot more players highly-recruited than we've seen in years' past. Rather than beating out upper-level FCS teams and bottom-tier non-BCS schools for recruits, the Aggies won a handful of recruiting battles against upper-level Mountain West schools and even some quality BCS conference programs.

THE RECRUITS
If you've followed this at all, you're probably pretty up to speed on the names of everyone joining the program.

If not, here's the official list from Utah State Athletics: OFFICIAL SIGNING LIST

Or if you want a list including some other players who are known to have verbally committed, but either have not yet signed, or are headed straight to missions, USUfans.com has another detailed list with some more key names on it: USUfans SIGNING/COMMIT LIST

KEY POSITIONS
This time last year, myself and plenty others were left wondering a few things come signing day, namely why certain positions weren't being recruited more, while others seemed to have an absurd amount of guys at those positions. Then we went 11-2 and everything worked out just fine, so this year I'm just going to keep it all positive.

Rather than break down every individual recruit, let's touch on some key positions that I'm feeling good about.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Things were great at the top for the O-line last year, with arguably the two best offensive linemen in the WAC in Eric Schultz and Tyler Larsen, while Jamie Markosian wasn't far behind. Depth was much more of an issue, perhaps not evidenced any better than in what Wisconsin's defensive ends did to Kevin Whimpey. And while the protection on the blind side got better throughout the year, the lack of other viable options to plug in there was a concern.

Returning all five starters for 2013 is a huge plus, but four of them will be seniors, meaning the pressure will soon be heavily on a lot of these young guys. Joe Malanga and Tyshon Mosely are the two who seemed to garner the most attention in the recruiting scene, with each receiving plenty of interest from some PAC-12 teams. Cody Boyer, Andrew Chen, and Brandon Taukeiaho each should have the potential to step up and make a name for themselves too.

This is a spot that needs a few of these young guys, as well as guys from last year's signing class to really make an impact in practice this year to give coaches some confidence to plug them right in come 2014.

WIDE RECEIVER
With Matt Austin and Chuck Jacobs gone, the team badly needed to fill those voids. Guys like Travis Reynolds, Travis Van Leeuwen, and Jojo Natson will all be counted on to step up, but to completely fill the roles of Austin and Jacobs is a hell of a lot to handle.

Both Ryan Watson and Ronald Butler could be big time players next season, so the quick solution to things is with those two. As far as the future is concerned, Hayden Weichers has blazing speed that could see him eventually filling a similar deep-threat role that we saw in Jacobs the last two years. Tyler Fox is an all-around good athlete as well, who could easily be another player much like Reynolds.

DEFENSIVE BACK
Will Davis, McKade Brady, and Terrence Alston were all regulars in the defensive backfield last season. Jumanne Robertson also graduates, while Quinton Byrd's status isn't 100 percent clear for next season. Regardless, these positions needed a little bit of experience brought into the mix, but also some trust put into the younger guys on the roster (looking at you Rashard Stewart, Ladale Jackson, and Devin Centers).

Adding two junior college defensive backs in Marwin Evans and Jeremy Morris is big, and if I'm taking guesses, Evans will be opening the season at free safety. Morris should fill right in for Alston as the nickle corner, with Devonte Glover-Wright expected to fill the shoes of Willy-D. \

Myron Turner is a guy who could turn out a whole lot better than anyone expected given his recruiting situation. Often times, once a player commits somewhere like he did to Washington State, the media attention stops on any national level. Stay tuned with him. As for Zach Swenson, he's got a big body already, and after a couple years of spreading the good word he should be nice and mature to make an impact in the future for this team.

TIGHT END
Short and sweet on this one... Both Wyatt Houston and Dax Raymond have great size, and appear to have great all-around ability. One comes here right away, one goes off on a mission to spread their eligibility out. Tight end has become a pretty crucial position for this offense, so to keep on bringing in guys with good size for blocking and plenty of pass catching ability, that's huge!

SUMMARY
Plenty of other potential stars in this mix, not to mention guys who didn't immediately sign who are also heading on missions with the intention of coming here upon their return.

Two big things to remember from here...
   1. There are sure to be another later signing or two in the coming months. Signing day is just the beginning of the period, so not every recruit signs on this day.
   2. Finding under-the-radar walk-on talent has been critical to the rise of USU football, so don't underestimate new guys you see on the roster next August who weren't announced today.

Probably going to talk a lot more about the signing on The Front Row Show later tonight, so keep an eye out for that come Thursday morning!

Aggies dominate at Seattle!

For the second game in a row, Utah State was pretty much completely in control over a team that took the healthy version of this team to the wire in The Spectrum.

In a nutshell, this team looks to have found its way. They're playing together, they're more focused, they're playing tough defense... It's coming together for them!

Earning a Sweep Dance given the situation this team is in is nothing short of impressive. Doing it as convincingly as they've done it is nothing short of bad ass. Thinking of what they can do with the way they're playing is nothing short of exciting.

Above all else, I'm in love with this team right now!

Slump busted. Aggies roll at Idaho!

Memo to the Idaho Vandals: He is Jarred Shaw and you are not.

Last time against Idaho, a (mostly) healthy USU team needed an epic comeback and overtime to pull off a win at home. With that in mind, one would think that this game on the road was a blowout waiting to happen, especially when you consider that Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed combined for 39 points in that game.

No blowout for the Vandals on Thursday. Never even a lead for the home team. Utah State never trailed in this game, riding some stellar shooting and solid defense to the team's first win since the injury assault.

And no player was more crucial to that than Shaw! Going into the game, many might have argued that Idaho's Kyle Barone was the WAC's best big man. Anyone who watched that game would probably argue differently now.

Gone is the longest losing streak of Stew Morrill's tenure, and to add to it, the rest of this team has a quality win under its belt. If they earn themselves a sweep dance this weekend, they just might earn themselves a nickname. I know the "Elite Eight" has been thrown out there, even if it's a little over-complimentary. Also heard "The UnderAgs", which I like. "Eight Men Out" is one that comes to mind too. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Seattle gave plenty of fits to USU at home too, so we need an encore performance by the man in the middle against them.

For now, proud as hell of this team for finally getting a win through this storm they've been weathering. This underdog role is something none of us are really familiar with, but these guys are playing their asses off to make each game interesting, so seeing them come out with a win and representing USU is pretty damn excellent!

Last men standing still learning to walk

No words could do justice to this dude's excellence

What’s left of this basketball team hasn’t exactly had an easy road to find their legs. Their first game involved getting thrown into the fire on the road against Denver, who is one of the WAC’s best this year. UT-Arlington is in that discussion as well, while La Tech seems firmly established as the team to beat.

The 0-3 result is obviously the last thing you want, but the progress they’ve shown is at least encouraging. They put together a decent 2^nd half at Denver, showed some encouraging intensity against UTA, and now took the best team in the WAC to the wire.

Again, 0-3 in these games is tough to swallow, but these guys sure as hell are putting up a ballsy fight to make it interesting.

Much like UTA, La Tech is a good defensive team. They’re athletic and they’ve got some length to make things especially difficult for a USU team trying to learn how to walk all over again. That defensive pressure resulted in only 15 made field goals by USU. But as bad as that was offensively for the Aggies, they still managed to hold the Bulldogs to only 19-of-57 shooting from the field. That kind of defensive pressure is going to have to be commonplace for wins to start coming for these guys.

When it came to crunch time though, the Aggies didn’t have the kind of magic they’d had against the likes of Santa Clara and Idaho.

Aggies have no magic against the Mavericks

Welp... If there was going to be a reason to hold strong to any optimism of the Aggies making something special of this injury tidal wave, it was going to have to show itself Thursday against UT-Arlington.

That optimism is mostly dead now. A win on Saturday could possibly be the Mike Williams to this season's Danny Berger, but after the consistent struggles against Denver and now UTA, not looking all that promising.

The problem at this point is that a few teams have exposed even the healthy version of this team to be very turnover prone if you play high-pressure man-to-man defense. The ball handling gets hectic, timing of the offense is all thrown off, passes get picked off, and nobody for the life of them can finish around the basket!

Credit to UTA for playing some balls-out defense all night. Any decent window to shoot was closed out on almost immediately by the quickness of the Mavericks. Either that, or whoever might have been looking for a pass had a defender draped all over him, rarely drawing a foul call.

Make no mistake, the Aggies got beat in this game. There was some absolute shitballs officiating, but a few rather poor calls went USU's way. And at the very least, they were at least somewhat consistently shitty, in which case it's got to fall somewhat on the players to adjust to that. When your former top 150 recruit of a center and junior college all-American point guard shoot a combined 3-19 from the field, that's what will cost you games. Getting crushed in the second half in rebounds like the Aggies did will also do it. And being -7 in turnovers won't help your case either.

I'd harp on the USU bench (i.e. Jordan Stone) getting outscored by UTA's B-team 25-6, but that's not really fair considering the Aggies don't really have a bench anymore.

INTENSITY
Sloppy and frustrating as much of Thursday's play was, the intensity and hustle shown by the team cannot go unmentioned. They at least wanted it, and wanted it badly. They just didn't come through when it came time to execute. At this point in the season, we're used to teams executing things very well, and for whatever reason that's not the case.

Still, that kind of hustle will win a few games. Hell, it'll even make a few games we shouldn't win a lot more interesting. A big shot or two mixed in with a defensive stop or two down the stretch in this game, and we'd all be talking about how great a win this was and the fight this team has in them.

Like I said before, bounce back from this with a win over La Tech, and maybe we'll still have a shred of hope for this season ending on some kind of memorable note.

NOTES

• Spencer Butterfield is all that is man! Despite the loss, he clearly stepped up as the guy willing to put the team on his back, or at least what's left of the team. 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two steals, all while shooting well from the field gives at least a little comfort that someone is ready to try and fill some big shoes.
• Not really having anything positive to write about Ben Clifford for the first half of the season was tough on me. Thursday, he was who I'd hoped he'd be this season. He shot the ball well to the tune of 12 points, while also pulling down nine rebounds and blocking four shots. If his high-energy play can produce points on a consistent basis, we'll be able to hang in a handful of games.
• If Jarred Shaw had the motor that Clifford had, we'd probably hang around in every game still. Ever since a dominant start to the season though, Shaw seems to have leveled off quite a bit. He could not finish around the basket for the life of him again UTA, and I can't think of any reason why he should have the second fewest rebounds on the team in a game. He's still showing brief flashes of trying to be more physical offensively, but nothing consistent yet.
• Has any true freshman ever had more asked of them than Marcel Davis? (Jaycee Carroll doesn't count. He was an RM as a freshman, not an 18-year-old). Davis has been great in a handful of games this year, but recently has very much hit the freshman wall. Part of the credit goes to the lockdown defense played on him by UTA, but he's also missed some shots he was hitting consistently a few weeks ago. This team badly needs him to return to his December form. I imagine it's got to be a whole lot to handle for the kid though.
• Marvin Jean loves to chuck up long 3-pointers... And you know what? Power to him! He's been hitting them with consistency. He's got a quick release, isn't rattled by collapsing defenders, nor is he shy about just pulling up on a guy. He hasn't shown really anything else offensively, but he also hasn't really needed to. Maybe he's still got some surprises up his sleeve, but regardless, his game has been solid since the injuries set it.
• As for the bench... Jordan Stone had an alright game. He made one really nice move and shot for a score early in the game, but also fumbled a couple Marcel Davis passes that could, and should have been easy scores. I thought Matt Lopez played better than only deserving eight minutes on the floor. Especially with Shaw and Clifford in foul trouble like they were. And Tenale Roland... Seems to be doing at least a little of everything but scoring. This team NEEDS him to be able to be at least a shred of a scoring threat who can hit an occasional 3-pointer.

Coordinated chaos via #USUwhiteboard

The following is a public service announcement of maybe the biggest boost the USU crowd could get to help the team weather this recent wave of injuries. Read carefully!

Over at The Front Row Show, we've spent quite a bit of time lately talking about ways to coordinate the chaos in The Spectrum. Once upon a time a few weird kids were making this newsletter for every home game, but those two losers both graduated, leaving the rest of the crowd without compilations of heckling material.

But there's always been the whiteboards to give updates on heckleworthy things players have done during games. They've led to countless chants and targeted heckling at opposing players, and really brought plenty to the ruthless atmosphere at The Spectrum.

Lately there have been some excellent people over at USUfans.com trying to dig dirt on opposing players once again though. And to add to both that, and the crazies with whiteboards at games, everyone else can get in on things now too. This time, Twitter will be the unifying force for Aggie fans.

It's simple... If you see or read anything about an opposing player leading up to a game, tweet about it with the #USUwhiteboard hash tag. Or if you see anything stupid a player did or said in the first half, tweet it! At halftime, if you're wanting to bring the fury, search that hash tag and get the latest dirt.

Or maybe you've got something hilarious you wanna get chanting, tag it and tweet it!

It doesn't have to be just a few people getting ideas across during games, it can be everyone. All you gotta do is stay involved, and just search the hash tag before the game and again at halftime.

And if you see the man, the legend, and the genius behind this idea (Mr. Jeff Browning), be sure to give him a high five... Jeff f***ing loves high fives!!

Enter "The Ewing Theory"

Worst case scenario set in Monday morning when the news broke that Kyisean Reed was out for the season and Preston Medlin's wrist was broken.

Those two join Danny Berger and Sean Harris among the Aggies missing significant time this season due to injury. If you really want to turn back time, you can validly throw Brady Jardine's name into that mix as well. However you view it, this is officially the season of the injury bug.

Eight players remain, only two of them with playing experience at USU prior to this season. But each of them had been anticipated to contribute in big ways, and now the pressure is officially on!

Enter, The Ewing Theory!

For those who aren't familiar with The Ewing Theory, it's a study that indicated that the New York Knicks almost always performed better as a team when superstar center Patrick Ewing was either out with injury or benched with foul trouble. The thought is that when a team has a clear-cut superstar like that, the supporting cast will get caught up taking their foot off the gas while waiting for the go-to guy to make a play.

Remove the superstar from the equation, and the supporting cast as a whole rallies together.

Matt Wells running a train on some recruiting!

It was only a few years ago that the idea of beating out schools like Nevada, San Jose State or UNLV was considered a pretty epic recruiting victory for Utah State.

Now the Aggies are beating out big time programs like Nebraska, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oregon State for some big time prospects. Along with that, quality in-state players seem to be more and more stoked to come to Utah State these days too.

This past recruiting season has been an odd one for USU though. For starters, the amount of early commitments to the Aggies was very much out of the ordinary. In the past, the bulk of USU's commits would come about late in the recruiting season. While plenty of great fits and great players came of it, it often had the sense of USU getting guys that few other schools badly wanted.

Now, USU seems to be the place that many players badly want to be.

Another wild card in this year's recruiting is the coaching change. A lot of these early commits had initially committed to former head coach Gary Andersen. That apparently has resulted in minimal changes though, with a handful of those recruits reaffirming their commitment to Utah State and new head coach Matt Wells. All in all, this is shaping up to be a great class that could set USU up for plenty of future success.

Aggie bench thrown into the fire against Denver

Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed are injured. Both could possibly be out for a while too, but we're waiting on more details.

So going into Saturday's game against Denver, Jarred Shaw was the lone guy still starting from the Aggies' opening game lineup. Tenale Roland got demoted, Danny Berger is still recovering from dying, and now Medlin and Reed are banged up. The bench that has struggled so badly for USU the past two weeks would all be seeing major minutes and depended on for production, which is something we've badly needed at times and haven't gotten from them. Then factor in that Denver is a team everyone knew would be contending for the WAC title, and this game had "We're f***ed" written all over it.

The optimist deep down in me thought, "Let's see how these guys respond, and maybe this experience will pay off down the road."

After seeing that game, I actually feel like these guys may have learned a quality lesson in stepping up to the challenge.

One pissed off post game report

The team has been playing sloppy basketball for a while now, so really, what did you think was gonna happen???

Utah State played like s*** for the entire three-game homestand, pretty much like they had all season up to this point. They escaped disaster in one of those three games and let the other two stay way too close. But the main thing is that there's been little-to-no improvement in this team throughout the year. And seeing as how usually by this point in the season the team has found its footing and taken things to the next level, the lack of improvement is disturbing.

If there was any legitimate positive to be taken from those three games, it was that the team at least finished games strong.

And that wasn't all that far off on Thursday against New Mexico State either. Only problem is that USU was down by 21 when they decided to get hot from downtown and throw the tiniest shred of interest into this game.

Outside of that, this one was agony to watch. Utah State was out-hustled, out-manned, out-shot, out-passioned, and out-coached... Yes. Marvin f***ing Menzies out-coached Stew Morrill in a basketball game. That is not ok, and is a frustrating indication of where this team and program currently stand.

Speaking of which... 

Pressure is now officially on for the Aggies

At 14-1 overall and 5-0 in WAC play, one would think that Utah State is the clear favorite to keep the momentum up and win the conference this year.

Then you realize that each of those five conference wins came against the bottom five teams in the standings and things get a little less impressive. Especially since only one of those five was a convincing victory, while another required some serious late-game heroics for the Aggies to pull it out.

Now the time of reckoning has come for USU. This is where we'll start to really figure out what this team is made of. Thursday is the first meeting between Utah State and New Mexico State of the year, followed up by a Saturday trip to Denver. If this year's squad truly is a better road team than they are at home (which has seemed to be the case), it's time to really show it. This is a trip that it's doubtful any WAC team will sweep this season. NMSU has the talent to surprise most teams on any night and compete, while Denver is just talented and well-coached.

Aside from being good on the road so far, this Aggie team has seemed to play relative to its competition this season. Whether it's playing down to let San Jose State and Seattle give them fits, or playing up to compete with a Saint Mary's team who, in hindsight, looks like they should have demolished USU pretty handily. 

Now, I'm all for adjusting on the fly, but playing to your competition can get really risky, and eventually one is going to slip away from you. Idaho almost was that game. San Jose State and Seattle weren't far off either. It's something we saw a little bit of with USU football 2009-2011, eventually resulting a few losses that the team just shouldn't have had. But as they all grew, they realized they had the power to control games from start to finish in 2012, and they did.

I'm hoping that this basketball team gets to that point, ideally this season rather than next year. Hell, maybe they've just gotten bored with all the cupcakes on the schedule and are excited to have a reason to play hard once again. Or maybe they just thrive on the pressure and sense of urgency.

Either way, this weekend is where we really start to learn what this team is made of. If they go 0-2, we'll have a steep, but achievable climb to the WAC title. A 1-1 split is still promising, and likely would have USU still in the driver's seat for the regular season crown. And if the boys see the sweep dance on Saturday night, there's no excuse for not bringing home the trophy come March.

14-1 is nice right now. Get it to 16-1, and we'll finally know for sure that we've got something really good on our hands.

Medlin's 25 points propel Aggies to 13th straight

Look at it... People all the way to the top!!!
It's beautiful...

It was an ugly win, yada, yada, yada... But what else is new?

Neither team really put together any big runs in the game, with the biggest being a seven-point run by USU I believe. And I think that was pretty early on too. Or in other words, that game was kinda boring as hell.

San Jose State played some tough defense, which really put the pressure on USU to score the ball. The Spartans also put back an infuriatingly ridiculous amount of put-back shots that just barely rolled into the basket... I don't think I was the only one getting pissed off about that. They beat USU 14-6 in offensive rebounds.

In the closing minutes, there seemed to be a little nervousness that SJSU might make a dramatic late push, but luckily the USU defense held strong.

Can't help but wonder how things would have gone if James Kinney wasn't suspended from SJSU. Regardless, the team is now 14-1 overall, 5-0 in the WAC, won 13 straight, and riding at least a little momentum going into the roadie at New Mexico State. 

THE CROWD
EASILY the best turnout of the season! Really it's not even close either. And what's better is that early on, at least as the team was taking the floor and to start the game, they seemed to be ready to rock.

Drop your razors, it's a BEARD OUT!!!

Don't shave!!!

Any facial hair you have going right now, keep it! Why you ask? Because this Friday at The Spectrum is a beard out!!!

Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. Wear a beard to the game. Whether it's natural in the form of your own facial hair, one you painted on, a fake one you're wearing, or whatever. Just have a beard at this game.

With Preston Medlin sporting a manly beard of his own while hitting game-saving buzzer-beaters and clutch 3-pointers, it's only fitting that everyone else try to summon the awesome power of the beard. And with all the heat the USU crowd has taken for under-performing this season, maybe we were all just a little bit of facial hair away from reclaiming our title as one of the best student sections in the nation.

Regardless, get jacked up for Friday and be prepared to raise absolute hell. Your voice is going to hurt from all of this, and if you're really doing it right, it'll hurt by halftime. But I promise, playing through the pain only helps it come back stronger the next time around. Before you know it, your voice will be an unstoppable tool of destruction against opposing teams.

The house will be rocking, full of beards and deafening volume. Don't miss this for the world (or any other home game for that matter).

While you count down the days, get jacked up with this video, now updated with brand new highlights!!!

Preston freaking Medlin!!! Aggies win in OT

I said after Thursday's game that sloppy play would eventually catch up to the Aggies. That was almost the case on Saturday against Idaho... almost.

Trailing by eight points with three and a half minutes to go, the Aggies had an obvious uphill battle in front of them. And with their struggles in shooting the ball Saturday, it wasn't exactly looking promising. But the Aggies' defense completely locked down, the offense scored enough to put the game in reach, and finally only one more bit of heroics was needed.

Down 69-66, the Idaho defense had their turn to to show what they were made of, and really, they did pretty well at it. The final play for Utah State as it was drawn up was basically thwarted, sending the Aggies scrambling. Jarred Shaw nearly threw up a desperation 3-pointer, but instead got it to the guy everyone knew the Aggies would be looking to get it to.

When it came to do-or-die for the Aggies, Preston Medlin came through once again! His 3-pointer from the corner sent the game to overtime, sparked the crowd to easily it's biggest frenzy of the season, and might have completely rejuvenated The Spectrum as we once knew it. Somewhere Chaz Spicer is tipping his cap to No. 13 for his heroics.

In overtime, the Aggies pretty much controlled the whole five minutes. Medlin hit another 3-pointer, the defense stayed stout, and they made just enough free throws to put it away and seal maybe the most thrilling win of the season.