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.