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.

Aggies come out swinging, win 34-3

Not that many of us really thought it would ever be a game, but the Aggies silenced the Thunderbirds pretty handily from the start Thursday night at Romney Stadium. The thunder song from the movie Ted summarizes tonight fairly well (warning, bad words and decent humor in that link)!! Let's compare the first three drives for both Southern Utah and Utah State...

Southern Utah
3 plays, 4 yards - punt
3 plays, 0 yards - punt
3 plays, 5 yards - punt

Utah State
11 plays, 97 yards - touchdown
3 plays, 45 yards - touchdown
9 plays, 98 yards - touchdown

I mean, I guess if we're reaching for positives for SUU, their punter did a great job of pinning the Aggies deep, but it really didn't matter with USU's first unit in there. And the whole game saw a lot of USU's guys from the two-deep getting some serious reps out there.

10 crucial Aggies: No. 2 - the defensive line

When new defensive coordinator Dave Aranda came on board, one of his main priorities was to have a defense that force turnovers. Last year's defense only came up with 15 total turnovers, and only four of those were via interceptions. As a team, USU was -9 in turnovers, which makes last season's success all the more impressive.

When it comes to forcing turnovers, things all start with the defensive line. Really when it comes to defense as a whole, things all start with the defensive line.

Early in fall camp, Gary Andersen more or less ripped the D-line for their play. It wasn't long after that though that Andersen started praising them for their progress made, enough so that it looked like we just might have a solid unit on our hands here.

Long-time starters Quinn Garner and Levi Koskan are gone, while Bojay Filimoeatu looks to stay at outside linebacker this season. Last season's go-to nose tackle Al Lapuaho is sliding over the defensive end, while Connor Williams returns as the lone returner of last season's two-deep at defensive end.