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-

Weird, a blowout win for football? 38-7, Aggies.

Let's start off with the stat of the game: 27 yards allowed by USU's defense in the 2nd half!

That is insane!!!

Utah State came out swinging once again with a six-play, 51-yard touchdown drive. Then after allowing a l4-play, 63-yard drive by Texas State, Will Davis put an end to that with an interception in the end zone. USU only needed five plays to go 80 yards for another score.

The Aggies had six possessions in the first half, five of them for touchdowns. 35-0 at half, game already in hand.

SECOND HALF
I'm not going to worry about this at all. The offense had already built an insurmountable lead and all that was left to do was to keep the fancy stuff off the film reel and get the second unit some reps. And they accomplished both of those in the second half.

It wasn't pretty, and maybe it would have been nice to see Chuckie Keeton get a sixth or seventh touchdown, but it got the job done. And when your defense is allowing absolutely NOTHING, at least outside of a couple yards when the Bobcats picked off a pass deep in USU territory resulting in their only score of the game.

Preseason Previews and Vibes, Part 2: Offense

Part 2 of 4: Offense

Moving on with the preview, you may notice that this preview has changed from a three-part series to four. That's because there's more to making a great football team than just offense, defense and special teams. What is that fourth aspect? Well, if you don't know already, you'll find out by Wednesday at the latest. For now though, let's preview the offense.

QUARTERBACKS
It took Brent Guy 34 games before he got to five wins at USU... Adam Kennedy pretty much started out 5-0, and he's going to be the backup this season. Got your head wrapped around that?

Chuckie Keeton showed how good he was throughout plenty of the first half of last season before getting injured, where Kennedy stepped in and kept things going as strong as ever. Now, with a full offseason of work and a new offensive coordinator who looks like he's open to actually throwing downfield, Keeton looks ready to dominate. Really both guys look like they could be all-WAC quarterbacks this year, but Keeton has the edge, and if you're beating out a potential all-WAC guy for a starting job, you're probably doing something right.

Preseason vibe: Stoked as hell, with maybe a sprinkle of all-time great status about to happen