Sack-religious: Aggies ride school-record sack total to 49-27 win

After a 6-3 loss where the USU offense wasn't able to get much of anything going and the defense didn't log a single tackle for loss, there was plenty of redemption to be had for Utah State. The victims of that redemption turned out to be the Spartans of San Jose State.

In one of the WAC's biggest conference games this season, the Aggies got everything back on track, and might have even cranked things up to previously unseen levels, showing more what this team is capable of.

Things didn't start off so great for the Aggies, allowing SJSU to put together a 12-play, 67-yard drive that resulted in a field goal, and the first points allowed by USU in the first quarter all season.

USU bounced back strong though with a 13-play, 86-yard drive of its own to go up 7-3.

Then the Aggies struck again. 14-3
And again. 21-3
And one more time. 28-3.

Utah State mercilessly dominated an entire quarter of football, and on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they seemed to be doing whatever they wanted, and on defense the Aggies completely dominated the line of scrimmage.

Football: Highs, Lows and I Don't Knows - 10/11

Talking any more about that game last Friday is something I don't think I'm alone in dreading. But part of moving forward is getting better on where we were previously lacking, and hopefully keeping up what we've been great at.

So let's just get into it, and please excuse the inordinate amount of Lows this week, but really they're kind of relevant.

THE HIGHS

Linebackers - Kyler Fackrell was the WAC's Defensive Player of the Week, which speaks for itself, as if his 10 tackles and interception weren't enough. Zach Vigil added 10 tackles too. Jake Doughty, Bojay Filimoeatu and Tavaris McMillian all were solid too, reaffirming what we already knew about this unit.

Safeties - McKade Brady finally got a fair crack at BYU this year and finished with a game-high 14 tackles. Brian Suite racked up nine stops of his own, again, reaffirming what we already knew about this unit.

THE LOWS

The defensive line - I doubt I'm alone in hoping that the USU defensive line takes last Friday personal. The only place to go from that game is up. Aside from not really getting any push all game, USU didn't register a single tackle for loss on Friday. And that was against a BYU offensive line that has been pounded by injuries this year.

Dropped passes - Too damn many of them... I hate to single a guy out, but Chuck Jacobs has got to get the routine down of catching THEN running. He's going to cause tons of problems for opposing teams when he has the ball in the open field, but it seems like he's trying to look upfield before he's secured the ball. Rough game for everyone though, not just Jacobs.

Matt Wells - Maybe I was overly ambitious in the whole idea of Wells bringing the best of both worlds of what Dave Baldwin did well, while patching Baldwin's holes. Wells has still been good at keeping most games out of reach from other teams. Every team in the country is going to struggle scoring at Wisconsin or at BYU like the Aggies did, but we shouldn't have struggled THAT bad. Hopefully this is just part of the learning curve for him taking over a whole offense for the first time this year.

Second half turnovers - This shit has got to stop... Another turnover on the first possession of the third quarter, and a really costly interception on the Cam Webb pass. That kind of stuff will take USU right out of almost any tough game. Some serious refocusing needs to be done there.

THE I DON'T KNOWS

Chuckie under pressure - It's sometimes easy to forget that only now does Keeton have a whole season's worth of games under his belt after missing half of last year. Still, like at Wisconsin, Keeton was all over the place with a lot of throws against BYU. Obviously it's not easy out there, especially against such tough defenses who are good at pressuring quarterbacks. Still, the team needs a few more of these passes under pressure to be completions rather than balls that the receivers can barely adjust to, if at all. Still young though, and he should continue to improve.

The running game - I mean... What happened? I expected BYU to hold USU to maybe only 80 yards or so on the ground. Held to 41 though?? Something like that kind of has to fall on the whole offense, and really is maybe the most head-scratching thing about Matt Wells' calling. Was there really no hole in that defense that we could have exploited for a few more yards on the ground?

The Andersen Legend Grows... Aggies 27, Utes 20

Where to even begin...

There's so damn much to say about this game, and the overall college football experience that it was, that this postgame will only touch the surface. A little side-story will be in order for Saturday or Sunday to wrap things up even more. For now though, I'll try to summarize it as best as I can.

ATMOSPHERE
"Instant classic" appropriately summarizes Friday night at Romney Stadium. And not just in the sense of a football game.

For the first time in a long, we knew this was going to be a game between the Utes and the Aggies. Add the excitement surrounding USU that permeates the air since Gary Andersen arrived in Logan, bringing a solid tailgate scene all afternoon. Fans wearing both blue and red were mingling, having a good time, and really just kind of treating things like a family affair for a "Battle of the Brothers". It started off with everything like a friendly rivalry should be. The line at the gates as a crowded as I've ever seen it with people hungry to get in and get the best seats, and it wasn't long after those gates opened that the entire lower bowl of student section and general admission was full.

The atmosphere was out of control from there. Easily the craziest I've ever seen Romney Stadium, but that's getting its own separate article tomorrow.

Friday though was what college football should be, in almost every way. And it was a collaborative effort by both Aggies and Utes that made it happen.

Preseason Previews and Vibes, Part 3: Defense

Part 3 of 4: Defense

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. Even with all the crappy rule adjustments in this era of football that make it practically illegal to hit quarterbacks or play pass defense, you still need a great defensive unit to go places.

Luckily for USU, it looks like we finally have exactly that! We knew it was only a matter of time with Gary Andersen at the helm, and the last two years have shown flashes of being great, but I think this year is where they finally take the next step. With the tenacity shown by past defenses under Andersen, coupled now with what looks to be a great complimentary philosophy of creating turnovers brought on by Dave Aranda, this defense should be the best USU has seen in a long time!

So let's break it down...

DEFENSIVE LINE
How this unit performs is about as essential as anything to this team in my book. Connor Williams is ready for prime time after two quality years of backing up Quinn Garner and Levi Koskan. And on the opposite side of Williams is Al Lapuaho, sliding over from the tackle spot to get rough on the outside. His attitude is the kind that seemed to get into opposing players' heads last year, and even if he lost his cool a few times too, his mean streak will be great to have out there. B.J. Larsen and Jordan Nielsen should get plenty of run there too.

The tackle position is a lot less clear cut. Travis Seefeldt opened camp as the projected starter, with Havea Lasike and Elvis Kamana-Matagi right up there with him. A duo of Snow College guys should be in the mix too with Sini Tauauve'a and AJ Pataialii, both were somewhat of unexpected additions to the team going into camp, but bring great size to the table.