Utah State Aggies Season Preview

These Aggies from Logan, Utah have been atrociously bad the past 10 years.  They were just 31-84 which is a winning percentage of .269!

To make matters much worse they were ranked 113th in the nation out of 120 team from 2000-2009. Plus, another 4-8 in 2010 has kept them right there.

The last bowl appearance was against Cincinnati in the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl and the last bowl victory was back in the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl against Ball State.

Point being, this program is still on the very bottom of the FBS level despite small strides being made. 

They opened on the road last season at seventh ranked Oklahoma and only lost 31-24 before once again finishing 4-8 for consecutive seasons. They also just lost their No. 2 leading passer in Aggie program history.

Diondre Borel (now on Green Bay Packers) threw for 6,698 from ’07-’10 and his ability to move in the pocket will be missed as well (seven rushing TD’s last year). 

Nine starters are back on offense, and they will be led by their lone offensive playmakers.  RB Kerwynn Williams ran for 451 yards in a backup role with four TD’s.  RB Robert Turbin is a very gifted, talented runner who tore his ACL and missed all of last season.  

The receiving core also returns Stanley Morrison, (Dontel Watkins has moved from WR to CB), Xavier Martin and Matt Austin.

They were just 93rd in passing offense last year averaging 178 YPG so expect a bit of an upgrade in 2011. The offense just averaged 347 YPG which only ranked 84th in the nation.

Going up against WAC defenses is not a difficult task, however, this offense is talented enough to get a chunk of yards every possession. 

The defense of the Aggies is just horrid. They were 100th in total defense allowing 428 YPG.  The talent is much different in terms of speed, size and athleticism in the WAC in comparison to the power six conferences, so execution is a must.

The schedule starts out brutal with a trip to the Planes against War Eagle. Then a trip to Provo four weeks later will be tough to avoid a beat down.

Conference play starts out on the road against Fresno State before they eventually have to go to Honolulu against the Hawaii Warriors. Throw in home tilts against Nevada and Louisiana Tech and third-year man Gary Andersen will have his Aggies fall well short of a bowl game once again.

Predicted Finish: 4-8, 1-6

Predicted Bowl: None

Predicted order of finish in WAC: Seventh