Hawaii to prove a major challenge for USU
The University of Hawaii poses a tough challenge for a USU football team trying to get a two-game home winning streak going this Saturday.
The last time Utah State enjoyed home field advantage was some time ago, as the last three Saturdays have seen the Ags losing at San Jose, Louisiana Tech and resting from football.
Coach Brent Guy said the disappointing part of the Louisiana Tech game was watching the defense break down in a way they hadn’t done yet.
“We had been getting a little bit better on defense and were able to force some turnovers against San Jose that kind of saved us,” Guy said.
The USU defense that will try and slow down the Hawaii yardage factory is long on youth. Two weeks ago things broke down for the unit as Louisiana Tech shredded them for 570 yards. The linebacking unit in particular is young, with freshman Paul Igboeli starting alongside sophomores Derrick Cumbee and Devon Hall. Hall leads the team in tackles with 51. The Ags are still without last year’s leading tackler Jake Hutton, who was injured against BYU.
“We spun out of our gaps and got blocked,” Guy said of the performance against La. Tech. “Guys started guessing.”
The coach said the Ags had some physical practices this week to try and prepare for the Warriors.
“We did some live work against each other in the bye week because we wanted to drill some tackling,” he said.
The Warriors come into the game leading the nation in three major offensive categories: total offense, with 529.2 yards per game; passing offense, with 421.9 ypg; and scoring offense, with 45.4 points per game. Their quarterback, Colt Brennan, is completing 74 percent of his passes for 2,934 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Running back Nate Ilaoa averages 121.5 all-purpose yards a game and has rushed for 10 touchdowns. Wide receiver Davone Bess is one of the best players at his position in the country, averaging 7.38 catches a game (fourth in the nation) for 82.9 (14th) yards.
“Everybody talks about Davone Bess,” Guy said, “but they have five receivers who average 11 yards a catch.”
The other four Hawaii receivers Guy mentioned are Ross Dickerson, Jason Rivers, Ian Sample and Ryan Grice-Mullen.
Utah State’s elevation may be a factor in the game against the Warriors, who practice and play most of the year at low altitudes. Romney Stadium is 4,534 feet above sea level, making USU the seventh-highest elevated campus in the United States. Unfortunately the weather forecast calls for balmy highs in the 50s and only a 30 percent chance of rain.
“They were competitive playing at Alabama and Boise and they put up 60 points playing in Bulldog stadium. They are playing well off the island this year,” Guy said.
Freshman quarterback Riley Nelson leads an offense that will have to put up some points to make it a game in the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago against Louisiana Tech USU scored a season-high 35 points. Nelson averages 141 yards passing per game and has thrown six touchdown passes in three starts.
The MVP for USU’s offense might be Marcus Cross. The running back leads the Ags in rushing with 599 yards and in receptions with 22. Kevin Robinson has 21 receptions and leads USU in receiving yards with 299 and touchdowns with four.
Linebacker Adam Leonard has 67 tackles to lead the Warrior unit that will try and shut Nelson and company down. He also has three fumble recoveries. Melila Purcell has the lead in sacks with four and Leonard Peters has three interceptions.
USU’s points per game of 11.2 is almost exactly one-third of the points per game they allow, 33.2.
-graham@cc.usu.edu