Aggies hit the road again to take on No. 16 Arizona State
Utah State Head Football Coach Mick Dennehy believes there is a simple formula for beating a top 25 team.
“You have to play well with no mistakes,” Dennehy said.
Last Saturday against Nebraska, Utah State found out that this game plan is easier said than done.
The Aggies moved the ball at will against Nebraska in the first quarter but were hurt by mistakes and couldn’t buy a first down in the second half as the Huskers ran away with the game.
This week, the Aggies will get another shot at executing the plan, facing No. 16 Arizona State in Tempe, a team picked to finish only behind No. 4 USC in the Pac-10.
Arizona State’s offense features quarterback Andrew Walter, one of the nation’s best according to Dennehy.
Walter broke most of the ASU single-season passing records last season, despite not starting until the fifth game of the year.
“[Walter] may be as good a thrower as there is in the country,” Dennehy said. “If you let him stand back there and let him set his feet, boy, he is awfully, awfully accurate and has great arm strength, great vision.”
The Sun Devils defeated Division I-AA opponent Northern Arizona 34-14 last Saturday in a game similar to the Utah State-Nebraska contest.
Northern Arizona took an early 7-0 lead, but gave up 27 points before getting back on the board.
The Aggies let the Cornhuskers roll off 25 unanswered points to lose 31-7 in their game.
Walter threw for four touchdowns and completed 15-of-24 passes in the game for 224 yards against Northern Arizona and the Sun Devils moved up four spots in the AP poll after the victory.
USU tight end Chris Cooley said bouncing back quickly from adversity will be a key to success against the Sun Devils.
“If we turn the ball over, we’re going to have to come out with a scoring drive,” Cooley said. “If we get a sack, we’re going to have to come up with a big play and come up with a first down. We can’t have letdowns.”
Aggie quarterback Travis Cox said adapting to different defensive schemes will be important.
“We’re going to have to learn on the fly,” Cox said. “They’re going to adjust to what we’re doing and we’re going to have to come back and do something different.”
Dennehy said he hopes the Aggies’ shifting formations will confuse the man-to-man coverage the Sun Devils use and allow USU receivers to get open.
“Hopefully, with a lot of shifting and motioning and things like that that we do, we’ll get some guys lost in the shuffle and get some mismatches and get some guys moving that might get lost,” he said.
Dennehy was forced to use Cooley as a pass blocker for much of the second half to contain defensive end Demorrio Williams at Nebraska. Williams sacked Cox three times in the first half, causing two fumbles that led to 10 Nebraska points.
Williams was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.
Arizona State Head Coach Dirk Koetter said the Aggies’ two losses were closer than the final scores indicated.
“The Utah game was a 10-point game with five minutes left and then Utah scored two late touchdowns,” Koetter said. “The Nebraska game was actually 15-7 at halftime. Nebraska just wore them down in the second half with their running game, but Utah State played well in that game,” he said.
Koetter complimented several USU players including Cox, Cooley and linebackers Robert Watts and Nate Putnam.
“The guy to watch for [Utah State] is their tight end … Chris Cooley,” Koetter said. “He is 6 feet 4 inches and 252 pounds and a really good player who will probably play in the NFL.”
-royburton@cc.usu.edu