Will defensive depth aid Ags?
Last year’s outlook for the USU defense was this: the Aggies returned all 11 starters and were optimistic about the season.
The result: They ranked 106th nationally in yards allowed per game (450.3 yards per game) and 101st in points allowed (33.8).
This year the Aggies boast the most experienced defensive unit in the Western Athletic Conference with nine returning starters.
The result is still to be determined, but the veterans feel this season could be a breakthrough one. Senior strong safety De’Von Hall went as far as saying he sees no flaws in the 2008 Aggie defense.
“The biggest weakness? I’d have to see us against another team because I don’t feel like we have a weakness, really,” Hall said. “I feel like everybody is excelling in camp. Until another opponent exposes a weakness, I don’t think there is a weakness.”
Three of those opponents have been picked as preseason Top-25 teams by USA Today. BYU (Oct. 3) was placed at No. 17, Oregon (Sept. 6) No. 20 and Fresno State (Oct. 25 Homecoming game) No. 25. Utah (Sept. 13) and Boise State (Nov. 8) also received votes.
Hall’s reasoning is the depth the defense possesses. Because of the number of bodies, Hall was moved from linebacker to safety and Roy Hurst went from safety to cornerback.
“A lot of times if you played a whole game for the first five games, during weeks five and six your body might start breaking down,” Hall said. “But if we can keep guys going fresh and keep guys at 100 percent the whole time, that’s just great for everybody.”
Last season presented a plethora of heartbreaking situations in which the Aggie defense gave up leads in the fourth quarter four times. The spring and fall practice sessions have given the team opportunities to work on specific situations they fell short in last year.
“This is definitely the most experienced defense we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said USU middle linebacker Jake Hutton. “I don’t think we’ll have hardly any inexperienced guys on the field.
“It’s a huge difference. Experience definitely helps out in those situations because one blown assignment can ruin a play and go for a touchdown. Since everybody is on the same page, we shouldn’t have hardly any blown assignments. That’s going to help out a lot.”
For the second straight season, the Aggies return their top four tacklers—all of which had 80 tackles or more. They also return eight of the nine players that had an interception.
—samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu