Utah State gridders take on future Sun Belt Conference foe
After falling last week to New Mexico State on the road, the Utah State football team looks forward to a return to the friendly confines of Romney Stadium.
The Aggies, who are 3-1 at home on the season, will take on Troy State Saturday in a game that will count toward Sun Belt standings, though the Trojans won’t officially join the conference until next year.
The contest starts at 1 p.m.
Utah State will leave the Sun Belt for the Western Athletic Conference in the 2005 season.
For 13 Utah State seniors, the game will mark the last time they run on the field at Romney Stadium as members of the team. It will be their final home game before ending the season next week on the road against Idaho.
Aggie safety Derrek Shank said his four years have gone by quickly.
“It is a little bit bittersweet, but I am excited,” Shank said. “It is the end of another chapter and I am going to start a new chapter in my life. I am looking forward to it. It is going to be a fun game.”
Troy State will also be ready to return home after the USU game. The trip to Utah State will be the Trojans’ longest of the year and fourth straight game on the road, with the three leading up to it being losses.
Utah State may get a boost from the expected cold weather, especially if it snows. Troy State hasn’t played in the snow since a 70-7 loss in a Division I-AA playoff game in 1996 against Montana.
Ironically, the Grizzlies were coached by current Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy in that game. Troy State moved up to Division I in 2001.
TSU Head Coach Larry Blakeney downplayed the possible chill factor.
“You certainly have to deal with the conditions, although they will have to deal with it as well,” he said. “Even if there are two feet of snow on the ground, we will still play the game. We just have to adapt to the conditions and play the best we can play.”
Despite their lack of experience in cold weather, the Trojans have plenty of experience playing difficult games. Troy State has a 4-6 record against the 10th toughest schedule in the nation this year, with losses against Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Virginia.
The other two TSU losses were to Sun Belt teams North Texas and Middle Tennessee in their most recent games.
Dennehy said Troy State is similar to a lot of teams currently in the conference.
“I think Troy State is a very typical Sun Belt-like team,” he said. “They have struggled in terms of wins and losses, but they still play hard for 60 minutes. They are probably as athletic as anybody we play. They are very New Mexico State-like in what they want to do on offense, the kind of effort they give on defense and how hard they play as a team.”
The Trojans’ biggest win of the year was a 33-24 victory over Marshall the week after the unranked Thundering Herd upset sixth-ranked Kansas State. TSU’s other wins came against Alabama-Birmingham, Southeast Louisiana and Florida International.
TSU junior running back DeWhitt Betterson had a career-high 177 yards rushing in the loss to Middle Tennessee last week. Betterson’s 89.4-yard rushing average would be good enough for second in the Sun Belt if Troy State were in the conference this year.
Quarterback Aaron Leak averages 113 yards per game passing, and junior safety Derrick Ansley has picked off seven passes this season.
Utah State (3-7, 3-2 in league play) beat Middle Tennessee 41-20 and Arkansas State 49-0 in their last two home games but stumbled on the road in a Thursday night game at New Mexico State.
The Aggies lost 26-21, giving up four straight scoring drives to New Mexico State after leading 7-3 at the half.
Utah State kicker Jacob Hamblin missed his first two field goal attempts since the third game of the season and the defense gave up 401 yards to NMSU.
Even in a losing effort, USU got solid performances from several players. Tight end Chris Cooley was awarded Utah State Athlete of the Week for his career-high nine grabs for 97 yards. Cooley leads the country in receptions per game by a tight end ahead of Miami’s Kellen Winslow.
Senior wide receiver Kenny Coleman added a career-best 111 yards on six catches.
Running back David Fiefia had his second straight 100-yard rushing game, getting 106 yards on 21 carries. Cooley and Fiefia, both seniors, passed the 1,000-yard career mark in the game.
Quarterback Travis Cox had his streak of 94 pass attempts without an interception broken in the first quarter but threw for 287 yards and a touchdown.
Linebacker Rodney Willson led the team with 17 tackles, while Robert Watts and Terrance Washington added 14 apiece for the Ags.
Because the NMSU game was on a Thursday, the Aggies will have had 10 days to prepare for Troy State.
The USU-TSU game went to overtime last year, where kicker Dane Kidman’s field goal put the Aggies on top 19-16.
-royburton@cc.usu.edu