Utah State to face UNLV for Homecoming
Utah State is having the best football season in recent history and as they host UNLV this Saturday, the Aggies will be protecting a 3-1 record and four-game home-winning streak.
The Rebels are 1-3 in several close games and are led by a pair of running backs who have scored four touchdowns apiece this season. Junior Tim Cornett has rushed for more than 100 yards in three games while junior Bradley Randle scored three times in the 38-35 win over Air Force last Saturday.
“We’re playing a big, strong, tough, physical football team with two very good running backs,” said Utah State head coach Gary Andersen. “They are very well coached on both sides of the ball and they’ve got talent on both sides, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Rebel quarterback Nick Sherry has 962 yards this season and has thrown five touchdowns. The freshman has been sacked seven times and thrown five interceptions.
Andersen said UNLV is “very hungry” and presents a tough test for USU.
“They are throwing the ball well,” he said. “They’ve got some good wide receivers out there, their backs catch the ball and the tight ends catch the ball. This is a good football team and we will have our hands full with these guys.”
Sophomore receiver Marcus Sullivan is Sherry’s favorite target, pulling in 19 receptions this season, two for scores.
Utah State sophomore linebacker Zach Vigil said the Aggie defense will need to play better than they did in the 31-19 win at Colorado State on Saturday.
“The biggest thing for me was we were really flat, it felt really flat out there,” Vigil said. “We weren’t flying around how we normally fly around. So that is a big thing that I want to help us do, is make sure that our intensity is there.”
Vigil and the USU defense have held opponents to an average of 274 yards per game and stopped them on 16 of 66 third down attempts. Of the 10 times Aggie opponents have been inside the red zone, Utah State has given up two touchdowns all season.
No team has scored on Utah State in the first quarter and none have scored a touchdown in the first half.
Andersen said having great players is the key for such a successful defense, but the fourth-year Aggie coach is still scratching his head on the talent gap between the first and second strings.
“I’m proud of the way those kids have played,” Andersen said. “It stung them a little bit, the first team defense, when the second team got in there at the end of the game. It is hard for a first team defense to sit there and play for three quarters and
however many minutes and then let the two’s go in there and really let us down. That is not good. I have lived in that spot before and it opens up some eyes of some young players hopefully. The fast start of the defense was great. The poor finish of the two’s was highly disappointing in that game.”
The Aggie offense has also been impressive this season. Andersen said senior running back Kerwynn Williams has developed into the leader of the offense.
“Williams didn’t get the opportunity to play a lot last year and didn’t bat an eye,” Andersen said. “He is a team player first, he is very unselfish. He was brought up very well and he is an unbelievable competitor. He has evolved but he came here as a fierce competitor.”
The Las Vegas, native has 406 yards and three touchdowns, balancing the passing game of sophomore quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who has 879 passing yards and seven touchdowns through the air, three to senior wide receiver Matt Austin.
It’s still a little early for snow in Cache Valley, but as the UNLV Rebels take the field at Romney Stadium, they will be seeing white. Fighting white, that is.
The Aggies will wear all-white uniforms – stormtrooper style – and Andersen has asked fans to dress in like fashion for a special “white-out” event at the Homecoming game.
Andersen said the HURD has given unbelievable support to the football team both in the stands and on campus.
“To turn a football program it takes everybody – it takes a community, it takes an administration, it takes a student body,” Andersen said. “We want everybody to wear white to the stadium.”
– tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @Stuckiaggies