Andersen and USU football have solution: just execute

By ADAM NETTINA

There was no fiery halftime speech. There was no magic adjustment born from high above in the coach’s box. And there was no letdown from an overconfident opposing team.

    No, the difference between Utah State’s first and second half performances in Saturday’s 56-42 loss to Nevada came from one thing and one thing only – the ability to execute on offense.

    “It was a tale of two halves,” said Utah State head coach Gary Andersen, whose team trailed 35-0 at the break before coming alive in the third and fourth quarters.

    “As I sit back and go through this, it is interesting to listen to the kids and see what their mindset is as far as what happened in the first half,” he said. “I’ve been asked a hundred times what the difference was in the second half. It is real simple – execution.”

    While the final score paints a picture of a game that was close, the reality is the Aggies (2-6, 0-4 WAC) were never really competitive against the No. 23-ranked Wolf Pack Saturday evening, with Nevada’s pistol offense running wild on USU for most of the game. But USU’s offense, which punted on its first five possessions, made the game entertaining in the second half, as quarterback Diondre Borel exploded for the majority of his 399 yards passing.

    With that kind of offensive output after such a rocky first half, skeptical observers may be quick to point out that something radical had to happen in the Utah State locker room at halftime for a completely different team to emerge from the tunnel during the second half. But at his Monday press conference, Andersen said all credit goes to his players, who simply began to make plays that they were unable to make in the first half.

    “Second half there was no magical speeches, or questioning if we were playing hard. We executed period, and exclamation point. The kids executed,” Andersen said. “The only thing you saw different in the second half is that we rolled Diondre Borel out a few times, and it was effective. We only did that on four plays, and we did execute on more than four plays in the second half. The bottom line is the kids executed when the opportunity presented itself. They made plays.”

    As for his team’s first half collapse, Andersen said had a few plays gone differently, Utah State may have been looking at a completely different game come halftime. Among the mistakes Andersen cited were two key penalties that helped extend Nevada’s second scoring drive, as well as a fourth-and-six conversion his defense allowed to the Wolf Pack that eventually led to USU digging itself an early 21-0 hole.

    “The first two drives that Nevada had, we had opportunities to get out of it and we couldn’t make a play,” Andersen said. “We have a pass interference here, or they do a good job catching a ball there, on both those drives. Against a good team on third down you have to be able to make stops. That is the facts, and we were not able to get that done.”

    The way Utah State came out to play on Saturday was reminiscent of early season losses to San Diego State and Louisiana Tech. Junior tight end Kellen Bartlett, who had a career-high five catches for 121 yards and a touchdown against Nevada, said the Aggies need to do a better job of throwing the first punch early in games.

    “Instead of hitting the other team, they hit us,” Barlett said. “In order to win games, and in order to be the team we want to be, we need to start being the team that swings first.”

    Bartlett said the only thing that changed was the players’ focus level and ability to execute the offense they practice each week.

    “We decided, enough is enough, it is time to go play,” Bartlett said. “We went out there, in the second half, and executed the plays that were called.”

    Andersen and his team have vowed to make the last four weeks of the season different. Having not played a complete game since an Oct. 1 win against Brigham Young University, Utah State’s players will look to play all four quarters this Saturday when New Mexico State (2-6, 1-3 WAC) comes to Logan.

    “Now we need to take another step in the maturity process,” Bartlett said. “It (takes) four quarters of consistent, solid football, to win a game. We don’t accept losing around here. I know that is happening and we do lose but it will change. It is something that will change here in the future.”

 

    – adam.nettina@aggiemail.usu.edu