USU Football 2005
At the start of the season, there were plenty of questions for Utah State Head Coach Brent Guy. He might not have all the right answers at the end of his first season, but he knows which direction to head in to find them.
Transition was the name of 2005. Not only with the new staff, but with the 14 Aggie seniors leaving and a nearly non-existent upcoming senior class, the underclassmen had their chance to get into the game and show the coaches what’s in store for the next couple of years.
“We have a huge hole,” Guy said of the class of ’06. “We had so many on the top end and bottom end, there just wasn’t a class there. Now, we’ll have a big junior class but not that many seniors.”
The main reason for the lack of seniors is the switch in philosophy that came along with the coaching change.
Guy didn’t go after many junior college players and he said he doesn’t plan to add anymore than two or three this off season. With all the junior college players former Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy recruited during his tenure, the transition to bringing in freshmen basically removed most everyone from the class that will be seniors next year.
“The best decision I made was to not sign the junior college guys and go with youth,” Guy said. “Now I think there’s a bright hope that not just the team sees, but the fans and alumni can see the youth and that they’re going to build the program.”
In order to build with youth, they have to play, which definitely happened this season. Twenty freshmen saw playing time while 12 of them started at least once. Some of the freshmen were even pushed into starter’s spots, which aren’t normally given to freshmen.
Marquise Charles and Josh Taylor started at cornerback, Jerod Walker started twice at quarterback, winning on the road in the last game of the season, and tailback Ryan Bohm started eight games and led the team in rushing despite missing playing time due to some injuries.
Two freshmen linebackers started on opening day – Jake Hutton and Devon Hall. Hutton led the team in tackles on the season and two other freshmen linebackers saw playing time throughout the season.
Guy said he will probably sign a junior college linebacker to give a little more experience to the linebacking corps as middle linebacker Matt Wiser graduated, leaving a young group behind.
Entering the season, no quarterback had started a college game. Now the Ags have two quarterbacks who have not only started, but have won. The wide receiver tandem of Tony Pennyman and Kevin Robinson will return next season. Pennyman and Robinson combined for 17 of the Aggies’ 27 touchdowns for the season.
The running game didn’t progress as far as expected, but it did improve. The rushing game moved up 21 spots in the national rankings, Guy said. The Ags were 94th in the nation rushing, which says a lot about 2004’s running game.
Part of the problem was the transition to the zone-running scheme. Guy said the line wasn’t big enough to run the scheme correctly, especially when they faced odd man fronts with the nose tackle lined up right over the center.
This off season, the coaches will be looking for a new center since Nick George graduated. George was moved from tight end to center last off season.
Once the center spot is taken care of, the coaches will build from there to put bigger bodies in the best spot for them, Guy said. The offense is based on running the zone plays, not just normal power running.
“That’s what the offense is built around, not just the powers or the traps,” Guy said. “Those are part of it, but those aren’t the base of the offense.”
To go along with the shuffling of the line, Guy said he is still searching for two tailbacks to be able to complement each other – a power back that will run over people and a speed back that can get to the edge. Both could be filled with junior college players because Guy said Bohm and Chris Forbes will still be in the backfield next year, but neither of them are those types of runners.
“We never found the tailback that could carry the ball 25 times for 100 yards,” Guy said. “We found a couple quarterbacks who could do it, but that’s not what we want.”
The quarterback position is the model for what Guy said he wants at every other position: competition. Guy said both players understand whoever performs well in practice will see the playing time, since both have proven themselves on the field this season.
This season, Guy said 45-50 players played most every snap while 60 players would travel with the team, not all of them would get to play. If all 60 were proven players, he said, it wouldn’t just help the offense or defense, but would improve depth and special teams’ play.
Even with the newfound answers Guy has in his pocket, he said he doesn’t feel a 3-8 record is where this team should have been. Two or three games were winnable, but the Ags couldn’t pull it out. A couple games and Utah State would be in the middle of the pack and even competing for a bowl game, which is where Guy said he wants to be.
For this past season, Guy said the Ags “are disappointed with our results, but not discouraged about the future.”
-krn@cc.usu.edu