Offense looks for first points of the year
The Utah State Aggies will be on the road this Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff against their rivals, the BYU Cougars. USU is still looking to punch in a touchdown on offense as they wrap up what has been a brutal non-conference schedule, while the Cougars are coming off a double-overtime loss at Boston College.
USU Head Coach Brent Guy said his coaching staff is telling the players not to worry about anything except the first quarter.
Guy said his football team can’t afford to turn the football over in the 77th meeting of the rivalry, nor can they take the Cougars lightly because their 1-2 record is misleading.
“BYU is just as good as Utah, they don’t have the same record but they’ve lost two close games on the road,” he said.
Mendenhall is not overlooking the Aggies either. He said his opponent’s “schemes are sound and [the Aggies] have been receiving good coaching. I think it is a matter of youth, inexperience and miscues that are contributing to a lack of point production.”
BYU’s quarterback position will be a focal point for everyone in the stadium and watching on the Mountain West network. Senior starting quarterback John Beck is banged up and Mendenhall said he’s day to day.
“In the Tulsa game you could see John Beck was limping. He took some hits and aggravated his injury against Boston College,” Guy said.
Jason Beck (no relation) has been practicing with the first team this week, and with BYU turning around to play Texas Christian University in their Mountain West conference opener on Thursday, the safe bet is for John Beck to sit this game out.
Guy said he doesn’t think the switch will affect BYU’s game plan very much because “they have three good running backs,” although “they may be a little more conservative, trying to run the ball more to get [Jason Beck] comfortable.”
Of the three runners Guy mentioned, the most dangerous is Curtis Brown, who has 2,408 career yards and needs just 563 yards to pass Jamal Willis as BYU’s all-time top rusher.
If Mendenhall is worried about playing the other Beck against USU he isn’t letting on.
“If you take a look at [Jason Beck’s] junior college background I really don’t view him as a backup, especially since he is a senior. There is no question that he has a command of the game. He’s also confident and quite mobile compared to John,” Mendenhall said, “I believe John might have a slight edge at arm strength but Jason is difficult to rattle and I think he has excellent composure.”
USU’s quarterback Leon Jackson III leads the offense against Mendenhall’s 3-4 defense, which will include USU transfer Kelly Poppinga playing at linebacker. The unit has been better than advertised, holding the Pac-10’s Arizona to just 253 total yards.