Football gets ready to face Rebels
In the wake of a 48-6 blowout at the hands of No. 14 Utah, the Utah State football team is looking ahead to playing another Mountain West Conference opponent against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The Aggies are traveling Saturday to Las Vegas to take on the Running Rebels.
USU has played two teams so far this season that have perfect records: Utah at 3-0 and Alabama at 3-0. The overall record for the teams that the Aggies have played against is 6-3 with Idaho at 0-3. Six of the next seven games for the Aggies are on the road.
Utah State has lost its last nine games away from Romney Stadium, but has a four game winning streak at UNLV.
The next eight opponents for USU have a combined record of 5-17, the only one of those teams with a winning record is Troy at 2-1.
Utah State leads the overall series with UNLV 10-5 including a 5-3 advantage while playing in Las Vegas. USU has won seven of the last eight meetings against the Running Rebels.
“We play Utah State at home, it is a game we obviously need,” UNLV Head Coach John Robinson said. “We’re desperate to get unleashed.”
The Rebels are 0-3 at this point in the season, losing to Tennessee 17-42, Wisconsin 3-18 and Air Force 10-27.
“They haven’t had a lot of success on the field, but they are a pretty good football team,” Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy said. “They are a team that has a lot of offensive weapons. They are playing a very young quarterback who is very talented and they have him surrounded by some very good people.”
The last time these two teams played resulted in a 42-0 victory for Utah State in 1995. Utah State led 14-0 at halftime and then came out and scored on their next four consecutive possessions.
Abu Wilson, the Aggies’ tailback at the time, rushed for a career-high 251 yards on 29 attempts and three touchdowns. Wilson’s 251 yards were third best for USU at the time, and now are sixth best.
The Aggies rank No. 5 nationally for punting. USU is averaging 42.61 yards per punt and Ben Chaet is nationally ranked 16th, with an average of more than 44 yards-per-punt.
Dennehy said the team has put quarterback Travis Cox in difficult situations all year and is looking to remedy that situation.
“We’ve probably put [Cox] in situations that we asked him to do a little too much,” Dennehy said. “Our inability to run the ball and asking him to make plays probably has something to do with that.”
Freshman Kevin Robinson is going into this game as the top freshman receiver in the nation. Robinson averages 5.67 yards per catch and 78 yards per game. Those numbers lead other freshman like Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech and Colorado State’s Johnny Walker.
If Robinson catches five passes Saturday against UNLV it will be his fourth straight game with five or more receptions.
Robinson also leads the Aggies with 17 receptions for 234 yards during the first three games. No freshman has ever led the Aggies in receiving for a season. Along with Robinson, freshman Chris Forbes leads USU in rushing with 81 yards on 26 carries.
The only freshman to lead the Ags in rushing at the end of the season are Demetrius Brown with 289 yards in 1986 and Abu Wilson with 795 yards in 1992.
“I think we just need to continue to work to get better. Our biggest problem once again, is not getting anything from our running game,” Dennehy said. “We are not asking our offensive line and running backs to gain 10 or 12 yards a play. It makes it difficult to call a ball game when you are not in normal situations on second and third downs. It puts a lot of pressure on our coaches and our quarterback.”
USU has scored five touchdowns this season, all of which have come through the air. Robinson has had two. Forbes, Tarrell Richards and Tony Pennyman have one each. Richard’s touchdown reception was the first catch of his college career.
UNLV’s offensive coordinator Bruce Snyder was head coach at Utah State from 1976-1982 and the Rebels’ defensive line coach, Craig Wederquist was an assistant for USU from 1988-1991.
-kcaustin@cc.usu.edu