USU football Week 4 takeaways: Test of expectations

Four games into the 2018 season Utah State is sitting at the top of the Mountain Division in the Mountain West Conference with a 3-1 overall record and a 1-0 conference record. The team is also on a three-game win streak, something the Aggies have not done since October 2015. Here’s a few things to take away from USU’s 42-32 win over Air Force this past Saturday.

1. Test of expectations

This was the first game where Utah State was expected to win but could also very easily lose. It wasn’t like Michigan State where a loss was easily excusable and just being close to a win felt like a positive thing. Nor was it anything like preparing for teams we knew they would beat by 50 point. This was the first coin flip game.

Winning games like this has been a huge problem for the last 3-4 yards. USU lost to this very team three years in a row. Getting the monkey off of the Aggies’ back was an accomplishment definitely worth taking note of.

2. Goal line rushing

Outside of Gerold Bright’s 70-yard touchdown run that put the Aggies back up by 10 points, the run game was noticeable lacking. Excluding that one run, USU had just 63 yards on 23 attempts (2.7 average). However, inside the 10-yard line, Utah State executed well in very few reps.

USU ran a total of three plays inside the 10. All were rushes and all were touchdowns. In order: a six-yard run by Darwin Thompson, a four-yard run by Bright and a one-yard rush by Thompson.

Running the ball at the goal line is the armchair coaches’ obvious number one option (hey Seattle), but that doesn’t mean a team is good at it. Throughout the season Utah State has had 23 carries inside the 10-yard line. Twelve of those have gone for touchdowns.

Darwin Thompson has been especially deadly close to goal. In the five carries he’s been given, there was a potential to gain 15 yards (not a whole lot of vertical space near the goal line). Thompson gained 14 of those, scoring TDs on four of the five carries (the one carry he didn’t score on — a four-yard rush against MSU — he immediately followed it up with a one-yard touchdown).

Utah State is tied for second in the nation in total rushing touchdowns with 17 — tied with Navy who runs the ball 65 times a game. In fact, of the top 20 teams in rushing touchdowns, the Aggies have the fewest rushing attempts (137). On average, one out of every eight rushes by Utah State has been a touchdown.

The close games have shown that the offense is very much pass-first. But in goal-to-go situations, running becomes their calling card.

3. Blink and you’ll miss the touchdown

Utah State had six scoring drives on the night, the longest lasting 2:51 with four taking less than a single minute of game time. For a little perspective, Air Force had a three-and-out in the first quarter that lasted longer than four of the Aggies’ scoring drives.

Air Force dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for nearly three quarters of the game. Yet in the 16:20 that the Aggies had the ball in their possession, they outgained AFA 489 to 471, had only a handful fewer first downs (27 to 22 in the Falcons’ favor) and were outscored on offense 42-25.

Through four games, Utah State has nine scoring drives in under one minute, which is second in the NCAA. They rank 126^th in time of possession but 36^th in total offense (475.0 yards per game) and seventh in scoring offense (51.5 points per game).

Last year the Aggies played just as fast with a similar hurry-up offense. The difference this season has, in part, been due to converting third downs. In 2017, Utah State was 106^th in third down conversion, getting first downs 34.3 percent of their attempts. This year, that number is 46.9, good for 25^th overall.

4. Love airing it out

In the last two weeks Jordan Love has completed 47 of his 64 passes (73.4 percent) for 592 yards and four touchdowns — and a rushing score to boot. Keep in mind he only played one half against Tennessee Tech so those number only represent six quarters of play.

Through just four games, Love has two 300-yard games. Only two USU quarterbacks have ever had that many as a sophomore, Chuckie Keeton (5) and Jose Fuentes (2).

Jordan Love is clearly the best QB in the state of Utah and he’ll make a great case for best in the Mountain West by the time the season is over if he keeps this up.

5. If the ball hits you in the hands, catch it

There were too many drops. One is too many, but there were plenty more than just one. Ron’Quavion Tarver had a drop on a third-and-short that was right in his bread-basket which would have been an easy first down but just dropped. Savon Scarver dropped a can of corn that would have been a 52-yard touchdown to put the Aggies up 14 late in the first quarter.

Jordan Love isn’t exempt from blame here. Some of the drops were difficult catches that could have been made easier by more accurate throws. But this receiving corps is too good to be dropping this many passes.

6. Tarver back in business

Ron’Quavion Tarver has shown No. 1 WR potential for a while not, but it’s only now that he’s starting to capitalize on that. On Saturday he had his first 100-yard receiving game since his sophomore season (he’s a senior now). He now holds in interesting distinction of being the only Utah State wide receiver to have a full season between 100-yard receiving games.

This season so far Tarver has 22 receptions for 228 yards. In the last eight games of 2017, Tarver had 23 receptions. Utilizing Tarver in the passing attack has been a major boost to the offense. Now we just need to get him some touchdowns.

7. Prolific linebackers

Utah State has a great group of versatile linebackers. Three linebackers, David Woodward, Tipa Galeai and Suli Tamaivena had at least 11 tackles. Chase Christiansen had nine and Jontrell Rocquemore, who has been a hybrid of linebacker and defensive back, had 13. Altogether, those five players combined for 56 tackles. This position group has played very well in the first four games and it was only this past week that Tamaivena saw his first action of the year after leading the Aggies in tackles last season. Tamaivena was injured in an off-the-field accident during fall camp and missed the first three games. He played Saturday with a protective cast over his left hand and wrist.