Things to Watch For in Utah State vs BYU

With bragging rights and in-state supremacy on the line Friday night, this year’s edition of Utah State vs. BYU is setting up to be a good one. Rivalry games tend to be unpredictable, and if the battle for the Old Wagon Wheel has taught us anything the past few years, it’s that anything can happen in this game. So while I won’t try to predict the outcome, I’ve outlined a few of the big questions which should help determine who takes the trophy home.

Can the BYU defense find a way to get to Jordan Love?

When your defensive coordinator’s plan for stopping an opposing offense is to “score a lot of points,” that’s usually not a great sign. But that’s exactly what BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said when asked about how his squad plans to stop a high-powered Utah State offense averaging 52 points per game. Of course, New Mexico State and Tennessee Tech don’t exactly boast prolific defenses, but anyone who has watched the Aggies know that they can move the ball and score quickly when clicking. The key to making that click is Jordan Love.

As stout as the Cougar defense has been at stopping the run (see below), it has been simply atrocious at getting into the backfield. With just six total sacks in five games, BYU currently ranks 112th in the nation. Even worse is only achieving 15 tackles for a loss in those five games, ranking 127th. There are 129 teams. The Aggie offensive line isn’t exactly Wisconsin or Washington’s line, but it has proven to be stout this season, only allowing 1.5 sacks per game. With a quarterback as good and as quick as Jordan Love, and a secondary as poor as BYU’s, the Aggie offense may have a field day if the Cougar defense doesn’t figure out how to get some pressure on.

Can the Aggie run game step it up?

The Utah State run game has taken a bit of grief from Aggie fans the past few weeks, and I’m not entirely sure all of it is fair. They’ve faced two great run defenses (Michigan State and Air Force) and two awful run defenses (Tennessee Tech and New Mexico State). But when you average out their four opponents average rushing yards per game allowed, it comes to 177.2. The Aggie offense is averaging 190.5 yards per game. That’s nothing out of this world, but it’s good. However, against a BYU defense which held Wisconsin to 204 yards (60 under its season average), the Aggie run game will need to step it up in this game.

The Aggies have shown a pretty balanced two-headed running attack between Gerold Bright and Darwin Thompson this season, but many of the yards accumulated by the two have come on long runs. Now, of course that’s not a bad thing. They’ve proven the ability to break a run for big yardage, and that’s a huge asset to have, but in this game I’m looking for them to figure out how to consistently pick up five or six yards with very few short or minimal gain runs. If they can do that, I think the Aggies win.

Who wins the turnover battle?

Win the turnover battle, win the game, right? I know that’s one of the oldest cliches in football, but it’s proven especially true in this series. The past 16 times Utah State and BYU have matched up, the winner of the turnover battle has been the winner of the game. Most fans will remember last year, where the Cougars finished the game with more passing yards, rushing yards and first downs, but the Aggies scored 26 points off seven turnovers to win 40-24. With the two teams seeming to be pretty evenly matched on paper this season, there’s a very good chance this game comes down to whoever wins the turnover battle as well. So far this season, BYU has turned the ball over four times while forcing five turnovers, while the Aggies have both turned the ball over and forced turnovers five times.

– jadencrockettjohnson@gmail.com

Twitter: @jadenjohnson00