Records Watch: Utah State Football

on July 23, 2019 at 2:33 pm

Utah State football just released its 2019 media guide so what is there better to do than sift through it and see which records could be set by the Aggies this upcoming season.

The year that was 2018 saw an almost insulting number of school records set in Matt Wells’ swan song season — 34 to be exact (and tied six others). Expecting a similar performance by the inaugural year of Gary Anderson part two would be equally ludicrous. But that doesn’t mean no records will fall. Here’s a list of marks that could wind up bested this season.

Career scoring

Current record holder: Robert Turbin (308)

Record-breaking candidate: Dominik Eberle (251)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Almost certain

The honorary German ambassador for the Aggies is a mere 57 points away from earning the title of “Highest Scorer in Aggie History.” Considering he put up 101 in 2017 and a 141 in 2018 (which is now the single-season scoring record at USU), it would be more baffling if he did not eclipse Turbin’s eight-year standing record.

Career points responsible for

Holder: Chuckie Keeton (468)

Candidate: Jordan Love (294)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Pretty good

Last year, Love set the single-season mark for points responsible for at 234 with 39 total TDs (32 passing, seven rushing). To break the career line set by Keeton, Love would need 30 touchdowns in 2019 (29 to match). Love’s scoring numbers will quite predictably go down since the Aggies won’t be anywhere near the scoring rampage they were on last year. But 30 scores is still a very attainable goal for Love, especially given the fact that USU will likely be relying upon him much more than a year ago.

Season sacks

Holder: Mark Mraz (16)

Candidate: Tipa Galeai (10 in 2018)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Very low

This one’s admittedly a pretty high bar to set, even when considering the high regard with which many hold Galeai and his impact as a pass rusher. College Football Referene’s sack database goes back to 2000 and according to that, Galeai is one of just two Aggies to record double-digit sacks in a season (the other is John Chick in 2005). Repeating the 10-sack season will alone be difficult, much less getting to 16.

Galeai will attract a high degree of attention from opposing offensive lines this year. And while that will help open exploitable opportunities, it will be for his teammates. Galeai is probably quite content with that, but it doesn’t bode well for him putting up the extraordinary numbers necessary to break this particular USU record.

300-yard passing games

Holder: Jose Fuentes and Brent Snyder (10)

Candidate: Jordan Love (8)

Odds of breaking in 2019: High

Last year, Love set the record for most 300-yard games in a single season (seven). With just three more, he’ll eclipse Fuentes and Snyder for the career mark. It’s hard for even Love’s most staunch critics (do those even exist right now?) to see him not doing so this season. Saying he won’t be able to do it against a harder schedule ignores the fact that Love had 300-yarders against Michigan State, Boise State and North Texas.

Putting it simply, Love could easily shatter this record, it may just come down to circumstances beyond him as to whether he actually does.

Season total tackles

Holder: Tony D’Amato (170)

Candidate: David Woodward (134 in 2018)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Fairly low

Only ten Aggies in history have recorded north of 140 tackles and Woodward isn’t one of them. Or at least he hasn’t yet. Woodward came within six tackles of meeting that arbitrary mark but that still would have been 30 stops short of matching D’Amato’s record set back in 1998. Since 2000, only four NCAA players have reached 170: Luke Kuechly (2010, 2011), Jimmy Cottrell (2005), Ben Burr-Kirven (2018) and Frank Ginda (2017). It’s not an easy feat to be sure, nearly impossible, but it is within the realm of possibility.

Career field goals made

Holder: Brad Bohn (59)

Candidate: Dominik Eberle (43)

Odds of breaking in 2019: High

17 field goals. That’s what separates Eberle from the glory of this career stat held for nigh on 20 years by Bohn. It’s unlikely that Eberle will catch Bohn’s mark of 89 field goals attempted (he’s 32 back from that) but that speaks more to Eberle’s efficiency than anything. If he were to repeat either his 2017 or 2018 numbers, Eberle would walk away from Logan with the field goals made record needing some four or eight fewer attempts than Bohn.

Junior season passing yards

Holder: Jose Fuentes (3,100)

Candidate: Jordan Love (N/A)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Very high

Love currently holds the freshman and sophomore single-season passing yard records so the junior campaign mark will be in his sights this upcoming season. Luckily, this challenge will be far easier than taking the sophomore record away from its previous owner, Chuckie Keeton who set an across-the-board record of 3,373 yards as a sophomore.

Simply playing in 13 games this year (assuming a bowl appearance) should be enough for Love to secure this record. He would need to average just shy of 240 yards per game, far less than the lofty 274 he averaged last season.

Fuentes remains the record holder for both juniors and seniors, but if Love can claim both (we’ll see if he hangs around for year four) he’ll easily become the undisputed king of Aggie quarterbacks.

Season passing completions

Holder: Chuckie Keeton (275)

Candidate: Jordan Love (267 in 2018)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Middling chance

This, like the 300-yard passing games record Love will be chasing, may just come down to circumstance. As much as it feels like Love will break this just by having a few more pass attempts, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll get the attempts he needs and that his completion percentage will be good enough to top Keeton’s completion record. Love’s 417 attempts last year rank sixth all-time and neither he nor the six other USU quarterback seasons (across four players) with more attempts than the 407 Keeton put up in his record-setting campaign, were/are good enough.

Career kick return touchdowns

Holder: Kevin Robinson (4)

Candidate: Savon Scarver (3)

Odds of breaking in 2019: Possible, but more likely in 2020

Given the nature of kick returns these days and the so few chances Scarver may wind up having, both by modern kickoff conventions and the fact that Scarver now has a very definite reputation, it’s not out of the possibility to see the All-American get zero return TDs in 2019. That’s not to say Scarver won’t be an All-American caliber returner, it’s just a matter of probability. Still, a man with his speed and proven ability on the return, one TD in 2019 seems very likely. Two, the number he had last year, is a little less likely but Scarver has two years to get two more special teams scores so one way or another this record will probably fall by the end of 2021 by Scarver’s hand (or legs to be more precise).

Career passing touchdowns

Holder: Chuckie Keeton (62)

Candidate: Jordan Love (40)