A look ahead at fall sports at USU
The beginning of the fall semester is underway and with it comes the beginning of the 2021 fall sports season.
For every sport besides football, it’s a quick turnaround to the new season. Due to COVID-19, volleyball, soccer, golf, men’s tennis and cross country had their traditional autumn seasons pushed back to spring semester.
For those of you who are new to Utah State or simply unsure what the athletics program will look like this fall, here is a brief glance at the sports starting up at USU right now and what to expect from each.
Football
Utah State is predicted to finish No. 5 in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They open the season on Sept. 4 on the road against Washington State.
The abbreviated 2020 season went poorly for the Aggies. They finished 1-5 and head coach Gary Andersen was fired mid-way through the season.
With the hiring of new head coach Blake Anderson in December, the hope is that Utah State football can return to its winning ways, and there is reason to believe that they can do it.
With 18 of 22 starters from last season returning, the personnel is more experienced. They also brought in 15 transfers, several from Power Five schools.
Under new offensive coordinator Anthony Tucker, who came from University of Central Florida, USU will run a fast-paced, balanced rushing and passing attack on offense. The defense, led by defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda, who came from Miami, will try to disrupt offenses with a variety of blitzes and mixed coverages.
The team, which has completed fall camp, seems excited for the season to begin.
“I think this group of guys that we have, and the coach- ing staff, are definitely all genuine,” said senior wide receiver Savon Scarver. “I can tell that they all want to be here and they all want to win.”
Utah State athletic director John Hartwell is pleased with how the new transition has gone thus far.
“I can’t give enough praise to Blake Anderson and his staff,” Hartwell told the Utah Statesman in May. “He’s assembled an outstanding staff, for how they have taken a team chemistry and a team attitude that — it’s well documented — was not great during the transition, and they’ve got total buy-in now from all of our student athletes.”
Soccer
The USU women’s soccer team is also undergoing a new era. After 18 years at the helm, Heather Cairns stepped down in April as the head coach. Replacing her is Manny Martins, a native of Portugal and just the second minority head coach of any sport in Utah State history.
Martins inherits a team that went 5-4-1 last season.
“It feels amazing,” Martins said of being the head coach. “It’s amazing because I inherited a fantastic group of players and individuals.”
The loss of Cairns may have affected the Aggies in the rankings. Despite finishing last year in a three-way tie for fourth- place with 16 points, Utah State was in the preseason poll to finish No. 7 out of 12 teams in the conference.
On paper, there shouldn’t be much of a drop in on-field performance this season. USU returns 9 of 11 starters, including all-conference senior midfielder Asheley Cordoro and all-conference sophomore defender Kelsey Steed-Kaufusi.
Utah State women’s soccer has played three games, tying with Idaho State 0-0 in the opener and beating Northern Arizona 2-1 and Northern Colorado 2-0.
Volleyball
USU volleyball is in its second year under head coach Rob Neilson.
The team, which is still rebuilding, showed growth in
Neilson’s first year at the helm. They improved from 2-28 in 2019 to 5-10 in the spring season.
Part of the rebuilding process is upgrading the roster. Neilson added nine new student-athletes to the roster.
They also return three of their four best attackers in senior middle Corinne Larson, senior outside Kristy Frank and sophomore outside Tatum Stall.
“We’re getting better,” Neilson told the Utah Statesman in June. “And that’s the goal, right? You’re trying to recruit the talent that’s currently in your gym. That’s kind of the reality of what we do. And I think we’ve done that. So excited to kind of take the next step.”
Their season opened this past weekend at the hosted Northern Utah Invitational. Expect to see a competitive team this fall.
Cross Country
The Aggie men had one of their most successful showings ever last winter. They finished No. 2 in the conference and finished No. 11 in the nation — the highest finish in school history.
Entering the new season, USU is expected to continue to do well. In the preseason polls, they’re predicted to finish No. 2 in the conference once again. They received three first-place votes.
Utah State returns reigning MW champion and all-american junior Caleb Garnica, as well as sophomore Camren Todd, who finished third in the MW championships.
The women’s team is predicted to finish No.4 in the conference.
“We will try to improve each week,” said head coach Artie Gulden. “If we are able to do that, then I am confident we will be in a great position come the championship part of the season”
Their season begins on Sept. 4 at the USU hosted Sage- brush Invitational.
Men’s Tennis
Last season, the men’s tennis team finished 12-8 and 3-4 in conference. They were fifth out of eight teams.
All-conference junior Javier Ruiz and graduate student Felipe Acosta return this season and will lead the way.
The team begins their season on Sept. 10 at the Midland Invitational in Midland, Texas.
Golf
Utah State finished tenth out of 11 teams at the Mountain West championships in May. They begin their fall season on Sept. 10 at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo.