Aggies gear up for first WAC challenge
If football head coach Gary Andersen was still celebrating his team’s 38-17 win over Idaho State during his weekly Monday morning press conference, he sure wasn’t letting on to it. Not yet 48 hours removed from the dominating offensive and defensive performance, Andersen was already looking toward the next challenge for Utah State (1-1), which will take on the Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0) Saturday.
“With Fresno State, to put it quite simply, the path gets quite tougher this week without question,” Andersen said. “They are an improved football team from last year, and I thought they were really good last year.”
Fresno State went 8-5 in 2009, winning seven of nine games to close out the season en route to a bowl appearance. The Bulldogs beat the Aggies 31-27 in Fresno last season, but if the first week of this year’s college football season is any indication, than Andersen may be right on the mark.
Fresno State had no game this week, but was nothing short of dominant in their season opener two weeks ago, beating Cincinnati 28-14. The Bulldogs were effective on both sides of the ball against Cincinnati in the opener, receiving strong performances from quarterback Ryan Colburn and a bevy of receivers on offense, as well as an aggressive pass rush of defense.
“I thought their quarterback played very well, and the defensive line played very well for them, and their wide receivers made some big plays,” Andersen said.
Andersen is especially concerned with Fresno State’s defensive line, which had eight sacks in the season opener. The Bulldogs are led by former first team All-WAC defensive end Chris Carter and defensive tackle Logan Harrell. Harrell was named the WAC and National defensive player of the week after his week one outing, when he notched 3.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for a loss. Together with Carter and the rest of the Bulldog defense, Harrell kept Cincinnati off the scoreboard in the second half, and allowed only 15 rushing yards on the night.
“They are very solid up front,” Andersen added. “I would say that it is one of the best front-fours that we will face all year.”
Andersen should know. As the Aggies’ defensive line coach as well as head coach, he’s familiar with just how important it is to create havoc for opposing offensive lines. Andersen called USU’s own offensive line play “average” following last Saturday’s game, and said that the team will likely have to double-team Fresno defensive end Chris Carter if the Aggies are to protect quarterback Diondre Borel this Saturday.
“You have to be in a position sometimes to double-team (Carter),” Andersen said. “You have to try and tweak the game plan for how he plays, when he tries to get up the field. If you just let him come off the ball and go one-on-one, you are going to have some issues.”
Given how effective Fresno’s pass rush was in the opener, the Aggies are likely to try to attack the Bulldog defense on the ground. According to Aggie running back Kerwynn Williams, USU will be looking to exploit the aggressiveness of the Bulldog front four and establish the running game early.
“Everyone needs to know what they are doing, and know what way the run is going,” said Williams, who ran for his first collegiate touchdown against Idaho State last Saturday. “If we can get that front-four blocked we can have a significant increase in rushing yards this game. We just need to come out fast, and establish a run game early.”
USU’s players, especially the seniors, have extra motivation to beat Fresno State. While the Aggies have fallen short of beating the Bulldogs in each of the past three seasons, they’ve been close to pulling the upset more than once in that span. According to senior cornerback Curtis Marsh, the chance to upend the rival Bulldogs presents a real opportunity for Utah State to show it has arrived on the national scene.
“We haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here and, as you know the last two games have been really close,” Marsh said. “They are a real physical team, and they have been one of the best teams in our conference for years. It is definitely a big game, and I am really looking forward to it, and playing well.”
Marsh said the key to stopping Fresno State will be in stopping the run game and limiting Fresno State when it comes to taking advantage of play-action in the passing game – factors which ultimately undid Utah State’s near upset bid last year.
“They always have a great running game, so we are defending the run first,” Marsh said. “We need to be on our game when it comes to play action passes. That is how they hurt us the most last year, big plays on play action passes.”
Marsh said the team will need to play mistake-free ball if it is to beat the Bulldogs. USU missed two potentially game-changing field goals against Fresno State is last year’s four-point loss.
“If we can play well consistently against the run, and not give up the big runs, and eliminate mistakes like penalties and missed field goals, we will be in good position to win the game at the end,” Marsh said.
Despite the challenges in facing Fresno, USU may have lucked out when it comes to this week’s game. Fresno State head coach Pat Hill announced earlier this week that starting running back Robbie Rouse will not play in Saturday’s game, and that sophomore running back A.J. Ellis will make his first career start in Rouse’s place. Fresno will also be without big-play receiver Devon Wylie, whose ability to stretch the field would have tested the athleticism of USU’s secondary.
Not that it’s any consolation to Gary Andersen, who knows the challenge of defeating a perennial winner like Fresno State will take more than luck and injuries.
“The opportunity to have a team like Fresno State come into our place, and a team who is one of the best in our conference, you have to play very well to beat Fresno State,” Andersen said.
“They kind of have the whole package going for them right now, and we will have to play very well to have the opportunity to win.”
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