Aggies look for revenge

Julie Ann Grosshans

The Utah State football team will be doing more than looking to break their five game losing streak Saturday at Romney Stadium; the Aggies will be seeking revenge.

“Hopefully, last year’s game will be a lesson to us all in terms of just how good I-AA programs are and what happens if you are not ready to play,” Utah State coach Mick Dennehy said.

Last season, the Idaho State University Bengals defeated the Aggies 27-24 for the final game of the year, a loss not soon forgotten in the mind of the players.

“This is our chance to get back at them,” running back Emmett White said. “Get a little revenge.”

On top of looking for the first victory of the season and revenge, being the Homecoming game makes the winning seem all that much more important.

The Aggies hold a 45-24-2 all-time record for homecoming games played in Logan.

Dennehy feels his team just needs to go out and play the game.

“We are just going to have to go like crazy and continue to play as hard as we can play,” Dennehy said. “Hopefully we will take another step forward in terms of being a better football team this time out and if we do that we will be just fine.”

The Bengals are coming off what Dennehy calls a very big win for Idaho State against Portland State University.

“I think Larry Lewis [ISU’s head coach] and his guys continue to improve,” Dennehy said. “I think they are a better football team at this point in time than they have had at any point in time the last couple of years since he’s been there. I feel they are a football program that is on the right track. They are doing a good job week in and week out.”

The Aggies will have to play at their very best in order to compete, Dennehy said.

One note for the Aggies to keep in mind is how the Bengals have not won or lost consecutive games all season. This would favorably put the victory in the hands of USU.

USU has certainly had time to improve on its game since the 54-34 loss in Provo against BYU on Oct. 5.

“I think the bye week came at a very good time,” Dennehy said. “We have not had a lot of major things [injuries], but I think the normal wear and tear was beginning to show. We will have most of our guys as close to 100 percent as we possibly could expect at this point of the season.”