Aggies take on BCS foe Boise State
Utah State faces a tall order when they play at Boise State this Saturday.
The Broncos are ranked No. 12 in the BCS standings, right behind LSU after a close win over San Jose State last weekend.
The game is the final home game for 23 Boise State seniors and Boise State has the nation’s second-best home record over the last four years at 24-1.
USU Head Coach Brent Guy, who coached at Boise State under Dirk Koetter, said, “San Jose State did just everything right. They punt the ball to them and [BSU] gets a great punt return. They make a play when they have to make a play. With the clock ticking, they kick a field goal to win the game. That is what Boise State has been the last five years. They know how to capitalize and they have confidence that no matter what is happening in the game, they will somehow pull it out and find a way to win.”
The Bronco offense boasts three-year starter Jared Zabransky at quarterback and Doak Walker Award candidate Ian Johnson at running back. Johnson is a three-time WAC player of the week and has rushed for 1,466 yards and 21 touchdowns. Johnson leads the WAC in rushing, all-purpose yards and scoring. Zabransky is a legit two-way threat with six touchdowns on the ground and 1,790 yards in the air.
Drisan James is the leading Boise State receiver with 484 yards. Eight different receivers have caught at least one touchdown pass from Zabranksy and Legedu Naanee leads in this category with four. USU has given up more than 60 points the last two times they played Boise.
Guy said the game will be a challenge for USU.
“We are playing a team that is even better than Nevada as far as their ability to be explosive,” Guy said. “They are not as explosive as Hawaii is right now scoring points, but they are number one in rushing, number two in scoring, number one in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. It is the highest-ranked conference opponent that we have ever faced in the history of the school, so it is going to be a great challenge for our team.”
Super linebacker Korey Hall leads BSU’s number one defense. He has an astonishing 89 tackles and six interceptions. Colt Brooks and Andrew Browning are the sack artists on the defense with six and five, respectively.
Boise State’s 74-13 record in the aughts is second only to Oklahoma and tied with Texas.
Guy said the Aggies have to avoid turnovers and prevent the Broncos from making big plays.
“We have got to shorten the field somehow and help our offense against a tough Boise State defense,” Guy said. “They had a little bit of a wake-up call from San Jose State. We are not going to be able to sneak up on them.”
Freshman quarterback Riley Nelson, receiver Kevin Robinson and running back Marcus Cross remain the key players for USU’s offense, although Antraun McDaniel rushed for 78 yards against Nevada and has been getting more work lately in place of Cross. Nelson threw two interceptions against Nevada in probably his poorest outing of the season.
Defensively Antonio Taylor now leads USU in tackles with 62. The last time a non-linebacker led USU in tackles was defensive tackle Rulon Jones in 1978.
-graham@cc.usu.edu