USU to play ‘Bama
Utah State will try to knock off one of the six undefeated teams left in the nation when it plays 7-0 Alabama Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium holds more than 80,000 spectators, which is nearly double the biggest crowd the Aggies have played in front of this year.
There were more than 44,000 at the Utah-Utah State game in September.
The Aggies played at Alabama last year as well, so the environment will only be new for the 18 freshmen who are seeing playing time. Besides the size of the crowd, there are other concerns for the Ags.
“Its going to be a great experience for our team,” Utah State Head Coach Brent Guy said. “It’s going to be as big a crowd as we’ve played against and as a loud a crowd as we’ve seen and the best defense we’ve seen this year.”
The Crimson Tide are fifth in the nation in total defense and third in scoring defense, which will make things tough for the Ags to put drive together on Saturday.
Guy said the team is looking into rearranging the offensive line to get some bigger bodies in the game, so they can get more of a running attack out of their zone-running scheme.
The running game is needed to help quarterback Leon Jackson III so he doesn’t have to be the team’s leading rusher and passer every game.
Even with the workload, Jackson is improving according to Guy.
“Leon’s getting better at recognizing and making plays when he can make them happen,” Guy said.
Jackson rushed for more than half of Utah State’s rushing yards against Boise State as he finished with 49 net yards.
He completed all nine of his pass attempts in the first half as he helped the Ags to an early 14-10 lead.
Last year’s game against Alabama went into halftime at 17-10 before the Crimson Tide won 48-17.
With the exception of the Fresno State game, the Aggies have kept the game close at least until the half.
While that may help the Aggies stay in the game, the third quarter has been the pull away quarter for ‘Bama as they have outscored their opponents 50-0 in the third quarter of their games.
The ‘Bama offense is led by senior quarterback Brodie Croyle, who averages 220 yards a game passing.
The Tide’s running back Kenneth Darby runs like Quinton Ganther of Utah, Guy said.
Darby averages just under 100 yards per game and is also the team’s fourth leading receiver.
Guy said he doesn’t want his team to try to overplay or do more than they’re supposed to. Instead, he just wants them to execute and make Alabama beat them.
“We can’t get out of the box and do things we don’t do just because we’re playing in a big stadium with a top-ranked opponent,” Guy said. “We want to see if we can execute and run the plays the way we’re supposed to run them and make them beat us with their speed and physicality.”
The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon and can be seen on ESPN Game Plan and will be on the radio at 94.5 FM.
-krn@cc.usu.edu