USU vs San Jose State: By the Numbers

61 – Points scored against San Jose State

I usually like to dig in and look at some of the more commonly overlooked numbers in this column, but this week it’s hard to not talk about the obvious ones. Like a Utah State team putting up 61 points in a game. 61 points. This is something which has only been done seven times in the last CENTURY by an Aggie team, and it’s worth talking about. In the past 50 years, USU has put up 60+ on an FBS opponent only twice: in 2011 against Wyoming, and in 1997 against Idaho. The time before that? 53 years ago against New Mexico State. Look, I get it. San Jose State is bad. They straight up stink. But I hope these numbers help Aggie fans realize how historically well Utah State played Saturday evening, and give them at least a little bit of hope for the future.

35 – Points off of turnovers for Utah State

This is a big one. To me, this is the stat that truly tells the story of the game. The Aggie defense was nothing short of dominant against San Jose State, something which USU fans have been dying to see from their team. With four fumbles recovered and an interception, this was the most turnovers forced by an Aggie defense since, yep, you guessed it, the eight-turnover 52-26 victory over Boise State nearly two years ago. Utah State now faces a BYU offense which ranks nearly last in the country in virtually every offensive category. Out of 129 FBS teams, BYU ranks 128 in total offensive yards, and 105 in turnover margin. If the Aggies can force a few turnovers to win the field position battle, I like their chances.

589 – Total offensive yards for the Aggies

For all the grumblings about the Aggie offense following the Wisconsin and Wake Forest games, they’ve certainly shown that when things get going in the right direction they can be deadly. Behind 318 rushing yards and 271 passing yards and 6 yards per play, Saturday’s game was the 15th greatest offensive yardage showing in program history. They couldn’t quite eclipse the 596 yards put up against Idaho State a couple of weeks ago, but I don’t think anyone will complain. One thing which fans need to realize about the fast-paced, gun-and-go offense David Yost runs, is that when it doesn’t work the defense spends much more time on the field, and the other team has more opportunity to score. But when you get it clicking and the momentum is in your favor as we saw against San Jose State, it will be very, very difficult to stop.

44.5 – Average USU margin of victory in games broadcast on Facebook

Okay, so this might not be the most important stat. Or really have any weight to it whatsoever. But I’m going to use it to demonstrate how up-and-down this season has been so far through four games. Utah State’s two wins have come by margins of 38 and 51 points, while their losses have come by margins of 49 and 36 points. So despite four 35+ point blowouts, the Aggies are just +4 in total points scored this season. Talk about a roller coaster. I guess what I’m trying to say, is that we know nothing about this team, and probably won’t for a couple more weeks. Does Facebook have anything to do with this? Probably not. But that won’t stop me from writing a letter to Mark Zuckerberg begging him to buy the rights to more Aggie games.

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Twitter: @jadenjohns0n