Media picks USU to finish second in division, five Aggies on All-MW team
Utah State received its best preseason vote of confidence in nearly half a decade at the Mountain West football media days opening day on Tuesday. Voters picked the Aggies to finish second in the Mountain division, getting five first place votes and 108 points overall in the tally. USU were previously picked to finish second back in 2015 (with two first place votes), the school’s third season in the MW.
Boise State were, understandably, tabbed as the favorite to take the division, continuing a 12-year run of being the preseason pick to win its conference or division. However, the Aggies matched the favored Broncos in preseason All-MW team selections at five. Together, the two teams accounted for 10 of the 22 All-Conference honors along with the Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
USU quarterback Jordan Love was selected as the preseason Offensive Player of the Year in the Mountain West. (Megan Nielsen)
Junior quarterback Jordan Love was chosen as the Offensive Player of the Year, but was the only USU player recognized on offense. Savon Scarver, a consensus All-American kick returner in 2018, got the All-MW preseason nod on special teams for his upcoming junior year. Three Aggie defenders were selected to the team — senior corner DJ Williams, junior linebacker David Woodward and senior edge rusher Tipa Galeai — the most of anyone in the conference.
Love joins former Aggie quarterback Chuckie Keeton as the only Utah State football players to be selected as preseason Offensive Player of the Year in the Mountain West era. Were Love to win the award come season’s end, he would be the first ever in school history in the MW and just the third all-time in any era of USU pigskin history (Robert Turbin 2011, WAC; Kendal Smith 1988, Big West).
David Woodward, the PFF 2018 Defensive Player of the Year for the Mountain West, is one of five Aggies selected to the preseason All-MW team.
The third-year signal caller set five school records his sophomore season of 2018, including total passing yards (3,567), passing TDs (32) and touchdowns responsible for (39). Numerous national writers have credited Love with being a top 10 quarterback in the country and a player to watch in regard to the NFL Draft. Love also saw his name placed on the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s top quarterback.
Woodward and Galeai return to anchor a front seven that could be the best in the conference in 2019. Both players were 2018 Second-Team All-MW selections with Woodward being chosen by Pro Football Focus as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Williams, selected by Athlon Sports and Phill Steele as a First-Team MW cornerback, led the Aggie secondary last season with 11 pass breakups and was tied for first with four interceptions. Two of those came in Utah State’s win in the New Mexico Bowl 52-13 over North Texas. The effort earned him Defensive Most Valuable Player for the game and put him on the ESPN All-Bowl team.
Scarver averaged 33.7 yards per return on kickoffs, second-most all-time at Utah State, and had return touchdowns of 99 and 100 yards. For his career, Scarver ranks third in return average (28.5) with three return touchdowns, one shy of the USU record held by Kevin Robinson.