Well the opener is in the books and well……Paint me unimpressed in Week 1 with Utah and more than impressed with the efforts of the Aggies…
The Good-
1. The energy and effort of Utah State all night long. It’s very clear that Gary Anderson has changed the culture in Logan. His guys played hard all night long. Effort like that will yield some wins in the WAC this season.
2. The Quarterbacks. Both Terrance Cain and Diondre Borel acquitted themselves well! Cain was excellent in the first half, especially in the short passing game and finding David Reed. Borel, while not always pretty, was effective. He kept plays alive with his head and his legs. He just needs some more game experience.
3. The Running Backs. Matt Asiata and Robert Turbin. Asiata had 38 touches and was an absolute bull last night, though he still lacks that 2nd level/break away burst. The question is can he can that kind of beating every week. Turbin and his 1st half burst was outstanding and gives the Aggies a true backfield weapon for the first time since Emmitt White.
4. Utah Special Teams. Vroman and Sellwood, at least for a night, made folks forget about King Louie. In the return game both Luke Matthews and David Reed were good.
The Bad-
1. Utah’s Defense giving up too many big plays. It may be picking nits, but I thought Utah’s Defense was pretty vanilla most of the night and looked a bit confused in several situations. Give Utah State some credit for that, but still they’ve got to get better moving forward.
2. Utah 2nd Half Offense. Either Utah State made some great adjustments in the locker room at halftime or Utah just went ultra conservative in the second half. It was a first game for Terrance Cain and Offensive Coordinator Dave Schramm, so perhaps we chalk it up to learning curve. All the Utah Players I spokes with after the game pointed to one thing that must get better next week, Finishing Off Drives!!!
Sigh of Relief-
1. Both Coaches have to feel good about no major injuries on either side!
If you want to hear what everyone had to say after the game or the game highlights, go to our audio vault and listen right there….
Have you seen the “Punch” yet? No I’m not talking about Rudy T and Kermit Washington…The one that occurred on the Smurf Turf last night in Boise…Well here’s a link to it if you haven’t seen it…Hell of a shot by LaGarrette Blount right on the chin…Better shot by Boise State, folks they are LEGIT!!! Their defense conjured up images of what they did to Utah 3 years ago at Rice Eccles Stadium. So much for Oregon as a Pac-10 contender, they wouldn’t be the best team in the WAC….
