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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Despite ranking, Aggies upbeat about season ahead
By ROY BURTONLOGAN -- In the upper echelons of college football, how a program manages the weight of expectations can be the difference between a great team and a merely very good one.
At Utah State, the problem isn't managing lofty expectations -- it's managing to have expectations despite the lack of any from outside sources.
Take for instance, Sports Illustrated's ranking the Aggies the worst Football Bowl Subdivision team in America (119 out of 119). The New York Times' college football blog, The Quad, more generously included transitional school Western Kentucky and had USU as 119 out of 120. In ESPN The Magazine's guide to the college football galaxy, the Aggies aren't included in this galaxy but may be in one far, far away.
Is Utah State really the worst team in major college football?
Picking the most pathetic team in America is surely as debatable as choosing a national champion in a no-playoff era, but fighting week to week to get out of ESPN.com's Bottom 10 poll doesn't help USU's recruiting or its self-confidence, though it's now familiar territory.
It's a conversation the Aggies would rather not be a part of.
Fourth-year coach Brent Guy and his staff would rather point out USU's improved competitiveness last season (the Aggies held fourth-quarter leads six times but only won twice), its increased depth in numbers (105 players at the start of fall camp, up from 56 in Guy's first season) and scholarships used and its upgraded facilities on par with any in the Western Athletic Conference (a nearly complete Jim and Carol Laub Athletics Complex in Romney Stadium's north end zone).
"It's a little disappointing," senior offensive tackle Derek Hoke said in reaction to USU being picked last in preseason polls by both the WAC's coaches and media. "Of course you want to be respected for what you do, but at the same time we know it's the poll at the end that counts. That's the one that people are going to remember. We believe the poll at the end will be a lot different and then we can talk about how we turned out as well as we did."
A starting point: USU will have a two-game win streak on the line in its opener Saturday at 8 p.m. at UNLV.
Without continued progress in the win column, however, Guy and his staff may not be around to point out such improvements. With athletics director Randy Spetman moving on to Florida State's AD post, Guy needs to impress new USU athletics chief Scott Barnes.
Guy said though Barnes didn't hire him, he has already gone to bat for Guy, taking care of his first request: getting USU flights out of Logan on road trips, saving the Aggies a cumulative 24 hours of bus time.
"That shows me he is in total support of trying to get us in position to do everything we can do to help ourselves win," Guy said. "I can only say positive things about his support right now. I know I'm in a position where I've got to show progress in wins, but I don't feel like I'm not his guy. I feel like he's in total support of what we're doing."
The Aggies were outscored by nearly two touchdowns per game in 2007 (33.8 to 20.6), though they closed the gap significantly from 2006, when USU opponents held an average advantage of 38.5 points to 10.8 points.
Senior Sean Setzer won the starting quarterback job in camp, but the juco transfer from Portland, Ore., has thrown only one two-yard pass in Division I football, so getting him to game speed in a hurry is critical for the Ags' offense.
Sophomore backup Diondre Borel will see action as well. Any hope Utah State has for success will depend on Guy and offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey's ability to coax a productive season out of at least one of the two.
The Aggies will try to fill the void left by Kansas City Chiefs draft pick Kevin Robinson, the school's all-time all-purpose yards leader, by spreading the ball around.
Reciever Otis Nelson is expected to be a target, while freshman Stanley Morrison has shown enough flashes of excitement in the offseason to be looked to for a spark. Ogden High alum Omar Sawyer will also be in the pass-catching rotation.
Tight end Rob Myers finished '07 strong, catching four passes for 117 yards and two TD against New Mexico State when USU snapped its 17-game losing streak.
The Aggies followed with another win over Idaho, and while 2-10 is nothing to brag about, getting wins in consecutive weeks at the end of the season gives Utah State a chance for its first three-game win streak since 2001, and its first three-game road win streak since 1997 - the year of Utah State's last bowl appearance and most recent .500 season.
"It's something to build on," Myers said. "It's something positive that we can take as a team and use as motivation for this year."
The Aggies relied on a controlled passing game in 2007, with quarterback Leon Jackson III setting a school-record for completion percentage (.654), primarily on short passes.
Myers believes Utah State will establish an improved run game and be able to take more shots deep.
"We're definitely going to open it up, throw the ball downfield a little bit more," he said.
To take pressure off the air attack, USU also has a stable of running backs battling to establish a ground game, with Curtis Marsh and Robert Turbin topping the depth chart.
Converted linebacker Derrick Cumbee and freshman Marquis Butler should also get touches. At this point, last year's leading rusher, Derrvin Speight (504 yards), would not even make the travel roster for conference games.
The defense will be anchored by a linebacker corps of Hutton and Paul Igboeli. Transfer Casey Davis is expected to bolster the defensive line, while offseason position changes add depth in the secondary.
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