By Matt Sonnenberg
Staff Writer
1. Thoughts on SUU game
The USU offense was an unstoppable force as Robert Turbin continued his reign of terror, Diondre Borel threw for 300 more yards and Stanley Morrison started to look pretty dangerous as well. There are still some chinks in the armor on defense, but to SUU's credit, their quarterback was a former junior college National Player of the Year who just happened to have a string of bad luck lead him down to SUU. He proved to be more than capable of making their offense run at a high gear. I couldn't help but notice that USU did not send many, if any blitzing stunts at the Thunderbirds throughout most of the second half, which may have contributed to them scoring more points than they otherwise would have, but also may have kept Gary Andersen's squad from tipping their hand in that game's film for another big game coming up.
2. Can The Aggies take down the Cougars?
Speaking of Andersen not tipping his hand, I have got to think that Max Hall will be the primary target given his track record of getting torched by Gary Andersen's blitzing schemes. The Aggies enter this game with the nations No. 9 ranked offense in yards per game going against BYU's defense that is holding down the No. 57 spot in the defensive category. While BYU's 24th ranked offense holds a bigger mismatch in numbers against USU's 117th ranked defense, the Andersen X-factor is an almost sure thing to make it's impact felt on the game. While I'm not saying that an Aggie victory is a sure thing, I for one would be much less surprised than most people if USU comes out victories against a massively overrated BYU team Friday.
3. Will USU's offense keep up at this pace?
I dare say that not only will the Aggies' offense keep up the pace in which they are at, but I think they will improve as the season goes on. Keep in mind that this is the first year running this type of system for all of these players. Then remember that USU has already faced two of the three toughest defenses they will face all season in Utah and Texas A&M. Robert Turbin statistically may be the best running back in the nation right now and after a shaky first game that left questions about his arm, Diondre Borel has posted back to back games of throwing more than 300 yards. To top it all off, nearly everyone on this offense is slated to be back next year as well. This could get scary for the rest of the WAC.
4. Spencer Nelson on the Jazz preseason roster
Simply put, Spencer Nelson is a younger version of Matt Harpring. Sure Harpring has loads of experience under his belt, but given the salary cap situation with the Jazz it seems like a logical move to go with the younger version of a veteran player. Nelson is one of those guys that can do pretty much whatever he is asked to do by a coach. I also doubt that Nelson has ever missed as many layups in his entire life as I've seen Harpring miss in the past two seasons. While it might not be fair for the Jazz to send Harpring packing during the preseason in favor of an unproven player, it is sort of the nature of the business when it comes to money and old age of guys like Harpring.
5. Rant
It seemed like a common topic of ranting for me a year ago, but I feel like I've yet to do it this year so I am officially due. The National Hockey League is far and away the best league of professional sports out there right now. The NBA is rigged, the NFL keeps making rules that don't allow players to play football and as much as I still love baseball, it's full of cheaters. Hockey however already faced the music of what happens when you let your league get out of control and/or if you try to branch out too far with marketing. When the bottom finally fell out on the league in 2005, they tweaked a couple minor things to make it more entertaining and focused their marketing directly towards hockey fans. Where else do you get 20 minutes of game-time with only one commercial break? Nowhere is the answer. NHL for the win.
Blue and White Debate 9/30
By Dan Fawson
Staff Writer
1. Thoughts on SUU game
A couple of things stood out to me. First,the Aggies have done a great job recruiting speed over the last few years, which is making the transition to Dave Baldwin's spread oriented offense a rather seamless one. Diondre Borel, Robert Turbin, and Stanley Morrison were made to make plays in the open-field, and Baldwin has done a great job using creative play-calling and multiple formations to get his playmakers the ball - I mean, he runs the freaking wishbone. Second, and a little more of a downer, the transition the defense is trying to make has been, well, less then seamless. I hate to say it, but I think it's a personnel issue. When you run as much man-free coverage as Gary Anderson does, you have to have two things to be successful: a consistent pass rush, and multiple corners you feel comfortable leaving on an island. I don't think they have either, not against FBS teams, anyway, and I think it may take a recruiting class or two before they get to the level Gary wants them to be at.
2. Can Utah State beat BYU?
I want to preface this by saying I hate BYU more than anyone I know. I know the Aggies can win. I don't, however, think they will. The Aggies will certainly be able to put up points against a mediocre, athletically challenged Cougar defense. The BYU secondary struggles containing athletic quarterbacks, and the linebackers and secondary, though improved from last season, are still woefully slow. That said, I don't see how an Aggie defense that just gave up 34 points to a reject BYU quarterback is going to be able to contain the real thing. Max Hall struggles when he's pressured in the pocket, and gets in trouble when he tries to force throws against athletic, play-making secondaries, but I don't see the Aggies being able to generate that kind of pressure, and I don't see there secondary and linebackers being able to matchup with Dennis Pitta, Harvey Unga, and McKay Jacobsen. Again, hate them more than anyone.
3. Can the offense keep it up?
To me this is the most intriguing topic in the debate. The spread is working. Turbin's on fire, big plays galore, and everyone's smiling. I still wonder what will happen when opposing defenses are better able to gameplan for Baldwin's scheme. Good defenses make teams one-dimensional. What happens when good teams are able to gameplan around and contain the Aggie rushing attack? I am still not sold on Borel being able to put the team on his back, consistently complete passes in the pocket, and move the chains on third down three or four times in a drive. That's not to say he can't, I just haven't seen it yet. All things considered, though, how can you honestly spend an extended amount of time complaining about 33 points per game.
4. Spencer Nelson and the Jazz
It is great to see Spencer Nelson not only playing, but playing pretty well. He has been working to transform himself into an NBA-caliber small forward - developing his face-up game, improving his perimeter shot - and is now taking another shot at making it with the Jazz. Will he make it? As a Jazz fan, it would be fun to see. As a realist, I think it might be difficult to pull off. They need someone committed to playing hard on both ends of the floor, someone willing and able to take a charge. However, you kind of have to wonder if he will be able to defend NBA small forwards.
5. Rant
I must confess something. I am not Hurd. I was born in SLC, grew up a Ute fan, and haven't changed. In fact I'm a diehard Ute fan, and that may seem to separate myself from all of you in readerland, but remember that this week we are all in the same boat. We hate BYU. Oh, how we hate the zoobies, almost to the point that I can't really put it into words. I am going to attempt to sum it all up by using the words of former BYU nose tackle Lenny Gomes, who said this after losing to the Utes in 1993. "All those guys think that's all there is to life. But when I'm making $50–60,000 a year, they'll be pumping my gas. They're low-class losers." This is why I hate BYU. How 'bout you?