Utah State

It seems that a lot of people are picking the Utah State football team to be a breakout program in the WAC this season. Here's what I think....

I think the UtAgs were a lot better last year. They finished 3-5 in the WAC and the case could be made that they should have went 4-4. They beat Idaho, NMSU and Hawaii all at home. They also were extremely competitive with Fresno State and Louisiana Tech, losing to FSU 30-28 and to Tech on the road 45-38. Either one of those games could have gone to Utah State.

This year, the team brought in a new coach, Gary Anderson, who was the defensive coordinator at Utah. Anderson comes from a strong program and has the reputation of being a good defensive strategist and recruiter. The program believes Anderson can recruit with Utah and BYU in the same region.

He takes over a team that has some talented pieces formed by former coach Brent Guy. Guy was fired after last season but did not leave the roster without skill. Offensively, the UtAgs have an underrated player in quarterback Diondre Borel. I actually think Borel was the single reason USU made the turnaround it did last season. He was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 4 and the team promptly went on to blow out Idaho 42-17. He injected the offense with some needed spunk and energy and made them difficult to defend. Borel is a mobile quarterback who is tough to gameplan against. Bringing him into the fold was a good move by Guy and probably overdue. Anderson hired former New Mexico offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin to open things up for the UtAgs. USU will spread the field and hope to take advantage of Borel's playmaking abilities. He will be a junior this season and will need to exceed last year's performance if the UtAgs are expected to take the next step.

Another key to the team moving forward will be its performance on defense. Last year, Utah State was terrible on this side of the ball, surrendering 34.7 points per game, eighth in the WAC (Idaho was ninth at 42.8; NMSU seventh at 34.1). This is where Anderson comes into the fold. Although Guy had a defensive background upon his arrival at USU, Anderson will bring a fresh perspective and, the hope is, better results. The team shuffled its personnel in the offseason. One was moving running back Curtis Marsh to the cornerback position. Another was moving around some pieces on the defensive line, some defensive ends to tackle and linebackers to end. The moves were designed to generate more speed on that side of the ball. Clearly something had to be done with the personnel here, as this was a major weakness in 2008.

Here are the keys for the UtAgs:

1) The performance of Borel. He also needs to stay healthy and avoid the big hits that can happen to a mobile quarterback.

2) The defense needs to be better, a lot better. If the team surrenders over 30 points per game again, they will not be much improved.

3) The team's success against Utah and BYU are important. Although not WAC games, USU has suffered from being a “third wheel” within its own state. Utah and BYU remain powerhouse programs in the Mountain West, but nothing will open eyes faster than being competitive with these two teams and perhaps even pulling off an upset here. It will be a tall order, as both games take place on the road this season.

4) Obviously, playing well in conference is a must. They host Nevada, La. Tech, San Jose State and Boise State. The game versus BYU is on ESPN. Gotta love the nationally televised contest in Logan. It's scheduled for Nov. 20. On the road, they come to Las Cruces, go to Idaho, Fresno State and Hawaii. It's a tougher road schedule than advertised. I'm looking forward to seeing them at NMSU (Oct. 10).

Where can the team end up? They could finish in the Top-5 in the conference. Frankly, I can't see them finishing higher than fifth. They could also finish in the bottom three. They are one of the more intriguing teams as the 2009 season approaches and one WAC program to keep an eye on.