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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Utah State opened the 2014 college football season Sunday with a 38-7 loss at Tennessee.
To Aggie fans who hoped this would be a "special season" for the team, the season is far from over. Tennessee may prove to be a much better team than anticipated, and Justin Worley and company could make heads turn in arguably the toughest conference in America.
But there is still plenty for the Aggies to work on. Here are a few grades for the Aggies as they try to move past this one.
The good news for this offensive unit is that senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton and running back Joe Hill are both healthy, which is quite the improvement for two guys who played in less than half of the 2013 season with eerily similar knee injuries.
The bad news? Almost everything else. Utah State's wide receiving group, which appeared to be among the deepest in recent memory coming out of fall camp, accrued just 15 catches for 134 yards and one touchdown, a late grab by newcomer Hunter Sharp when the game was hardly in doubt.
Sharp's 37-yard touchdown grab was one of two receptions on the night for the junior college transfer, and the only one for positive yardage. Brandon Swindall led the wide-outs with five catches for 37 yards — numbers that will need to see improvement to give Keeton and Hill more support.
The offensive line looked young and inexperienced, which it admittedly is after returning only one starter from the 2013 season. But the group appeared incommunicative throughout the night, allowing several tackles for loss against Hill and launching the run game to a mere 100 yards on 24 carries.
The highlight of the night was the defense, where Utah State's front seven appears to be as formidable as ever. Linebacker Nick Vigil led the way with 15 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, while older brother Zach Vigil added 10 tackles for the 12th double-figure outing of his career.
The downside to the defense would be the potential loss of linebacker Kyler Fackrell. The All-America candidate went down with five minutes remaining in the first half and spent the final two quarters on the bench icing his knee with an apparent injury.
The Aggie secondary was inconsistent at times on the night, but senior safety Brian Suite had four tackles, including three solo tackles, and Tennessee transfer cornerback Daniel Gray had six tackles.
There wasn't a whole lot the special teams unit could do, but sophomore kicker Jake Thompson missed his only field goal attempt of the night, a 47-yarder with 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter that followed Utah State's first offensive foray into Volunteers territory.
Kennedy Williams fumbled on the kick return following Tennessee's first touchdown, which put the Aggies behind 14-0 early in the opening quarter.
It's the first game of the season for a team that had several questions, namely on the offensive line and defensive secondary. Those two areas proved to be among the most troublesome for Utah State, which will look to rebound in time for its home opener Saturday against Idaho State.
