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LOGAN — Saturday, the Aggies will try to bounce back from their season-opening loss to Utah by traveling to Colorado Springs, Colorado for their inaugural Mountain West Conference game. Here are five keys Utah State will need to do to come out with the win.
Keys to the Game: Utah State1\. Assignment football
----------------------"They do what they do, and they do it well," was how head coach Matt Wells summed up Air Force; and he's right.
Not many teams run the triple option as well as the Falcons do. In fact, not many teams run the triple option, period. It's a unique offense that requires a lot of discipline by the opposing defense.
"Assignment football," as Jake Doughty put it. "You have to do your job and your assignment; that's the key to handling their offense."
What makes this difficult for the Aggies is their aggressive style of play on that side of the ball. "We pressure so much that it's going to take a lot of discipline on our guys' part." Wells said
Keep your eye on safety Maurice Alexander; sure he made some mistakes in his debut at safety against Utah, but this kind of game plays to his strength: stopping the run.
2. Take them out of their comfort zone"They're kind of on a schedule," Doughty said of the Falcons.
"They go on first down and get four yards. It's second-and-six, second-and-six goes to third-and-two and they get a first down."
The Aggies need to put Air Force in second-and-long and third-and-long situations where they're not comfortable running the ball.
Against Colgate, Air Force had seven third downs that were six yards or greater — they only converted two of them. Jon Lee, Broam Hart and Anthony LaCoste are tremendous running backs, but asking them to pick up eight, nine, or 10 yards on third downs against a quality defense like Utah State is too much for any running back.
3. Feed Joe HillLost in the spectacular Chuckie Keeton performance and the wide receivers showing they're a threat to opposing defenses', was Joe Hill. Although he didn't have any "home run" plays, his performance against the Utah defense was very solid: 18 carries for 75 yards, along with seven catches for 39 yards. If you're getting that from Hill to go along with what Chuckie Keeton gives you, you're going to be in a position to win every game.
Considering how Air Force loves to play ball control, 64 of their 75 plays were run plays. The Aggies need to flip the script on them. Give Hill the ball 20-25 times on Saturday and take possessions away from Air Force. Considering the size differential between Utah State's offensive line and Air Force's defensive line, Hill should be able to get four yards per carry like he did against Utah. Speaking of the offensive line ...
4. Take advantage of sizeAs I just mentioned, the Aggies have a bit of an advantage when it comes to the size department. In fact, Utah State's offensive line outweighs Air Force's defensive line by an average of 54 pounds. And Utah State's defensive line (including Connor Williams, if he plays) holds a 25 pound advantage over the Falcons' offensive linemen.
Of course this size advantage has never stopped the Falcons from having success against larger teams, But if B.J. Larsen, Jordan Nielsen, A.J. Pataiali'i and Paul Piukala can keep the Falcons from cut blocking their linebackers, the Falcons will be put in plenty of uncomfortable third and longs.
5. Avoid the hangoverI'm not talking about the movie — everybody should see that movie — I'm talking about the emotional hangover from last week.
Losing a rivalry game like the Aggies did isn't easy to come back from. However, the Aggies have two things going in their favor to help with this. First, time. You know what they say about time, it heals all wounds. In Utah State's case, it will be nine days from their loss to game day in Fort Collins. It will help them recover physically and emotionally. Second, it's the Mountain West Conference opener. This gives them an edge, mentally, and forces them to refocus quite a bit quicker.
"It's kind of nice opening up conference play right because it gives you something to play for," senior receiver Travis Van Leeuwen said on Monday.
"You play for that Mountain West Championship. It'll be fun to go into that atmosphere knowing it's the first conference game."
"They do what they do, and they do it well," was how head coach Matt Wells summed up Air Force; and he's right.
Not many teams run the triple option as well as the Falcons do. In fact, not many teams run the triple option, period. It's a unique offense that requires a lot of discipline by the opposing defense.
"Assignment football," as Jake Doughty put it. "You have to do your job and your assignment; that's the key to handling their offense."
What makes this difficult for the Aggies is their aggressive style of play on that side of the ball. "We pressure so much that it's going to take a lot of discipline on our guys' part." Wells said
Keep your eye on safety Maurice Alexander; sure he made some mistakes in his debut at safety against Utah, but this kind of game plays to his strength: stopping the run.
"They're kind of on a schedule," Doughty said of the Falcons.
"They go on first down and get four yards. It's second-and-six, second-and-six goes to third-and-two and they get a first down."
The Aggies need to put Air Force in second-and-long and third-and-long situations where they're not comfortable running the ball.
Against Colgate, Air Force had seven third downs that were six yards or greater — they only converted two of them. Jon Lee, Broam Hart and Anthony LaCoste are tremendous running backs, but asking them to pick up eight, nine, or 10 yards on third downs against a quality defense like Utah State is too much for any running back.
Lost in the spectacular Chuckie Keeton performance and the wide receivers showing they're a threat to opposing defenses', was Joe Hill. Although he didn't have any "home run" plays, his performance against the Utah defense was very solid: 18 carries for 75 yards, along with seven catches for 39 yards. If you're getting that from Hill to go along with what Chuckie Keeton gives you, you're going to be in a position to win every game.
Considering how Air Force loves to play ball control, 64 of their 75 plays were run plays. The Aggies need to flip the script on them. Give Hill the ball 20-25 times on Saturday and take possessions away from Air Force. Considering the size differential between Utah State's offensive line and Air Force's defensive line, Hill should be able to get four yards per carry like he did against Utah. Speaking of the offensive line ...
As I just mentioned, the Aggies have a bit of an advantage when it comes to the size department. In fact, Utah State's offensive line outweighs Air Force's defensive line by an average of 54 pounds. And Utah State's defensive line (including Connor Williams, if he plays) holds a 25 pound advantage over the Falcons' offensive linemen.
Of course this size advantage has never stopped the Falcons from having success against larger teams, But if B.J. Larsen, Jordan Nielsen, A.J. Pataiali'i and Paul Piukala can keep the Falcons from cut blocking their linebackers, the Falcons will be put in plenty of uncomfortable third and longs.
I'm not talking about the movie — everybody should see that movie — I'm talking about the emotional hangover from last week.
Losing a rivalry game like the Aggies did isn't easy to come back from. However, the Aggies have two things going in their favor to help with this. First, time. You know what they say about time, it heals all wounds. In Utah State's case, it will be nine days from their loss to game day in Fort Collins. It will help them recover physically and emotionally. Second, it's the Mountain West Conference opener. This gives them an edge, mentally, and forces them to refocus quite a bit quicker.
"It's kind of nice opening up conference play right because it gives you something to play for," senior receiver Travis Van Leeuwen said on Monday.
"You play for that Mountain West Championship. It'll be fun to go into that atmosphere knowing it's the first conference game."
