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Friday night’s Utah-Utah State game should usher in a new era in the rivalry. It’s clear that in the two-year hiatus since the in-state rivalry began, the Aggies have gotten better.
Here are the top five story lines to look for in Friday’s nationally televised game in Logan.
Game Notes- Utah (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. Utah State (1-0, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference)
- Date: Friday, Sept. 7
- Time: 6:00 p.m. MDT
- Site: Romney Stadium (25,513/AstroTurf) Logan, Utah
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: ESPN700
- Series Record: Utah leads 77-28-4
- Last Meeting: 2009 (Utah 35-17)
- Kickoff Weather: Mostly sunny, temps in the lower 80s
1. Ground pound. The Utes have historically pulled back the offensive play-calling when they play the Aggies. The offensive becomes much more conservative, and for good reason. The Ute offensive line boasts a huge size advantage … literally. The average starting offensive lineman for the Utes is 307 pounds and that doesn’t include the giant backup tackle — Carlos Lozano, at 385 pounds. The Aggies defensive line weighs an average of 285 pounds.Expect the Utes to utilize their biggest strength — running the football. Also expect to see all three running backs get a decent amount of carries. Jarrell Oliver was very impressive last week against Northern Colorado, and Kelvin York should get some more reps on Friday.
2. Can the Aggies establish the run? Utah is known for stopping the run, but the Aggies had a great run game against Southern Utah last week. Joe Hill had a coming out party and Kerwynn Williams is a talented tail back. The Utes, however, are a very different defense than the Thunder Birds.
Expect the Aggies to try to establish the run, but they may not have very much success. Which brings us to our next story line…
3. First test. If there is a weakness in the Ute defense, it’s at cornerback. Moe Lee and Ryan Lacy weren’t really tested against the Bears last week, but they definitely will be this week against Chuckie Keeton.
Keeton’s mobility will also prepare the Utes for Riley Nelson. How they do against Keeton on Friday will be a good indication of how they will fare next week against BYU.
4. Familiarity breeds contempt. Utah State head coach Gary Andersen and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham basically grew up coaching with each other. The way these two teams play defense is very similar. Andersen says he has changed some things with the defense he and Whittingham ran at Utah. It should be interesting to see how well the two offenses do against defenses they know very well.
5. Rough kick start. Coleman Peterson appeared to be a shadow of himself last week against Northern Colorado, missing a chip-shot field goal and an extra point. He went through rough patches last season and came back stronger. He’ll have to do the same this season, before he costs the Utes some close games, which he will if he keeps kicking like he did last week.
Trevor Amicone is the founder of byutahinsiders.com which covers BYU, Utah and national college football with weekly polls, bowl projections, opinions and analysis. Follow its brand new Twitter page at @BYUtahInsiders and Trevor's at @TrevorAmicone.
