Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LOGAN — The Utah State Aggies are on a winning streak, having won four in a row, and sit on an 8-2 record overall (4-0 WAC). The Aggies' offense and defense are both proving their abilities and have played impressively all season.
The USU offense has scored 30 points or more seven times this season, while the USU defense has let the opposition score more then 20 just once. The Aggies currently rank sixth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 13.5 points per game.
On the flip side, USU's opponent, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, are 9-1 (4-0 WAC) and have won four consecutive as well. The Bulldogs are currently second in the nation in scoring, averaging 53.4 points per game. Louisiana Tech’s lone loss came at the hands of No. 22 Texas A&M where it still managed to score 57 points.
The USU Aggies and head coach Gary Andersen understand the level of importance this game has on the players and the program moving forward.
"Obviously, the Louisiana Tech game is a huge game for the Aggies and a huge game for the Bulldogs,” said Andersen in his weekly press conference. “It's fun to be in a game that has this much on the outcome, this late in the year. Late November games are what football teams play for and fans want to be around. It's a great accomplishment by both sides to get to the point where both teams are. We are excited about the opportunity to compete and I am sure they are too.”
Senior running back Kerwynn Williams is excited to play the Bulldogs as well.
"It's definitely going to be an exciting game to go to," he said. "Everything we've done throughout the summer and everything leading up to this point finally has a chance to show. Everything we've done is going to be put to the test this coming weekend against a good football team."
By all accounts, this will be a fun game to watch and will be a difficult challenge for the Utah State defense. The Aggies are coming off a bye week and will be well rested. Because of the bye week, the Bulldogs and Aggies are coming off victories over the same team, Texas State. Looking at the two final scores, you could argue the Aggies (38-7 final) should have a leg up over the Bulldogs (62-55 final).
Both sides of the sideline understand the importance and difficulty of this game: “We are going to need to play well,” said Bulldog head coach Sonny Dykes. “We are going to need to play better than we have been. It is going to need to be one of our best efforts this year to have a chance to win. … They have really been dominant. If you look at them, they are playing really, really good defense.”
The Aggie defense will need to be on the top of its game to pull this one out. In the end, the Aggies could be able to hold Louisiana Tech out of the end zone long enough to pull out their first victory over a ranked team on the road in school history. And if that happens at the end of the 60 minutes, Utah State might have just done enough to enter into the national rankings as well.
Justin McKissick is a ksl.com contributor originally from the San Francisco Bay area. He has been covering USU sports since 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @justin_sr.
