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LOGAN — In the history of Utah State football, the Aggies have never gone to three straight bowl games.
And, with four games remaining on the schedule, Utah State finds itself just two wins away from making history.
Last week was a bye week for the Aggies, and they used it to continue to groom true freshman Darell Garretson to be an above-average starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Garretson completed 14 of 22 passes and passed for 141 yards and a touchdown in a 45-10 win over New Mexico.
Certainly, Utah State expected the three games in four weeks stretch of the Lobos, Hawaii and UNLV to be an easy three victories, but the loss of so many key Aggie starters may have allowed doubt to creep into the minds of some. Still, the Aggies decimated a Lobos team, which sitting at 2-5, is two wins better than the Hawaii Warriors.
Hawaii is still in the process of trying to change its football culture, and native son Norm Chow is in the midst of a heavy rebuilding project on Oahu. The Warriors are 120th in the nation in rushing, at 75.3 yards per game, and are 109th in defense, giving up 35.3 points per game.
All of these numbers illustrate a concept that many already know — Utah State should beat Hawaii.
Still, this Mountain West matchup will feature a position battle between the Utah State pass defense and the better-than-average Hawaii passing attack.
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Why this matchup?
Statistically, Hawaii can’t do much of anything really well. But the Warriors do have one ace up their sleeves — their passing attack is the 21st best in the country, averaging more than 299.3 passing yards per game. Quarterback Sean Schroeder has completed 113 passes for 1,486 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Also, the Warriors have picked up their play over the last few weeks, dueling conference foes UNLV and Colorado State in a pair of losses by nine points combined. Those losses aren’t terrible, as the Rebels are one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2000, and Colorado State is also in the running to go bowling. Also, the Warriors lost to BCS-hopeful Fresno State by only five points when they played, 42-37.
The Warriors’ main weapon in the passing game is Chris Gant, who caught five touchdown passes. He’s also scored a touchdown rushing the football.
Who wins this matchup?
In order to win this matchup, Utah State has to play zone coverage consistently while bringing a heavy pass rush. Also, the Aggies need to mix up coverages and matchups on different guys to get the Hawaii offense out of rhythm. If Utah State can force the Warriors to have to run the football to try to gain effectiveness, it will be able to shut down Hawaii.
But if Utah State allows the Warriors to gain confidence early by completing a variety of passes, the Aggies will be forced to keep up with Hawaii via Garretson. Luckily for the Aggie freshman, he has Joey Dimartino to lean upon in tough times.
A key side factor to watch will be the altitude and how the Warriors adjust to it. Last year against BYU, Hawaii was blown out 47-0 and much of it appeared to be based on conditioning issues.
Overall, the Aggies will be too much for Hawaii, and Utah State will be just one win away from Matt Wells’ first bowl bid as head coach.
