LOGAN — Last week, following a 46-10 loss at Wake Forest, the talk was negatively aimed at the Utah State football team. According to USU head coach Matt Wells, it was "major negative and well-deserved."

Following a conference-opening 61-10 win at San Jose State this past Saturday and knowing it is BYU week, Wells knows that talk is going to change.

"We have to block out the noise this week," Wells said. "Last week it was negative. … We didn't play well. So, it's major negative in the media, on campus and everything else. Now this is going to be all about BYU, it's all this hype and people are going to get patted on the back in the media, on campus. We have to block that noise out and continue to prepare at a high level."

In the win over San Jose State, the Aggies racked up 589 yards of total offense and jumped out to a 55-0 lead before the Spartans finally scored in the third quarter.

USU quarterback Kent Myers led the charge with 106 yards rushing and two touchdowns as well as 181 yards passing and two more touchdowns. Thirteen USU receivers caught a pass in the win, which snapped an 11-game road losing streak.

The Aggie defense was also stellar in the win. USU held the Spartan offense to 162 total yards and forced five turnovers. The Aggies rank 13th in the nation in turnovers with nine, and they also lead the nation in blocked punts with three.

For now, it's time to put the win behind them and prepare for the Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel on Friday night at Maverik Stadium. "It's a fun week here at Utah State for our players, for our coaches, for our fans and alumni," Wells said. "It's a big rivalry to us. It gets our guys excited. The stadium will be electric Friday night. … Hopefully, it's a really loud home-field advantage for the Aggies. It's a venue and a stadium and atmosphere that our guys are really excited to play in front of a national television audience. It'll be fun."

Kent Myers and consistency key for Aggies

When Kent Myers is on his game, the Utah State offense is very good, and it will need that solid play on Friday night.

In the Idaho State and San Jose State games, Myers has accounted for over 600 yards of total offense, eight touchdowns and just two interceptions. Compare that with just 304 total yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions in the losses at Wisconsin and Wake Forest.

If Myers plays well on Friday night, the Aggies have a good shot at beating the Cougars for the first time since 2014.

Confidence is rising

It's amazing what a win can do for a football team, especially a win on the road to open conference play. Wells admits it wasn't a perfect game and there was still some lack of effort and "technique issues that got covered up in that win … that we are getting addressed directly."

But with a huge win that snapped a long losing streak comes confidence and mojo, which is perfect to regain going into a big football game against an in-state rival.

"You should have seen the locker room," Wells said. "We celebrated like we should celebrate, and I'm happy for those guys. … I'm going to celebrate every win because all you guys (media) like to remind me how many road games we didn't win before that, so I'm going to celebrate it, absolutely. It was a huge win for us, a big win. Mojo. Confidence. It's a huge win, a step in the right direction. Every time you win, it's a step in the right direction."

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network on Friday night. Kyle McDonald is sports fan who loves the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter at @kylesportsbias

Related topics