Takeaways from the Alabama drubbing as Aggies turn attention to Weber State

LOGAN — As the Utah State football bus brigade traveling from Birmingham screeched to a halt in Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon, out popped receivers coach Kyle Cefalo.

Racing into the confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium with the same urgency a fraternity kid races into a line at a nearby Cook Out the night prior, Cefalo left the rest of the team in the dust.

Six hours later, after Alabama left the Aggies in the dust in a 55-0 defeat, it's easy to imagine the whole team imitated Cefalo's pace getting back onto the bus, eager to leave Tuscaloosa and the drubbing in the past.

Fortunately for Utah State, it's a new week. They turn from the hunted to the hunters, hosting Weber State on Saturday (5 p.m. MDT, no TV)

But contrary to assumptions, the Aggies don't want the memories of the Crimson Tide to be too fleeting — at least some of them. That was the impression from a Monday morning press conference with head coach Blake Anderson, which drifted from its typical theme of previewing the upcoming opponent into a reflection of the past game.

And while there were plenty of negatives from the game, which you can read about here, or here, there are a handful of positive takeaways from last week's bout with the No. 1 team in the country that Utah State will try to use as momentum heading into Week 2.

Team stayed healthy

First and foremost, the team got out of the south largely unscathed. Several players who went down throughout Saturday's game, including Hale Motuapuaka, Poukesi Vakauta and AJ Carter, only endured "bumps and bruises" or cramped up and will be able to play this week.

Credit to the coaching staff; when the game became a full-blown blowout in the second quarter, Utah State pulled a still-rehabbing Logan Bonner and opened up its bench on both sides of the ball. Starters kept playing, but substittuions increased, which no doubt prevented overextending anyone and mitigating injuries.

"Very physical game, (guys are) sore, but should be fine by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week," Anderson said. "I would expect to be at full strength when we play on Saturday. In that particular type of game, to add insult to injury would be to have several guys that don't play the rest of the season … We're fortunate that in this case, we did get out of it really with just minor scrapes and bumps."

Additionally, three skills players on offense who did not make the trip to Tuscaloosa — sophomore wide receiver Kyrese Rowan, sophomore tight end Broc Lane (injuries) and junior running back Jordan Wilmore (illness) — are likely to play against Weber State.

Valuable in-game reps

An additional benefit to limiting the starters playing time was that seemingly every player that traveled besides kicker Connor Coles got on-field reps against the Crimson Tide — many of which were against the Alabama first-team unit.

Toward the end of the half, for example, freshmen linebackers Cole Joyce and Sione Moa appeared in a second-quarter drive against Bryce Young where the Aggies mustered a stop and forced a Crimson Tide field goal.

By the time the Alabama student section sang "Rammer Jammer" to close the game, 27 Utah State defenders recorded a tackle, and three quarterbacks — Bonner, Cooper Legas, and Levi Williams — took snaps.

"Everybody that we took got on the field, for the most part," Anderson said. "We played a lot of bodies as the game progressed. It made sense to get as many reps for as many guys as we could. Those are valuable reps, I think, just for confidence and understanding that 'I can get a signal go out and do what I was asked to do.' And that was probably one of the most positive things."

Ike Larson shined

One youngster who made the most of his in-game reps is redshirt freshman Ike Larson, who was Utah State's leading tackler (7), earned Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors and single-handily forced three of the Aggies' top plays against Alabama.

Larson forced a quarterback hurry on Young, which resulted in a third-down incompletion in the first quarter. He picked off backup Jalen Milroe in the third quarter, and blocked a punt in the fourth quarter. The speedy Cache Valley native, who is second on the depth chart at safety, already has two interceptions on the season and seems to have cemented himself as a key figure in the team's defense this season.

"He's gonna play a lot of critical downs for us this season and his career," Anderson said. "From this point forward, if he stays healthy, he's gonna be phenomenal."

Run defense improved

Utah State was gashed on the ground game by Connecticut in the season opener. Aggies defenders over anticipated plays and were beaten by simple misdirection runs. They missed tackles, which resulted in extended drives. Huskies running back Nate Carter ran for 190 yards, and the Aggies defense gave up 245 yards as a whole.

Against Alabama?

Utah State allowed 278 rushing yards, 100 of which came not from a running back but from Young, who had a 63-yard scamper in the second quarter. Jahmyr Gibbs had nine carries for 93 yards, but had a 58-yard run he broke loose in the third quarter, the Aggies held Gibbs to 3.9 yards per carry. The running yards given up weren't a result of blatant positioning miscues, but rather a product of the Crimson Tide's superior athleticism.

"The fan sitting there watching TV is not going to notice but their leading rusher the first half was their quarterback escaping the pocket," Anderson said. "And when you play them and they're handing it off to two really, really talented running backs, but we're making the quarterback move the chains with his feet, there's a positive there. We were tackling well, we did make them earn the yards they got."

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