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News releaseLOGAN -— Friday's Utah State football practices were significant in that they were the Aggies' final two-a-day practice, final day of training camp and final tune-up for Saturday's scrimmage.
USU conducted closed practices Friday morning in Romney Stadium and in the afternoon at the practice fields.
"We're seeing improvement in all phases of the game," USU head coach Gary Andersen said. "We're making progress and getting better, but we still have a lot of things to work on."
The Aggies will begin regular practices next week as classes on campus begin on Monday, Aug. 24. Utah State will fine tune things and gear up for the season-opener on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Utah.
"We excited to get to an opponent. The team is getting tired of going against each other," Andersen said. "There's good competition between the offense and the defense. They've done a good job of working together to make each other better."
All-in-all, Andersen is happy with how things have gone thus far.
"Overall, I'm pleased with my first training camp as the Aggie football head coach and excited to get the season underway," Andersen said.
The Aggies' final scrimmage of the fall on Saturday will be in association with Utah State Aggie Football Family Fun Day, sponsored by Macey's Foods, and will be held at Romney Stadium. The event provides fans a chance to meet USU football players and coaches, participate in games and activities as well as purchase season tickets.
Activities sponsored by Macey's Foods will begin at 12 p.m., on the South Concourse of Romney Stadium. USU's football scrimmage gets underway at 1 p.m.
Andersen and the Aggies return a WAC-leading 19 total starters, including a conference-best 10 on offense, as well as seven on defense and two kickers. Those 19 starters are part of 48 returning lettermen from last season's 3-9 team. Last year was the first time since 2005 that the Aggies had three wins in a season and USU's 3-5 WAC record was its best in its four seasons in the league. It was also the first time since 2003 that USU has won three conference games and just the third time in the 2000's (2000: 4-1 Big West; 2003: 3-4 Big West; 2008: 3-5 WAC).
The Aggies open the 2009 season against Utah on Thursday, Sept. 3. After a bye and a road game at Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 19, USU hosts in-state foe Southern Utah in the Aggies' home opener on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
For season and single-game ticket information, contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305, or online 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the "buy/renew tickets" under the "tickets" drop down menu.
(Courtesy USU)
