Utah State faces a tough transition

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LOGAN — The 2012 season was a magical year for Utah State football.

As a program that was long considered one of the worst in college football, Gary Andersen transformed the program into a winner and the Aggies enjoyed unprecedented success.

The team finished 11-2 and capped off the season by claiming just their second bowl win in program history. They won an outright conference title for the first time since 1936 and were ranked 16th in the nation in the final Associated Press poll.

Their success earned them national respect and earned Gary Andersen a new gig in Madison. Now, this program faces a new challenge and unprecedented expectations.

They were picked to finish second in the MWC Mountain Division behind Boise State and ahead of Air Force, despite making the transition from the WAC to the Mountain West, and doing so with a first time head coach.

Matt Wells, 39, will lead Utah State into a new era.

"Major challenge," said head coach Matt Wells. "You're following, arguably, the best coach at Utah State and the Mountain West didn't do us any favors with the scheduling. The biggest thing is we focus on us and that the process is all about us and our team. We've got really good players but we have to create a better team and a new team and that's the challenge that we've got before us right now."

There is also the challenge of navigating through a very difficult schedule. The Aggies must prepare for road games at Utah, Air Force, USC and San Jose State, along with home games against BYU and Boise State. They will play all these difficult opponents before week 8.

"It's going to be tough. It's going to be a grind, but I look forward to it. The rise in competition is awesome. That's why we do what we do. We like to compete. -Zach Vigil

"It's going to be tough," said junior linebacker Zach Vigil. "It's going to be a grind, but I look forward to it. The rise in competition is awesome. That's why we do what we do. We like to compete. Walking out for that opener against Utah is going to be exciting. I have a lot of respect for them guys and obviously they want to beat us after last year but we're not little brother anymore."

How will they survive such a brutal stretch to open the season? It will be much more challenging than last year, but there is reason for hope and optimism in Logan.

Let's start with junior quarterback Chuckie Keeton. He set single season school records in touchdown passes, passing yards, total offense and completion percentage as a sophomore. He's on several award watch lists in 2013, including the Heisman trophy watch list. Coaches and players in the Mountain West respect his talent greatly.

"Where did he come from?" was the reaction of New Mexico head coach Bob Davie when he first saw him play while Davie was a broadcast analyst for ESPN. "He's taken the nation by surprise a little bit. He's a guy that I think can bring a lot to this league — this conference. He's fun to watch."

The Aggies return all five starters on the offensive line, including 1st team all-conference senior center Tyler Larsen and senior tackle Eric Schultz. The experience on the line of scrimmage and the ability to protect Keeton in the pocket will make a big difference for this offense against a difficult schedule.

"They'll keep me safe this year and open up big holes for Joe Hill and the rest of the running backs," Keeton said.

Hill is likely to receive the bulk of the carries in a deep backfield and Keeton will turn to Travis Reynolds at wide receiver while he develops chemistry with several unproven players at the position.

"You're going to see something very similar to last year but you're just going to see some new faces," Keeton said. "And with those new faces there is going to be a little bit of a flare from each person. It's going to be very exciting. I look forward to seeing it in training camp and rolling over into our first game against Utah."

Utah State will miss the intensity and energy that Gary Andersen and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda brought to the defense, but don't expect much to change. The Aggies will be running the same defense even though Andersen is gone.

"Losing Coach A was hard," said junior linebacker Zach Vigil, "but the new defensive (coaches) that have come in, they had to learn our schemes. They had to learn how we do things so the terminology and all that stuff is virtually the same, same type of program, same core values."

The Aggies return seven starters from that 2012 defense that finished 14th nationally in total defense, seventh in scoring defense and tied for sixth in sacks.

Those starters include a standout group of linebackers led by 1st team all-conference linebacker Kyler Fackrell. They must contain a talented cast of quarterbacks in the Mountain West Conference that includes preseason offensive player of the year Derek Carr of Fresno State and NFL prospect David Fales of San Jose State.

"This year we've got to step up our level of play," Vigil said. "We've got to watch that much more film on these guys because these guys are good. A lot of these guys have a shot to go to the NFL. That's some really good talent that we're going to have to stop. If these guys are going to the NFL that means they are really smart players. We have to be smarter than them to beat them."

The most important key to success for Utah State may be continuity. Yes, Andersen is gone, but Wells' promotion to head coach should give the program the best chance to continue the momentum created by Andersen.

Wells hopes to maintain the same principles established by his mentor and hopes to improve on them.

"We will always be blue collar," Wells said. "We will always play with a chip on our shoulder. We will always be a group that's intense and intentional about the work but yet were going to have fun and put a smile on our face and fly around and have fun."

Wells' move to head coach may benefit Keeton the most. The two came into the program together three years ago and Wells has worked closely with Keeton as a quarterback coach, offensive coordinator and head coach.

It won't be easy for the Aggies to continue the success of the past two seasons. The leadership of Keeton, the return of 18 starters and the promotion of Wells to head coach gives them a great chance to do so.

"It's something special that's really about to happen," Keeton said. "It's one of those things that on this team you can just kind of feel the vibe and everyone's buying into it."

Aggie fans hope he's right.

#promo