Do not adjust your sets... the turf really IS blue. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Classic.
I'm a fan of Aggies coach Bronco Mendenhall. But it is his first year at Utah St.
The Cougars brought in over 70 new players this year, but still only lost one PAC12 game this year and routed Oregon St in the PAC12 Championship game*. Now, at least some of the coaching staff has departed. To say they are offensively challenged would be an understatement. Even taking out sacks, they average just under 4 yards/carry. And their leading rusher (Vorhees. Yes, kickserv, his name is Kirby Vorhees.) is allegedly sitting this one out. Unfortunately, they aren't much better throwing the ball. QB Zevi Eckhaus (yes, THAT Zevi Eckhaus) completes 64% of his passes with 12 TDs, 9 INTs, and averages 6.7 yards/att. With Vorhees out, Eckhaus is also their leading rusher, averaging 5.3 yards/carry when you take the sacks out. Angel Johnson is their healthiest backup RB, and he only averaged 3.3 yards/carry on 69 carries. This offense is bad enough that they may not be able to move the ball on a below-average Utah St defense. The Aggies give up 4.7 yards/rush (101st in the country) and 6.9 yards/pass att (67th).
*If they didn't market that finale as the PAC12 Championship game, shame on them.
Utah St was beating up the dregs of the Mountain West until they shocked Fresno St last in the year. Before that, they hadn't beaten a MW team with a winning record, but they did play some of the top teams very tough. They lost at UNLV in double OT. And in the season finale they led Boise St by 11 in the 3rd quarter. They got the ball with 25 seconds left, trailing by one. And they completed a pass to the Boise 29, but couldn't get a fg attempt off. While that game was at home, they're probably less than thrilled to be reminded about Boise St all week. Ok, onto the team. QB Barnes had a solid year, averaging 8 yards/att with 18 TDs and only 4 INTs. He's also their leading rusher, with 50 more carries than the top RB. He averages 6.7 yards/rush, so it's probably smart that he runs a lot. RB Miles Davis (YES!!!) has good overall #s (5.7 yards/carry), but his production really tailed off the last 4 games, when he ran for 154 yards on 41 carries (3.8 yards/rush). Backup Javen Jacobs stepped up the last 2 games, running for 160 yards on only 13 carries. He also caught 6 passes in those 2 games for another 57 yards. The big knock on Barnes is that he took 37 sacks this year. Washington St was in the middle of the pack this year with 28 sacks, but they may try to get after Barnes.
After all that, I'm going with my gut on this one.
Washington St (ML) 4.1 to win 4. I'm betting that the Aggies aren't over that Boise St game. Also that the Coogs are going to show the Aggies what PAC12 football is all about (bad offense!!).
*Side note* I bought one thing at Macys.com. ONE!! A box of Frangos. And now these adds keep popping up. How am I supposed to concentrate on Bryson Barnes' stats?
I'm a fan of Aggies coach Bronco Mendenhall. But it is his first year at Utah St.
The Cougars brought in over 70 new players this year, but still only lost one PAC12 game this year and routed Oregon St in the PAC12 Championship game*. Now, at least some of the coaching staff has departed. To say they are offensively challenged would be an understatement. Even taking out sacks, they average just under 4 yards/carry. And their leading rusher (Vorhees. Yes, kickserv, his name is Kirby Vorhees.) is allegedly sitting this one out. Unfortunately, they aren't much better throwing the ball. QB Zevi Eckhaus (yes, THAT Zevi Eckhaus) completes 64% of his passes with 12 TDs, 9 INTs, and averages 6.7 yards/att. With Vorhees out, Eckhaus is also their leading rusher, averaging 5.3 yards/carry when you take the sacks out. Angel Johnson is their healthiest backup RB, and he only averaged 3.3 yards/carry on 69 carries. This offense is bad enough that they may not be able to move the ball on a below-average Utah St defense. The Aggies give up 4.7 yards/rush (101st in the country) and 6.9 yards/pass att (67th).
*If they didn't market that finale as the PAC12 Championship game, shame on them.
Utah St was beating up the dregs of the Mountain West until they shocked Fresno St last in the year. Before that, they hadn't beaten a MW team with a winning record, but they did play some of the top teams very tough. They lost at UNLV in double OT. And in the season finale they led Boise St by 11 in the 3rd quarter. They got the ball with 25 seconds left, trailing by one. And they completed a pass to the Boise 29, but couldn't get a fg attempt off. While that game was at home, they're probably less than thrilled to be reminded about Boise St all week. Ok, onto the team. QB Barnes had a solid year, averaging 8 yards/att with 18 TDs and only 4 INTs. He's also their leading rusher, with 50 more carries than the top RB. He averages 6.7 yards/rush, so it's probably smart that he runs a lot. RB Miles Davis (YES!!!) has good overall #s (5.7 yards/carry), but his production really tailed off the last 4 games, when he ran for 154 yards on 41 carries (3.8 yards/rush). Backup Javen Jacobs stepped up the last 2 games, running for 160 yards on only 13 carries. He also caught 6 passes in those 2 games for another 57 yards. The big knock on Barnes is that he took 37 sacks this year. Washington St was in the middle of the pack this year with 28 sacks, but they may try to get after Barnes.
After all that, I'm going with my gut on this one.
Washington St (ML) 4.1 to win 4. I'm betting that the Aggies aren't over that Boise St game. Also that the Coogs are going to show the Aggies what PAC12 football is all about (bad offense!!).
*Side note* I bought one thing at Macys.com. ONE!! A box of Frangos. And now these adds keep popping up. How am I supposed to concentrate on Bryson Barnes' stats?
