USU predictions continued

Part 2 of 4

Opponent #4: The Cougars of Brigham Young University

Prediction: USU 24-35 BYU

Ah, BYU. I am conflicted as to what to write about them. Given the choice between the two Mountain West teams in the state, I'm definitely a BYU homer and NEVER will be a Utah fan, EVER. That mainly is because I remember going to BYU games in the 80's as a 3-year-old when my grandfather was working for the LDS church education system and got complementary season tickets to BYU games. I was raised on Cougar Football. That having been said, it's very difficult for me to completely turn my back on the football team from Provo.

I have no connection to their basketball team at all though, and think that it should perish under the destructive dunks of our Aggie men. Death to Cougar Basketball.

That having been said, let's take an honest look at this game and contrast what has changed since last year.

The biggest factors that will play into the result of this game are the development of the two defenses. BYU is coming off a 10-3 season, and the games they lost were the games where their defense could not compensate for their normally prolific offense's mistakes. Anyone who saw the BYU-TCU and BYU-Utah games last year, one of which highlighted a dominating Gary Andersen defense, knows that the Cougar defense had a hard time locking down when it had to be on the field for more than 35 minutes of the game. If the offense could not produce, and the defense got tired, BYU got worked, and that's all there was too it. Given the fact that team only lost three games last year, I do not presume to say that this is an easy task to complete, and although I think it is possible, it is very unlikely. That's one of the reasons why I call this game a loss.

There is a reason why this year's BYU team is getting preseason looks to bust the BCS, as evidenced by this article from si.com and this article from espn.com. BYU is returning a senior quarterback in Max Hall, a senior tight-end in Dennis Pitta, and a junior running-back in Harvey Unga that would be difficult for many teams to handle. For the first half of the season, their defense was dominating, and this year, the expectations on the Cougars is not half of what it was during last year's "Quest for Perfection."

I believe BYU stands a legitimate chance of busting through this year, and their preseason ranking certainly puts them in a wonderful position to do so if they can win the last 11 games of the season, defeating a TCU team and a Utah team that must also do well this year. If they beat Oklahoma, winning the rest of their schedule will be a marathon, but is doable.

So what can USU hope to accomplish against BYU? Look for Diondre Borel to have a great game in Provo. The Cougar defense hates him, mainly because after halftime last year in Logan, Borel ran their socks off with an option attack. Injuries will also play a big part. If USU can keep the field very spread and drag the defensive backs behind their receivers, USU will stand the best chance because BYU is not athletic enough defensively to keep up with extreme speed.

A huge unknown in this game as well is the BYU offensive line. Four of the five linemen from last year's BYU squad are graduated. USU's defensive line is undersized, but if they can outmatch the cougar O-line with their quickness and speed a la Utah, BYU will have a hard time going anywhere.

Bottom line, speed is the way to beat BYU. The quicker and smarter team will prevail, and I think that USU will not yet have the athleticism to defeat a program that has a larger following, a larger recruitment base, a larger talent pool, and a real shot at busting the BCS.

Opponent #5: The New Mexico State Aggies

Prediction: USU 49 - 14 NMSU

Of all the football games at home that I could not see last year, the ones that I wanted to see the most were the Hawaii game and the New Mexico State game.
Simply put, USU slaughtered NMSU last year, and managed to defeat them in Las Cruces two years ago when there was no hope for the Utah State program at all. Now that USU has a decent coach and a better recruitment class, Utah State should roll all over a New Mexico State squad that now finds itself where Utah State was two years ago, despite the fact that NMSU has a new coach.

By week five, the Aggie defense should be strong and practiced enough to stifle any sort of attack the NewMags can muster, and Borel, along with Turbin, should run their defense to death. I am only regretful of the fact that this game will be in New Mexico, because it would be fun to watch the NewMags get blown out.

Opponent #6: The Nevada Wolf Pack

Prediction: USU 20-23 Nevada

I'm calling for the almost upset in this game. Utah State will lose, but it will be close, mainly because of two reasons.

Utah State should by this time have a pretty developed defensive front and defensive scheme. Since Andersen is a defensive coach, he'll make the adjustments necessary to put a lot of pressure on Nevada's monstrous QB Colin Kaepernick early on in this game. An active aggie defense that is able to react with quickness, which is Andersen's focus, should be able to somewhat contain Kaepernick.

Secondly, Nevada is not reknowned for its defensive presence on the field. They are a strong school, and have been picked to finish second in the conference, but this game will be in Logan and the Aggie offense shone its brightest in Logan last season, and I believe it will do so again this year.

I would say look for a loss a la Last Year's Fresno St. game. Stupid kicker...

more to come soon.