Post-Game Interviews from the USU-NNU game

These are the post game interviews from USU-NNU

Stew Morrill

Tai Wesley

Nate Bendall

Preston Medlin

If you listen carefully, you'll see that all of the interviewed identified defense and rebounding as a major cause for concern.

USU-Northwest Nazarene Wrap-Up

1st Half Part 1

1st Half Part 2

2nd Half Part 1

2nd Half Part 2

Every USU fan knows it's time to start the grills for the sacrificial lamb when Halloween rolls around. This year was no exception. Returning to the Spectrum was Northwest Nazarene University for exhibition action. Let me quote the great Scotty Smalls (The Sandlot)

"It was a solid victory. In fact, we beat the crap out of those guys."

Tonight's game really was no contest for a USU squad returning three starters - Pooh Williams is injured - and a whole fistful of powerful post players. Returning from last year's squad are Tai Wesley, Brady Jardine and Matt Formisano. Joining them is newcomer Nate Bendall who actually played here in Logan before leaving on an LDS mission.

With all of these returning starters, you would think it would be easy for the Ags to crash the boards. Not so. NNU got 36 rebounds to USU's 38 - NNU led the rebounding war most of the game despite the inflated score.

Speaking of inflated items, how about that score? USU won this game 85-51. Like I said, no contest.

However, defense continues to be a weak point for the Aggies, and everyone on the team acknowledges that fact. The fact that 18 of NNU's 36 rebounds were offensive rebounds should be a tip to that fact.

Highlighting the Ags' play were the post players Bendall and Wesley. Both scored 17 points, Tai went 8 for 9 from the field, and Bendall batted 1.000, hitting all 7 of his shot attempts.

Preston Medlin hit quite a few three pointers as well in critical moments. Listen to the play-by-play, and you'll quickly see.

Blue and White Scrimmage Recap

Stew pre-game to the fans

Tai Wesley Post-Game

Brady Jardine Post-Game

Brian Green Post Game

Jared Quayle Post-Game

Stew Morrill Post-Game

A game like this is always hard to report on. There is so much talent, so much hope, and so much opportunity at the beginning of the season that I have a hard time grasping how this team would compare to the great teams of the last two years. One thing is certain - expectations are at an all time high.

Also one thing is certain - Brian Green can shoot the long ball. USU played itself in a man defense for the entire first half. That led to dominating performances by Tai Wesley, Brady Jardine and Modou Niang. Newcomer Nate Bendall had a decent outing, but the real showstopper was Green. He hit four straight 3-pointers in the beginning of the second half. Stew said he tried Green at the 1-guard role briefly, but with the absence of Pooh Williams to his injured foot, Green has since been rotated to the shooting guard role. Green seems very comfortable. He also is a very vocal player. In fact, he was the most vocal player on the team throughout the entire scrimmage, commanding the troops and giving good support to his new teammates. Green said the biggest factor in his transfer to USU from NJCAA National Basketball Champion SLCC was Gary Wilkinson with whom he played in Salt Lake and from whom he accepted invitations to visit the Spectrum during home stands. Apparently, the Aggie faithful impressed him.

Nearly as impressive was the true freshman from Carrolton, Texas, Preston Medlin. He almost went step for step with Green, hitting two 3's in succession, missing one, and then putting the fourth attempt home. Medlin hit his shots also when the Aggie coaches told their team to play... itself... in zone coverage, leaving the perimeter much more open than it would have otherwise been.

I would suppose by the way that the new 7-footer freshman Anthony DiLoreto played last night that he will be red-shirting this year. He did well, but showed a lot of freshman qualities and inexperience. He certainly has the potential to be a big star in this state in a few years. That much is certain.

Notable in this team is that there is only one Senior - Jared Quayle. We all remember Quayle and his dominating performance last year as a JuCo transfer. He looked really well distributing the ball, involving players, and running the system.

The team is not very weak, but as you listen to the post-game interviews, you'll notice that nearly all of the players and coaches said the team needs to improve defensively. I don't know how much stock I place in this since we can't see how the Ags measure up against the Utes and Cougars and Wildcats, but we'll find out soon enough. Weber and Utah are only two weeks away.

The Blue and White Scrimmage - Wednesday October 28 2009

This is the play by play from Wednesday's Blue and White Scrimmage. Enjoy!

USU-LaTech - USU's First FBS Win!

Coach Anderson and the Utah State Aggies won their first WAC game of the season as they squeaked out a close one 23-21 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The defense for the Ags came up huge to stop the Bulldogs, who were driving for the winning score on a 4th and three with just over a minute remaining in the game.

The defense also held on with some defensive studs missing.  Star Safety James Brindley was injured early in the game and did not return. Backup safety Walter McClenton stepped in and did a fantastic job as he led the Aggies with 13 tackles in the game.  In the 4th Kejon Murphy also was injured, and Curtis Marsh did a nice job filling in for him. The Ag D also came up with four big sacks on the day, which was huge, especially after having only six coming into Saturday’s game.

Scoring was hard to come by until the second quarter when the fun began. Diondre Borel connected with Stanley Morrison for a 41-yard pass for the TD.  A few minutes later Aggie running back Dervin Speight found pay dirt when he scampered 44 yards for the endzone.  A 100-yard kickoff return by Livas for LaTech kept the score close going into halftime.

Also before the half, Aggie Sophomore Bobby Wagner had the play of the game.  The Tech quarterback threw down the middle of the field and Wagner jumped up and snagged the ball out of the air with one hand for an interception.

The Ags got back to the run game. Turbin led the charge with 95 yards on 22 carries, and the Ags finished with 157 rushing yards for the game. Borel did an excellent job of managing the game, not making any huge mistakes and keeping the team in a position to win.  No turnovers or big mistakes ended up being a big plus for the Ags. Mistakes have plagued them all season.

LaTech made a valiant comeback in the fourth, climbing to within two points. Aggie fans were nervous; USU had blown leads in two games prior to this one.  The Aggie defense stepped up big and made the plays at the end of the game which proved to be the difference. 

Vandaveer Album Review

I wrote an album review for the Statesman today.

Find it here

Today's Aggie Bull Horn

Aggie Bull Horn - October 23, 2009

USU Football Woes, 7 days to Basketball Season, USU Soccer coming down the Pipeline, and USU Hockey will put the beatdown on the U tonight!

Last Year's WAC tournament

This is a good synopsis of the USU-Fresno Game from last year. As you can see, the final goal of the tournament was a 30-yard rocket.

Lauren Hansen did have an excellent goal against the Bulldogs last year, but double overtime is a killer. As you can tell, USU did not look very happy.

USU already defeated FSU once this year off of Hansen's goal in the 69th minute of play.

Find the article on last weekend's matches here, and scroll down for the postgame interviews.

Coach Andersen Interview

I had the opportunity to speak with Coach A today and got his thoughts on what went down last weekend and what he's looking to do against Lousiana Tech.

Enjoy!

Freeze Frame image of the final USU play of last saturday's game

This is the freeze frame that came through the TV feed. You be the judge - offsides or no?

USU picked to repeat as WAC basketball champions

USU has officially been picked to repeat as WAC basketball champions.

RESPECTRUM.

The following comments are excerpts from the USU media release -

Utah State received eight first-place votes and 64 points in the coaches poll, while Nevada received one first-place vote and 53 points. New Mexico State received 50 points and was picked to finish third, followed by Idaho (42), Louisiana Tech (31), Fresno State (30), Boise State (23), San Jose State (19) and Hawai'i (12).

In the media poll, Utah State garnered 15 first-place votes and 273 points, while Nevada was second with 269 points and 12 first-place votes. New Mexico State, who received 226 points and six first-place votes was picked third, while Idaho (193) and Boise State (145) rounded out the top five. Louisiana Tech (140) was picked sixth, followed by Fresno State (130), San Jose State (88) and Hawai'i (66). The Spartans also received one first-place vote in the media poll.

"In all the years I've been a head coach, I can't ever remember where preseason predictions have helped us win any games," said USU head coach Stew Morrill. "These preseason polls are more a reflection on your past and what happened last year, and we haven't done anything yet this season.

"We all have pressures in Division I Athletics and if you have a good program you are trying to stay at a high level. Pressure is something we have gotten used to at Utah State and have learned to live with."

2009-10 WAC Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk. Team Pts.
1. UTAH STATE (8) 64
2. Nevada (1) 53
3 New Mexico State 50
4. Idaho 42
5. Louisiana Tech 31
6. Fresno State 30
7. Boise State 23
8. San Jose State 19
9. Hawai'i 12
2009-10 WAC Preseason Media Poll
Rk. Team Pts.
1. UTAH STATE (15) 273
2. Nevada (12) 269
3 New Mexico State (6) 226
4. Idaho 193
5. Boise State 145
6. Louisiana Tech 140
7. Fresno State 130
8. San Jose State (1) 88
9. Hawai'i 66

2009-10 Preseason Coaches All-WAC Teams
First-Team
Luke Babbitt, So., F, Nevada
Mac Hopson, Sr., G, Idaho
Armon Johnson, Jr., G, Nevada
Jared Quayle, Sr., G, Utah State
Jahmar Young, Jr., G, New Mexico State

Second-Team
Roderick Flemings, Sr., F, Hawai'i
Paul George, So., G/F, Fresno State
Kyle Gibson, Sr., G, Louisiana Tech
Sylvester, Seay, Sr., F, Fresno State
Tai Wesley, Jr., F, Utah State

Preseason Player of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Nevada

2009-10 Preseason Media All-WAC Team
First-Team
Luke Babbitt, So., F, Nevada
Mac Hopson, Sr., G, Idaho
Armon Johnson, Jr., G, Nevada
Jared Quayle, Sr., G, Utah State
Jahmar Young, Jr., G, New Mexico State

Preseason Player of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Newcomer of the Year: Steffan Johnson, Idaho

Aggie Bull Horn October 16, 2009

Here is the Aggie Bull Horn in two parts. This is yesterday's show.

Aggie Bull Horn October 16, 2009 part 1



Aggie Bull Horn October 16, 2009 part 2

USU-Nevada: 2009 Edition 35-32 UNR victory. Oh, crap.

Postgame Interviews

In yesterday's show, I enumerated the keys to the Utah State - Nevada football game for the Aggies.

1. Contain Nevada's run.
2. Score in the red zone.
3. No special teams mistakes.
4. Win the turnover battle.

Check one until the fourth quarter when Nevada ran all over USU, and that's when Nevada won

Check two all game. Nicely done. A perfect 3-3 in the red zone, although one of those three should have been a TD instead of a field goal.

Uncheck three. The special teams game did great until the final two minutes of the game. Read on for details

Check four. USU beat Nevada on the turnover margin, 2-1.

Nevada boasts the No. 1 rush offense in the country. USU boasts the 107th ranked defense in the nation. One would think that Nevada would get USU on the rush immediately. Not so. It was through the pass that Nevada slaughtered USU before opening up the field to the rush in the 4th.

I guess I missed two keys for this game. They are to learn to cover the pass and to execute the offense. This was a game of missed opportunities.

USU struck first after Nnamdi Gwacham caught a 77-yard pass that set up a Robert Turbin TD run. A few punt exchanges after and right at the end of the 1st quarter, Nevada found itself on its own 19 yard line. During that series, USU nearly recovered a botched snap on the UNR 11. As a matter of fact, the Aggie defenseman fell on the ball first, but it snuck out of his grip and fell into the arms of Colin Kaepernick. Missed opportunity number one.

Also in the first half, UNR was trying to work out of it's own red zone. Caepernick threw a pass right into the waiting arms of Curtis Marsh, who made a heads-up, all-around good play on the ball. There was no one in front of him. Marsh was looking only at green pastures and a blue endzone ahead, but he dropped the ball. Missed opportunity number two.

And the grandaddy of them all came with little over 2:30 remaining in the game.

USU, down by 3 with little time left, decided to go for the onside kick. Brindley sped forward and caught the ball in the air. Had it not been for a great open-field tackle by the UNR special-teamer, he would have ran the distance. The play was called back, however. The line judge called an offsides penalty on the Aggies, and that spelled doom. Missed opportunity number three.

The irony of this game was that USU lead the game until the beginning of the fourth quarter. It took the Wolfpack 50 minutes to find a way past USU's defense, but when they did, they did.

UNR's first big play came on the option. Kaepernick pitched it out, and Vai Taua ran to the USU 9 with just over 11 minutes left in the 1st half. Two plays later, UNR got on the board when Kaepernick connected with Luke Lippencott on an 11-yard TD pass.

USU answered right back. Diondre Borel threw two great passes-one to Xavier Bowman and another to Turbin for the Touchdown. USU's offense truly began to fire on all cylinders and it looked like the Ags could run away with it.

The bad news: Nevada's offense came to play too.

Right after the USU TD drive, Nevada marched right down the field and Kaepernick connected with Virgil Green for a 44-yard TD pass. 21-14 USU.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Utah State trailed. Borel had fumbled at the USU 40 and given Nevada the opportunity to score and close the gap to 24-21. Nevada had the momentum. And of course, UNR put itself in the lead on the next drive. Kaepernick connected with Brandon Wemberly for a 49-yard TD pass. 28-24 Nevada.

And the coup-de-grás of Nevada's attack came after USU foolishly punted the ball away on a 4th and 1 with 6 minutes remaining. Nevada started on their own 3 yard line, advanced to their own 31 in three plays, and then scored a monster TD. Luke Lippencott ran 69 yards for the touchdown, put his team up by 11, and put an immense load of pressure on the Aggies to produce.

At that point, 4 minutes remained, and USU had only one option. Execute the 2-minute offense to perfection and recover the onside kick.

USU executed part one to perfection. They marched 80 yards in just under two minutes and scored one of the 2 necessary TDs very quickly on a bullet 14-yard pass from Borel to Gwacham. USU even took pressure off themselves by converting the two-point conversion. USU was in field goal striking distance. It would all come down to the onside kick.

To everyone in attendance at the game except for one person, Utah State did recover the onside kick. Ulinski put it forward 10 yards and James Brindley snuck through and caught it.

Who was the one person who disagreed? The line judge.

USU was called for offsides, sent back five yards, and forced to redo the kick, which Nevada easily recovered. That was it. No timeouts, no way to stop the clock, and Nevada took the victory formation.

I continue to marvel how the Aggie football team does just enough to get the hopes of their fans into the game, only to destroy everything.

However, I must say the offsides call was absolutely rediculous. I thought it was impossible for a football official to become exactly like a soccer referee. Often, a soccer referee will make a call that makes him the star of the show. Rarely does something similar happen in American football. Well, it happened today. The star of today's show was not Turbin; it was not Borel; it was not Kaepernick nor Lippencott nor any individual player. It was the line judge. I fully believe that USU would have pulled it out had they been granted what they earned on that kick. They would have. The Aggies had the momentum and the swagger.

USU-BSU Hockey Postgame

Utah State Hockey slaughtered Boise State Saturday Night 11-1.

The Utah Statesman will post a story at the beginning of next week. We will link you to it when it goes online.

In the meantime, here are some postgame comments from the players.

During the second period, Macej Michalik got into a huge fight with one of the Boise State skaters. Here are his comments about that fight.

Macej Michalik talks about the game and his fight



Brendan MacDonald scored a couple goals in this match. He led his team well. Here's what he had to say about the match.

USU-BSU Hockey postgame Brendan MacDonald



USU-BSU Hockey postgame Jon Eccles, Head Coach

USU-Fresno State Soccer recap

USU faced Fresno State Friday afternoon on Chuck and Gloria Bell Field. The match was the first time USU and Fresno played since the crushing double overtime loss to Fresno in last year's WAC championship match.

A story will be up on the Utah Statesman site soon. I will link it when it is.

Here is the play-by-play from the game. I know this is incomplete, but Gabcast will not allow me to upload a file larger than 50 MB, and my editing software is not functional today. As soon as it becomes available, I will edit down the second half and post it as well.

USU-Fresno St Play-by-Play half No 1




Also, here are the postgame interviews

Chandra Salmon Postgame comments



USU-Fresno St PostGame Lauren Hansen Interview



USU-Fresno St PostGame Heather Cairns Interview

Today's show

Today's show will highlight last week's games and give a good preview of what's to come.

That having been said, it will also be much shorter today because the women's soccer match against Fresno begins at 3 p.m. and I must be there to cover it.

Given the circumstance, and also since today we have a day off from School, I'm going to start the show at 1 instead of 2 p.m. We'll highlight our artist of the week and have an all-request show before starting the Aggie Bull Horn at 2.

Thanks for tuning in! You can find the link to tune in right here:

Fusion HD3 radio

USU Football Pre-Nevada coverage

USU will be looking right the ship against a very, very difficult Nevada team.

I only wish they could have righted the ship against a slightly (actually, significantly) less dangerous NMSU team, but they couldn't.

Here's what Coach Andersen had to say about that NMSU game and what he plans on doing for the USU-Nevada game ahead.



Likewise, here's what team captain Robert Turbin, who had a career yardage day against NMSU had to say about the NMSU game, and what he hopes to do against Nevada.

USU Soccer Pre-game interview with Heather Cairns

I spoke with Heather Cairns earlier this week about last weekend and about the upcoming Fresno contest.

The last time USU and Fresno squared off, Fresno beat USU in double OT to win a trip to the NCAA tournament. Tough loss. I think it's time for revenge.

Heather Cairns discusses the Fresno State game with me.

USU Hockey last weekend and Upcoming

Utah State Hockey rolled all over Metro State last Saturday Night, and I've got the goods for you.

First off, find the written word here




Secondly, here is the play-by-play from that game.

USU-Metro St. Hockey. 1st period


USU-Metro St. Hockey. 2nd period


USU-Metro St. Hockey. 3rd period

Incomplete - When I found out USU had lost their football game, and the Hockey game was already won, I quit doing my commentating. It stopped being fun. I was depressed because Aggie football lost to NMSU



Thirdly, here are the post-game interviews.

Dan Cornelius, USU Goalie, Talks about the USU-Metro State game.


David Wyman's comments after the USU-Metro St. Game



Coach Jon Eccles's Post-Metro Comments



Finally, here's an interview with Coach Eccles for this weekend. USU will shred Boise this Friday when they make the five hour trip from Idaho.

Coach Eccles talks about Boise this weekend



Game time is 7 p.m.

-Landon

USU Football and Basketball to be Televised Locally Immediately

USU football and basketball will be televised on CW 30 in Utah, starting with this weekend's game against Nevada.

Upping the anty! This is great in terms of exposure. CW30 has a DirecTV deal for those in Utah, as well as Comcast. People in 4 states will now be able to see our Aggies on select Saturdays.

More information here

USU Soccer Wins 2 on the Road

USU won two games over the weekend in the Gem State. Natalie Norris sealed the deal against Boise State, and Erin Salmon's golden overtime goal in Moscow put away the Idaho Vandals. USU is now 2-1 in WAC play and comes home this week to host two Californian foes. Fresno State will suit up against our Aggies on Friday, and San Jose State will take to Bell Field on Sunday.

Here's the story on the Boise game, and here's the Idaho recap.

This is the post game interview with Coach Heather Cairns and USU defensive midfielder Chandra Salmon.

Heather Cairns and Chandra Salmon talk about the Boise win

Thoughts on the NMSU loss last weekend

USU dropped what I would definitely call a marquee, program-defining loss Saturday night.

After watching the game and almost ripping my hair out, I have come down to a couple of key items that anyone who watched that game can identify, I'm certain.

First of all, USU committed too many penalties at all the wrong times. Two 40+ yard runs were negated by holding calls. Game changing plays - excellent runs by Turbin and Borel in the second half - were called back because some idiot on the offensive line pulled a man to the ground. The offensive line continues to be a black hole that sucks big plays away. This team, any team, can go nowhere forward when they go backwards like USU did Saturday. Bottom line, winning teams are disciplined enough to not commit 12 penalties for 130 yards.

Secondly, what on earth is wrong with USU special teams and why don't they ever improve? The punting game was absolutely wretched! On the second punt return of that game, USU coughed up the ball and then NMSU drove for the score. On the game-winning drive, USU gave up roughly (I don't have the stats) a 60-yard return to put NMSU in field goal range. Bottom line, winning teams make stops on special teams because they know that special teams are just as crucial as the offense and defense.

Thirdly, this team needs to change it's attitude. It's clear to me now that the loss the team suffered at Utah, A&M and BYU has got them on the same mental track they've been on for the last 15 years - losing is OK. This team will say up and down that they believe they can win, but after losing against NMSU, I'm not sure I believe they can win anymore. It's almost like they feel out the opponent, figure out just what they need to do in order to win, and then purposefully underachieve.

Anyway, having seen the Aggie team through 6 weeks of the season, I'm revising my picks for the remainder of the year. Here they are:

USU-Nevada: Loss
USU-LaTech: Win
USU-Fresno: Loss
USU-Hawai'i: Win
USU-SJSU: Win
USU-BSU: Loss
USU-Idaho: Loss

Idaho is for real, Hawai'i stinks, and unless USU can learn to stuff the run and get pressure on a QB, there's no way they'll beat Nevada. USU may have wanted a bowl berth, but there's no way it'll get it.

Here's the USU athletic department's recap.

Today's Aggie Bull Horn

Aggie Bull Horn - October 9, 2009

The debut of the cougar kill countdown



BYU fans talked smack on USU basketball after beating us in Provo last weekend, and now it's USU's turn to get ready to take out a lot of frustration and anger on the Cougars. We're 54 days from having BYU come to Logan to play basketball against our boys in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Ah, the ignorance of Provo. We'll learn 'em good!

Muse Album Review

Here's the music review that was in today's Utah Statesman. Enjoy it!

If you would like to hear the tracks that I reviewed, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click the play button on the blue player. Thanks!

This week's Epic show

This week there will be some new things on MSNG

The Aggie Bull Horn will take over the second hour of the show. We will still play music, but by far, most of the second hour will be various topics from the USU sporting world.

Also, I will no longer be doing the Aggie Bull Horn alone. This week we are going to have Chunky Charles of the DJ show on with us, and a good friend of mine, Jared, is looking to join the show on a more permanent basis. This will be good because not only will it give me the opportunity to debate with someone and discuss stories from many different viewpoints, but it will also make the show more conversational.

As for the first hour of the show, it will remain a music show primarily, but will serve to transition those who were listening to Fusion 1010, the show directly preceding mine, from more of a music show to a talk show. I think this is good because it will allow me to retain listeners better, and it will allow me to continue to spin the tracks I love and highlight students. Stupid news stories and national sports stories will be the main focus of our short, short segments. We will continue to highlight USU's wonderful co-eds every week as well. I really enjoy that part. ;-)

keep it tuned. I apologize for not getting last week's Bull Horn up on podcast, but I had to leave to go to the BYU-USU football game and had no time to edit. We will get our stuff on the web for sure this week though.

Thanks for listening!

-Landon

BYU - USU: 2009 Edition

Before reading on, check out the preview I wrote in August and see if it was accurate. Had USU managed to get one more TD, I would have pinned the score on the dot. Personally satisfying, for sure!

Utah State came into Provo Friday Night with a dream - beat BYU and get their first win in Provo in more than 30 years. Nope. Didn't happen. They lost, 35-17.

For all intents and purposes, the game ended at the 13:09 mark in the 4th quarter. USU, faced with a crucial 4th and 1 in their own territory, went for it. At that point, USU needed to advance the ball and try to close an 11 point gap that widened with each tick off the clock. Turbin got the handoff, had space, looked to turn upfield, but didn't follow his blocker and was taken down two yards short of the 1st down marker. One 30-yard Harvey Unga run later, and BYU found itself inside the five. They sealed the deal on the next play; who else to do it but Harvey Unga? Unga ran 10 yards all over the Aggie D and BYU widened its lead to 28-10.

And then, just to rub salt in the wound, Riley Nelson came in for a single play and ran 15 yards up USU's gut late in the game. Max Hall immediately returned to the game after Nelson's run. Oooooh, Riley Nelson. I hate you, Riley Nelson. I hate you.

However... wait for it... Did USU quit? NO. With 2.6 seconds remaining, Borel tossed a 16-yard TD pass, his only of the game, to Xavier Bowman and closed the game out strong for USU. Indeed, strong finishes are a quality that seems to be a good trend for USU's football future.

Loads of hype surrounded the USU offense coming into the game. USU boasted Turbin's three-game streak of 100+ rushing yards, and Diondre Borel had put up over 300 yards of total offense in the previous two games. The hype was mostly made of the same material as dreams. However, the happenings of the first five minutes of the first quarter would lead one to believe otherwise.

No. 20 BYU came into this game a huge favorite, but it would be USU's offense that would score first off what has become known as a typical BYU turnover.

USU took possession after BYU fumbled at the 45-yard line. Diondre Borel and led his troops to the end zone in less than 3 minutes to give USU a very quick lead over their rivals from Provo. BYU then soaked up the first quarter in a very, very long scoring drive that took over 8 minutes off the first quarter clock. That locked the score at 7 apiece.

The most notable statistic in the first quarter was that Robert Turbin only managed to earn 6 yards rushing, and USU as a team only obtained 17 rushing yards, which was quite a step backward from last week's 600+ yard outing against SUU. BYU, on the other hand, racked up 69 yards rushing in their drive, and earned 111 yards of total offense to USU's 43.

USU then got the ball, went 3-and-out, and BYU found the seam in the Aggie D. In less than two minutes, BYU scored. The final play of the drive was a 45-yard pass to Luke Ashworth, who walked unmolested to the end zone in the first minute of the second quarter.

USU didn't do much on the next two drives and gave it up to BYU, but didn't make it easy. Two times in succession, BYU had to drive out of their own endzone. On the first, USU contained BYU to a punt, but not on the second. BYU drove 50 yards and sucked a sizable amount of time off the clock. By the time USU recovered at their own 27, and then the unthinkable happened.

USU fumbled once again on a bad pitch from Borel to Turbin. BYU recovered at USU's 30-yard-line, and threw a 26-yard-pass to Dennis Pitta. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, BYU's Manase Tonga scored it up the middle and widened the gap on the Aggies. 21-7. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers...

In the third, the turnover monster reared its ugly head against BYU, but USU was unable to capitalize. After grabbing a pick in BYU territory, USU only managed to get to the BYU 2 and kicked a field goal. A second pick came on the ensuing BYU drive, but USU's offense stalled at midfield, and the Aggies were forced to punt again. USU's offense was stifled. Through three quarters, Turbin only managed to rack up 36 yards. Quite the different story from last Saturday...

Credit must be given to the USU defense. It squeezed out two more picks from Max in the third, and held BYU near midfield on their third offensive attempt of the third quarter. USU managed to claw its way a bit closer to BYU.

And then the 4th and 1 happened, and as quickly as USU momentum came, it was gone. USU fell short again on their next drive, once again giving it up on 4th down, and allowing BYU to score again before retaking the ball with next to nothing on the clock and driving for their final score.

USU is now going to start their conference season. This is where we'll see really where this team is.

Riley Nelson.... the cougar...

Great article on Riley Nelson and how he USED to play for USU. He now backs up Max Hall on BYU's sidelines, and is in prime position to take over the BYU QB job next year.

Check it out

Oh, Riley! Why???

What a turn of events....

LaGarrete Blount may be off the hot seat. Oregon Coach Chip Kelley said today he has provided a way for Senior RB Blount to earn his way back, but the way won't be easy.

You can find ESPN's breaking coverage of it here

I think Blount should be given an opportunity to return. The guy was being taunted by the idiots that live in Boise. Man, I hate Boise State.

USU-ISU postgame interview with heather cairns

USU Soccer lost to ISU today. Bummer. Here's what Coach Heather Cairns had to say about it.

The Play-by-play, along with the Utah play-by-play will hopefully be posted tomorrow. They are big, big files that I have to upload.

Heather Cairns on the ISU loss

Post Utah Interviews

These are the interviews that were taken after the Utah game. I hope to post the Utah play-by-play to this blog tomorrow. The files are so large and my internet connection so crappy at my home that I can't manage to upload it. I'll upload it tomorrow in the studio.

In the meantime, I'll post this. I also have the post-game interview from today's ISU loss. I'll post the link to the article tomorrow when I'm in the studio.

Shantel Flanary talks about her goal




Heather Cairns talks about the win




Stefani Shiozaki talks about her goal and the team's effort