KVNU’s Full Court Press

Aggies Fall Behind Early, Rally Comes Up Short In 34-14 Loss To No. 8 BYU

USU Spots BYU 24 Points In First Quarter Before Rallying

LOGAN, Utah — Utah State outscored No. 8 Brigham Young 14-10 in the second half. However the Aggies were down 24-0 at halftime and lost to the Cougars in a closer than the score reflects contest, 34-14, Friday night at a packed and rowdy Romney Stadium.

USU slides to 1-4 on the year while BYU improves to 5-0 overall, extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 15 in a row.

Aggie redshirt freshman running back Robert Turbin led USU for the second game in a row on the ground with 74 yards on eight carries. Sophomore quarterback Diondre Borel added 40 yards rushing to go with 10-of-15 passing for 114 yards and one TD, a five-yard strike to redshirt freshman tight end Tarren Lloyd for his first career TD catches. Senior wide receiver Otis Nelson had 72 yards on six receptions.

Defensively, the senior tandem of linebacker Jake Hutton and linebacker/safety De’von Hall led USU with a game-high 10 tackles each while junior cornerback Kejon Murphy and fellow cornerback, senior Roy Hurst had an interception each. Murphy’s came in the endzone to thwart a BYU drive after the Cougars took over at the USU 20 following an Aggie fumble.

After BYU scored on its first offensive series of the game, the Aggies then coughed up three costly turnovers in the first quarter. USU’s two fumbles and one interception were converted into 17 more points by BYU for a 24-0 first quarter lead.

Neither team scored in the second quarter and the Cougars tacked on 10 points in the third quarter before the Aggies rallied with 14 fourth-quarter points.

Turbin scored on a 40-yard running, spinning dash to cap a seven-play, 80-yard drive with 13:47 left in the game.

After the Aggie defense held the Cougars to a three-and-out, Borel led USU’s march down the field and capped the drive by hitting Lloyd in the back of the endzone.

Utah State attempted an onside kick following the score but could not recover. At the end of BYU’s ensuing drive, redshirt freshman defensive end Junior Keiaho burst through the line and blocked the field goal attempt.

The Aggies drove to the BYU 7-yard line, but could not get the ball in the endzone before the game ended.

Utah State returns to Western Athletic Conference action by traveling to San Jose State on Saturday, Oct. 11. Kickoff has been changed to 5:30 p.m. (MT).

The Aggies will take their 1-0 league record and a three-game WAC game in tote, heading on the road for the first time in a month, last playing on the road on Sept. 6 at Oregon.

USU plays at Nevada on Saturday, Oct. 18 before returning home on Saturday, Oct. 25, hosting Fresno State, currently ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll, in USU’s Homecoming game.

Aggie football tickets are available in person through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online 24 hours a day at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on “tickets” in left column, or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

-USU-

After listening again to Craig Hislop’s interview with BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall, it has got us thinking if Coach Mendenhall crossed the line with recruits.  Here is the NCAA rule on commenting on recruits before they sign letters of intent:

13.10.2 Comments Before Signing.

Before the signing of a prospective student-athlete to a National Letter of Intent or an institution’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid, a member institution may comment publicly only to the extent of confirming its recruitment of the prospective student-athlete. The institution may not comment generally about the prospective student-athlete’s ability or the contribution that the prospective student-athlete might make to the institution’s team; further, the institution is precluded from commenting in any manner as to the likelihood of the prospective student-athlete’s signing with that institution. Violations of this bylaw do not affect a prospective student-athlete’s eligibility and are considered institutional violations per Constitution 2.8.1. (Revised: 1/14/97)

Here’s the transcript of Bronco’s interview with Craig.  You decide.

CH:  I really would be remiss from a Utah State point of view not to make a reference to this, and that is, as I think about this it may be something you have not have ever commented on.  The family of Riley Nelson, who played quarterback at Utah State, I guess it was them that made the announcement that he would be going to BYU after his mission.  Your reaction.

BM:  You know, Riley was a young man we were very impressed with coming out of high school and there are a lot of young men.  And, even though the question was specific about Riley, some of these young men, and though, it should not be viewed as a negative toward any other program, that’s not the way I’m presenting it, but sometimes these young men get out on their mission and through that amazing experience of service and devotion and spirituality they have a change of heart and maybe what their real priorities are.  And usually the spiritual things become first and foremost in their lives. And I’m not saying that can’t happen at other places, but I am saying that this institution is one that that’s the reason it exists.  Sometimes these kids get out there and realize that if I would still like to play football period, where will it be that now it can be in relation to what is most important to me.  And when that happens, and again this has happened so many times as I’ve been the head coach, it’s just an amazing experience.  My hope is that these young men find a place if it isn’t where they currently are that they can have both those things exist at the same time. Any young man that wants this experience, and really that’s the criteria we use, they have to be passionate to come to BYU and do the things they’re asked to do here and represent their faith in this institution at such a high level.  There are some young men that when they get out there on their missions and they decide that maybe they want to pursue a different path, even if they want to continue to play ball period, and so I think that would be the best way to describe it rather than one specific player. But it’s relatively common and it’s a very unique thing to be a head coach when players are coming from other programs and now want to consider a different path.

CH:  Did the football staff from BYU ever contact Riley on his mission?

BM: No. We didn’t.  The way it came about is really very simply coach Higgins, who is the area recruiter up in Logan, was going through spring recruiting and because we thought so highly of Riley just simply asked their coach how he was doing.  We were interested to hear. And at that point I think there became a level of interest from the family that maybe BYU is a possibility. Our policy will and always be, that while these young men are on their mission, that’s their time to be completely devoted to their Father in Heaven and that service.  And only through the Mission President’s approval or the family’s involvement in contacting us would I ever consider acknowledging that.  That was the same in this case.

That’s right the baseball playoffs are underway.   They started off with the Phillies taking on the Brewers.  Here is some previews and some picks from yahoo sports:

Phillies vs. Brewers

Dodgers vs. Cubs

White Sox vs. Devil Rays

Red Sox vs. Angels

Who do you think will be the winners????

-Hurricane John

This is a compliance year for Utah State, which means they need to keep their attendance numbers above 15,000. The Utah game helped, but the Idaho game hurt. The Utah game should have been a sell out but ticket prices and local TV coverage kept some people home.

USU AD Scott Barnes doesn’t seem too concerned about potential sanctions from the NCAA.

“We’re aware that this is our compliance year and we have our eyes open on the issue,” Utah State Athletics Director Scott Barnes said. “I’ve been encouraged by the number of tickets we’ve sold before the game. We’re definitely keeping our eye on the ball, but we’re not concerned.”

If the BYU game sells out, and that’s a big IF because of what we saw with the Utah game, then USU would need to average about 12,000 for the remainder of their home games.

With the New Mexico State game at the tail end of what looks to be another down season, on a weekend that won’t have many students on campus (Thanksgiving), the Aggies will have to do much better than 12,000 for the Fresno and Hawaii games.

The Aggie administration should be concerned, and should re-consider ticket prices. The risk of a minimal loss of revenue is nothing compared to the risk of NCAA sanctions which could block bowl opportunities and the ability to play FBS football. Besides, there are proven, definite opportunities to make money selling a product at a lower price.

If the Aggies had to drop a classification in football, say goodbye to the WAC, and say hello to the Big West all over again.

By the way, speaking of fans in the stands, I expect to see some interesting signs from Aggie faithful deriding the BYU program for poaching Riley Nelson away from USU.

Jordan Nelson, a member of the Aggiette dance team, returned home from classes at Utah State University the other day and gave her parents a little heads-up that they probably saw coming anyway: There might be a couple not-so-nice signs directed toward the family at Friday night’s football game.

…

Some USU fans never will forgive the homegrown star for bolting, acknowledged his father, Keith Nelson, who said, “There has been some interesting dialogue, back and forth.”

-Eric

Anytime you match up Utah State with Brigham Young it’s a rivalry. Sure the football scores have been a bit lopsided lately, but there are enough student-athletes from Utah that are familiar with the rivalry and the history between these two schools.

The rivalry extends beyond football. It extends beyond basketball. Any time a USU team faces a BYU team, it’s a rivalry. The rivalry also goes beyond sport overall. It includes academics, extra-curricular activities, the student experience, and even ice cream.

The Trib has a nice article comparing the two universities’ creameries, including a taste test of their own:

…USU reigns supreme - at least in the chocolate ice cream category.
In a blind taste-test conducted last week, USU’s Aggie Bull Tracks defeated BYU’s Ernestly Chocolate.
Of the 40 tasters, 26 preferred the USU chocolate ice cream, with its peanut butter cups and caramel swirls.

The BYU Creamery may have some decent products, but Aggie Ice Cream is part of Cache Valley’s DNA. I would argue that a majority of BYU alumni don’t even know where the BYU Creamery is, let alone what they offer.

-Eric