Nov. 27, 2009
LOGAN, Utah -
ON TV -- Saturday's battle between the Vandals and Aggies will be televised by Altitude / ESPN Regional (Comcast Ch. 61 in Caches Valley)... Trey Bender will handle play-by-play and Jay Taylor will provide analysis... That pair is a lucky draw for the Aggies, as they were the talent for USU's victory over Louisiana Tech on Oct. 24 in Logan, also on ESPN Regional / Altitude.
ESPN360.com -- Saturday's Aggie-Vandal game will also be available live online via ESPN360.com -- ESPN's signature broadband sports TV network. The game is available completely free to any student on campus (in fact, to any student on any U.S. college campus -- nearly 18 million people). This season, ESPN360.com will feature more than 300 college football games.
ON THE AIR -- All Utah State football games are carried live on KVNU 610 AM and KLZX 95.9 FM in Logan; 1230 AM in Salt Lake City; on KLZX 105.3 FM in Montpelier, Idaho, and on the Internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com by clicking on "Listen Live"... Al Lewis handles the play-by-play duties and Craig Hislop provides analysis.
LIVE STATS -- Fans can follow Saturday's game by clicking on the "Live Stats" link on USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com, which will connect to UH's live stats updates on play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
111 / 117 -- USU is taking the field for the 111th season of football in 117 years. The Aggies beat Utah, 12-0, in 1892, but then did not field a team until 1896, when they again only played one game but then played every year since with the exceptions of 1918 when to World War I and influenza cancelled the season and 1943 due to World War II.
A USU WIN WOULD...
• Give Utah State a 4-8 final record, the Aggies' most wins since 2002 when USU was 4-7... Would mean that USU increased one win per year since 2006 after posting a 1-11 mark that season then going 2-10 in 2007 and 3-9 in 2008.
• Improve USU to 3-5 in WAC action, matching last season for the best conference record for the Aggies during their five years in the WAC.
• Give Utah State head coach Gary Andersen a 4-8 record in his first year at the helm of the Aggie program.
• Be USU's third-straight win in its season-finale and fifth in the last six, improving to 45-64-3 all-time in season-finales.
• Improve the Aggies to 12-7 in the last 19 final games of the season.
• Earn USU its third-straight road season-finale win, moving the Aggies to 7-4 in their last 11 road season-finales, including the last two times which have come at Idaho.
• Be Utah State's second-straight win in the state of Idaho, moving USU to 16-17-2 in games in the Potato State, leveling the Aggies' record at Idaho at 9-9-1.
• Give USU its third-straight win over Idaho, the longest streak in the series since winning five in a row from 1971-97.
• Move the Aggies to 18-16-2 all-time against the Vandals.
• Even USU's record vs. UI at Moscow at 9-9-1.
• Improve USU to 7-13 in WAC games during the month of November.
• Level Utah State's record on Nov. 28 at 2-2-2, moving to 2-1-1 on the road on that date.
• Snap the Aggies' road losing skein at 12 in a row and give USU its first road win since 2007, which came as part of a two-game win streak starting over NMSU and continuing the next week at Idaho, after losing all six road contests last season and all six road games so far this year.
• Turn the "A" Blue.
A USU LOSS WOULD...
• Be USU's second loss in a row and fourth in five games, ending the Aggies' season at 3-9 overall for the second season in a row.
• Drop Utah State's WAC record to 2-6, its third 2-6 ledger in conference games in the five years in the league.
• Be Utah State's 13th road loss in a row overall.
• Deal USU its third loss at Idaho in the last four trips there, sliding to 8-10-1 all-time at Moscow.
• Snap the Aggies' short two-game win streak in the series and level the all-time series at 17-17-2.
• Move USU to 1-3-2 all-time on Nov. 28, including 1-2-1 on the road on that date.
• As always, be not as good as a win.
SOPHOMORE TACKLE LEADERS -- Utah State sophomore linebacker Bobby Wagner currently leads the team with 106 tackles, tied with Toby Tyler (1989) for the fifth-best tackle total by a sophomore in school history... Johndale Carty holds the top mark with 138 in 1996, basically out of reach for Wagner, but he only needs seven stops to vault to the No. 2 spot, held by James Jenkins with 113 tackles in 1984.
Year Name Tackles
1996 Johndale Carty 138
1984 James Jenkins 113
2000 Jesse Busta 110
1998 Brent Passey 107
1989 Toby Tyler 106
2009 Bobby Wagner 106
CURRENT AGGIE COACHES VS. IDAHO -- Utah State has four members of its coaching staff that have faced Idaho as a coach with another team or a player, as is the case for USU defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a, who played against Idaho during his playing days at Utah... USU's top three coaches in command, head coach Gary Andersen, offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin and defensive coordinator Bill Busch have all faced Idaho at least twice, with Busch having the most experience vs. the Vandals, facing them five times, including once while co-defensive coordinator at Northern Arizona in 1995 and four times while secondary coach at New Mexico State (1997-2000)... Overall, those five members are a combined 3-9 vs. Hawai'i.
Name Utah State Position Other Position Years-Results
Gary Andersen Head Coach Idaho State D-Line 1992-L, 18-49
(0-3 vs. UI) 1993, L, 27-56
No. Arizona Asst. HC 1995-L, 14-17
Dave Baldwin Offensive Coord./WR's San Jose St. Head Coach 1998-L, 12-17
(1-1 vs. UI) Michigan St. Off. Coord. 2006-W, 27-17
Bill Busch Defensive Coord./S's No. Arizona Co-Def.Coord. 1995-L, 14-17
(1-4 vs. UI) New Mexico St. Second. 1997-L, 18-35
1998-L, 32-36
1999-W, 42-14
2000-L, 44-41 (2OT)
Alex Gerke Offensive Line Hawai'i O-Line/RB 2008-W, 49-17
(1-0 vs. UI)
Chad Kauha'aha'a Defensive Line Utah Player-LB 1993-L, 17-28
(0-1 vs. UI)
FEWEST INT's THROWN -- Utah State has taken exceptional care of throwing to the right receiver, as the Aggies only have four interceptions, presently the fewest in school history since 1957 when stats are available, bettering the previous mark of six in 1960...
UTAH STATE AMONG NATION'S LEADERS FOR FEWEST OSKIES --
Utah State has thrown the second-fewest interceptions in the country this season with four, one of eight teams with that few, trailing four teams with three.
Rank Name Passes INT'ed
1 Air Force 3
1 Boise St. 3
1 Navy 3
1 Virginia Tech 3
5 Alabama 4
5 Army 4
APPROACHING TOP FIVE TERRITORY -- Utah State's offense is approaching the top five marks in school history since 1957, when stats available... USU is nearing a top five mark for rushing, total offense and scoring, though scoring would be a stretch as the Aggies would need to score 63 points... The Aggies would need to pass from an NCAA-record 866 yards to reach the top five for passing average.
UTAH STATE OFFENSIVE MARKS -- Besides approaching top five marks in school history since 1957, Utah State's offense is showing improved progress, posting numbers that haven't been attained by the Aggie offense in quite some time:
Category 2009 #'s Most Since #'s
Rushing 2,148 1974 2,701
Rushing avg pg 195.3 1974 245.5
Rushing TD's 22 1997 28
Passing 2,585 2003 2,904
Passing avg pg 235.0 2003 242.0
Total Offense 4,733 1996 5,154
Tot Off pg 430.0 1997 449.4
Scoring 297 2002 305
Pts pg 27.0 2002 27.7
TD's Scored 37 2002 38
YOUTH UP-RISING -- Utah State is among the nation's leaders for number of underclassmen (freshmen/redshirt-freshmen/sophomores) on its depth-chart and its starting line-up for offense and defense:
School No. / Starters
Texas A&M 31 / 10
Missouri 30 / 10
Western Kentucky 27 / 14
Rice 27 / 11
Wisconsin 26 / 7
Michigan 25 / 10
Tulsa 24 / 10
Colorado 23 / 9
Arizona State 23 / 8
Wyoming 22 / 10
UTAH STATE 22 / 9
Mississippi State 21 / 9
Central Michigan 21 / 6
Colorado State 20 / 6
SEASON AVERAGE -- Sophomore RB Turbin's current 6.5 yards per carry average is currently third on the USU single-season rushing average list, trailing Aggie legend Jack Hill for second by .1 yard.
Single-Season Rushing Average
Year Yds.
(Minimum 100 Attempts)
1. Tom Larscheid, Jr. 1960 8.4
2. Jack Hill, Sr. 1956 6.6
3. Robert Turbin, So., 2009 6.6
4. Tom Larscheid, Sr. 1961 6.3
5. Roy Shivers, Jr. 1965 6.0
6. Emmett White, Jr. 2000 5.5
Demario Brown, Sr. 1999 5.5
Doug Mayberry, Sr. 1960 5.5
9. Emmett White, Sr. 2001 5.4
Abu Wilson, Jr. 1995 5.4
Brett Payne, So. 1987 5.4
BOREL NEARING TOP THREE PASSING MARKS FOR JUNIOR -- Junior QB Diondre Borel currently has 2,516 passing yards, needing 275 passing yards to reach the top three passing marks by an Aggie junior QB
Junior Year Yards
1. Jose Fuentes 2001 3,100
2. Brent Snyder 1987 2,887
3. Travis Cox 2003 2,791
-- Diondre Borel 2009 2,516
MORRISON CLOSING IN ON TOP THREE RECEIVING MARK FOR SOPHOMORE -- Sophomore WR Stanley Morrison presently has 526 receiving yards on the season, needing 72 yards to reach the top three sophomore receiving totals.
Sophomore Year Yards
1. Pat Newman 1987 665
2. Kevin Robinson 2005 661
3. Tony Pennyman 2004 598
-- Stanley Morrison 2009 526
WILLIAMS NO. 2 KICK RETURNER IN USU RECORDS -- Freshman KR Kerwynn Williams has 932 yards on kick returns, currently the top freshman total and No. 2 in school history since 1957 behind Kevin Robinson's school record 1,260 yards in 2007... Williams' 40 kick returns is also No. 2 behind Robinson's 43 in 2007... The 40 kick returns is also the most in the WAC and tied for fifth in the NCAA FBS:
No. KR Name, School
1. 48 Torrey Smith, Maryland
2. 46 Deante' Purvis, UNLV
3. 43 Damaris Johnson, Tulsa
4. 41 Mike Jones, Syracuse
5. 40 Warren Norman, Vanderbilt
40 Troy Stoudermire, Minnesota
40 Kerwynn Williams, Utah State
40 Brandon West, Western Mich.
EACH OTHER'S LAST TIME LIST -- On Utah State's "Last Time" list, Idaho is referenced twice: USU's last 60 point outing was vs. Idaho in 1997, hanging 63 on the scoreboard in a 63-17 win... The last Aggie individual to recover a fumble for a touchdown was defensive end Ben Calderwood against Idaho last season, on a sack and forced fumble by Darby Golden that Calderwood recovered in the endzone... Utah State is also on Idaho's "Last Time" list twice: the last UI opponent with over 200 yards receiving was Aggie Aaron Jones with 233 vs. Idaho on Oct. 21, 2000 in USU's 31-14 win... The last time that Idaho's defense held its opponent to less that 200 yards of total offense was against Utah State on Oct. 23, 1999 when the Vandals held the Aggies to just 171 yards in a 31-3 UI win in a game played at Pullman, Wash., at Washington State's stadium.
PAIR OF FORMER AGGIES MEETING IN CFL's GREY CUP -- Two former Aggies are meeting in Sunday's Canadian Football League's Grey Cup, in quarterback Anthony Calvillo of the Montreal Alouettes against defensive end John Chick and the Saskatchewan Roughriders... Calvillo and Chick earned offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively... It was the second-straight season for Calvillo to earn the offensive player of the year award and the third time in his 16-year career to collect the honor... It was Chick's first honor in his four-year career.
-USU-
