LOGAN, Utah – Utah State quarterback Jordan Love and the Aggies are just two days away from officially kicking off the 2019 campaign.
 
Love, who is being promoted for the Heisman Trophy, begins his junior campaign on Friday, Aug. 30, when he leads the Aggies into a non-conference battle with Wake Forest. The opener is set to kick off at 6 p.m. (MT) at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
Friday's game will be televised nationally on the ACC Network (DirecTV Ch. 612, YouTube TV, PlayStation TV and Hulu Live TV). Live audio of the game will be available on www.UtahStateAggies.com.
 
Wake Forest's BB&T Field certainly holds a special place in Love's heart. After all, that's where the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder threw his first collegiate touchdown pass.
 
"What I remember about that day back there, the first time we played Wake Forest, is it was a tough day," Love recalled. "We were getting beat pretty bad and I got the opportunity to get in the game. I got a chance to throw (Gerold) Bright the ball down the sideline and he just made a play and got a touchdown. It was a great day for that."
 
Love entered the Sept. 16, 2017, game against Wake Forest with 11:45 remaining in the third quarter and the Aggies trailing by five touchdowns. On third-and-11 from USU's 23-yard line, the then-redshirt freshman quarterback found Bright down the right sideline and hit him in stride for a 77-yard touchdown pass.
 
"Going through my mind, it was just excitement and finally getting a chance to play and going out there to show what I can do, especially on a stage like that," Love said. "It was all excitement for me. I looked left and then I remember I saw Gee on the wheel. He was open, I just threw it to him, gave him a chance and he did the rest, really.
 
"It was super exciting when he crossed the goal line, even though we were getting smacked at the time."
 
Love finished the game 6-of-13 for 171 yards and the lone touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he led the Aggies on a six-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a 30-yard field goal by Dominik Eberle.
The native of Bakersfield, Calif., is looking forward to opening the 2019 campaign at Wake Forest, only with a different result this time around.
 
"We are going in there with a new team," Love said. "We are excited to go down there, compete and show what we can do."
 
This will also be Gary Andersen's first game as head coach of the Aggies since returning to the program. He served as Utah State's head coach for four seasons from 2009-12, leading the team to the 2012 Western Athletic Conference title.
 
"We are super excited to start the year off with Coach A," Love said. "Everyone has been excited just being in practice with him, so we're excited to see what it's like in a game and just show him what we can do. We've got a lot of weapons this year, so we're excited to show what we can do."
 
Utah State returns nine starters (O-2, D-7) as part of 31 letterwinners (O-13, D-16, S-2), including two All-Americans and eight players that earned various all-Mountain West honors, from last year's team that ended the season ranked 21st in the final Amway Coaches poll and 22nd in the final AP poll as the Aggies tied the school record for wins and best record with an 11-2 mark following their 52-13 win against North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl. 

Utah State opens the 2019 season on Friday, Aug. 30, at Wake Forest, and begins the home portion of its schedule the following weekend against Stony Brook on Saturday,  Sept. 7. Mountain West play begins for the Aggies at San Diego State on Saturday, Sept. 21. 

For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the "Buy Tickets" tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
 
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
 
-USU-