ith the Bulldogs giving up 30+ points in each of their last four games, Pat Hill and his coaching staff hope the bye week gave the team time to heal and get ready for their game tonight against Utah State up in Logan, UT. where it's expected to be mostly sunny and 65 degrees. One thing to keep in mind about these two teams is the Bulldogs haven't had much success up in Logan, having not won there since 1989 and are 2-8 all time, a streak the Bulldogs hope to break this afternoon.Yes, Utah State is 1-6 currently on the year, but three of those losses have come to 18th ranked Oregon, 22nd ranked Utah and 8th ranked BYU, so they haven't played the easiest schedule this season. However, their last two losses have been of the lopsided nature, losing 30-7 to San Jose State two weeks ago and dropping a 44-17 decision to Nevada last week.
The on
e thing the Bulldogs need to exploit is the Aggies' run defense, which is currently giving uip 192.3 yards per game. With Ryan Mathews, Lonyae Miller and Anthony Harding making up the Bulldogs' 3-headed monster, they could easily run up 250+ yards today. Tom Brandstater also needs to be efficient today as well, he threw for just 125 (14/23) against Idaho two weeks ago, he needs to be more of a factor if they're going to put Utah away early. The Bulldogs have always been a 2nd half team, but they can't keep letting teams hang around, it's what cost them the Hawaii game three weeks ago and possibly the Wisconsin game towards the beginning of the season.
e thing the Bulldogs need to exploit is the Aggies' run defense, which is currently giving uip 192.3 yards per game. With Ryan Mathews, Lonyae Miller and Anthony Harding making up the Bulldogs' 3-headed monster, they could easily run up 250+ yards today. Tom Brandstater also needs to be efficient today as well, he threw for just 125 (14/23) against Idaho two weeks ago, he needs to be more of a factor if they're going to put Utah away early. The Bulldogs have always been a 2nd half team, but they can't keep letting teams hang around, it's what cost them the Hawaii game three weeks ago and possibly the Wisconsin game towards the beginning of the season.The one 'X Factor' with this Bulldog team is their defense currently giving up over 400 yards of total offense per game. Hopefully with the bye week, it's allowed some of their injured players to be able to heal enough to make the start today against Utah State. The defensive line needs to be solid as does their secondary, if they can improve in those two facets of the game, I don't see Utah State hanging around at all.
Prediction Time: Ok, like I've said the past few weeks, I'm done predicting blowouts....well, I WAS. Fresno State coming in with three of the top rushers in the WAC going against a team giving up almost 200 yards per game in rushing defense, look for the Bulldogs to use that to their advantage. Fresno State 41 Utah State 17
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