Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The Utah State University Aggies muddled through a tough 2009 season with only 5 home games and wound up 4-8. They did pull off a nice upset of Idaho in the season finale, and their games against teams outside the top 25 were always competitive.
The 2010 season holds a lot of promise for the Aggies. 8 starters return on offense, including QB Diondre Borel and RB Robert Turbin. The defense brings back 9 starters, giving the Aggies the chance to build off of last season’s base.
Schedule
9/4/2010 at Oklahoma
9/11/2010 vs. Idaho State
9/18/2010 vs. Fresno State
9/25/2010 at San Diego State
10/1/2010 vs. BYU
10/9/2010 at Louisiana Tech
10/23/2010 vs. Hawaii
10/30/2010 at Nevada
11/6/2010 vs. New Mexico State
11/13/2010 at San Jose State
11/20/2010 vs. Idaho
12/4/2010 at Boise State
The schedule doesn’t get much easier for the Aggies this year, but it’s not much worse either and they are back to six home games like most everybody else. Utah is gone from this year’s slate, but replacing them with Oklahoma isn’t going to help much. Their week 3 game against Fresno State is going to be the first big bellwether game to really establish where they are in the conference. Games against San Diego State and Louisiana Tech may also be a guide to how the season may shape up.
Coaching
Head Coach Gary Andersen is back for his second season, also his second as a D-1 head coach. The 4-8 record in his first year was Utah State’s best since 2002, so there is no reason to think he’s on any kind of hot seat.
Rankings
The WAC media has Utah State 6th in their poll, while the WAC coaches think more highly- 4th on their slate. The Aggies are not counted among those in the national polls.
Outlook
Utah State doesn’t look like they’re ready to compete with the top of the WAC just yet, but I think they’ll give the middle group fits again this year. Last year they were a 3 & a 4 point loss from being 6-6 (and only 8 points from upsetting Texas A&M), and I think this should be the year they find those extra points on the way to a 6 or maybe even 7 win season.