The Utah State Aggie football team has ran off an impressive 7 consecutive regular season victories dating back to last season. After a thrilling win over in-state rival Utah, the team now looks ahead to another tough challenge, facing the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night. The Aggies will need to bring their A-game in order to shock another BCS opponent. The Badgers are coming off a shocking 10-7 loss to Oregon State. You can bet Wisconsin will be hungry for a win to get their season back on track.
The Badgers’ number one weapon is Heisman hopeful runningback, Montee Ball. Ball punished defenses last year to the tune of 137 ypg and 33 touchdowns rushing. This year he has struggled to get on track and the meager Badger offensive output has reflected those struggles. It’s no secret that the Aggies will key on stopping Ball and fellow running mate James White. Forcing Maryland transfer, Danny O’Brien, to put the ball in the air will be tantamount to Aggie success on defense.
Offensively, the Aggies must utilize their speed at their skill positions to take advantage of a banged up Wisconsin defense. The Badger defense is missing multiple starters due to injury, which the Aggie coaching staff may very well try to take advantage of by targeting the defensive substitutes. Getting the ball on the edge in the hands of the playmakers – Keeton, Williams, Hill, Bartlett, Jacobs, and Austin – will go a long ways towards moving the ball up the field.
The environment in Madison will be hostile with 80,000+ rabid fans, but this team has been tested and proved to be up to the test in similar venues in previous seasons. The matchup will start at 6 PM MST, Saturday night, and can be viewed on the Big Ten Network.
Under the Microscope
Kevin Whimpey started at left tackle instead of Oscar Molina-Sanchez last Friday night against the Utes. His brother, Kyle, started his second consecutive game at right guard. With that lineup, each Whimpey was matched up with one of Utah’s Kruger brothers. Kevin Whimpey lined up opposite Joe Kruger, and Kyle Whimpey lined up against Dave Kruger. All four players are Utah County products. It was a true “Battle of the Brothers” in the trenches.
It’s getting harder and harder to keep Devonta Glover-Wright off the field. Glover-Wright is now the principle kickoff return man, and has shown great potential in limited action so far. Don’t be surprised to see him take back a kick for a touchdown at some point, or see him in the game running Utah State’s “Aggie Wild” formation – a version of the NFL-nicknamed Wildcat formation.
It looks like Zach Vigil has officially wrestled the starting ILB spot alongside Jake Doughty away from Tavaris McMillian. Vigil has been playing extremely well of late, highlighted by his memorable punt block vs. the Utes. Vigil is just a junior and is one of the many talented underclassmen linebackers.
