After going 7-6 and a bowl appearance, the Utah State Aggies along with fans are calling their football season a success.
“I feel like we gained a lot of confidence by the end of the season and compared to the last few seasons, I would call this season a great building block for next year,” running back Kerwynn Williams said.
“It’s too bad that we lost the bowl game but we had a great season,” Mitch Staley, an Aggies fan said.
Yes, the Aggies had their best season since I can remember and went to a bowl game for the first time in 14 years, but outside of Logan, the Aggies are just a mediocre football team who barely won over half of their games and lost in a not-so-famous Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Sorry fans, but the Aggies will be back to their usual sub-par self by next season.
Here’s why.
The Aggies are losing a plethora of great talent.
Two of their best running backs are not returning. Robert Turbin announced that he will be entering the NFL draft last week and Michael Smith is graduating.
The Aggies’ running game was their greatest strength during the season. Turbin and Smith combined for 28 touchdowns on season and helped the Aggies finish the year ranked sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game according to ESPN.
I just don’t see returning running back Williams putting up those kinds of numbers, and without a dominating running attack, I also don’t see the Aggies winning many games.
On the defensive side of the ball, USU will be losing linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the year and core of the Aggies defense.
Next season the defensive line will still be tough, but the returning cornerbacks are small and will be overpowered by bigger and faster receivers.
Other guys saying their goodbyes are top Aggie receiver Matt Austin and Offensive Coordinator Dave Baldwin, who accepted a job at Colorado State.
USU’s 2012 schedule features tough teams like Wisconsin, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Louisiana Tech and Nevada.
With that said, I predict the Aggies will finish fifth in the WAC with a record of 4-9.
Enjoy your record-breaking season USU fans, because it’s going to take a few more seasons and some really good recruiting to get back to another bowl game, and a lot of luck to win one.
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