OFFENSIVE COG: Running back Demario Brown. He has shown flashes of brilliance during the past three years but has always missed several games due to injuries. When healthy, he is one of the top runners in the West. This year, he has come to camp in the best shape of his career and appears determined to go out in style his senior season.PLAYER ON THE SPOT -- OFFENSE: Quarterback Jeff Crosbie. Last year he had little pressure when he started the last four games of a dismal Aggie season after moving up from the third-team and sacrificing his redshirt season. Now he is THE MAN. And with little experience backing him up, Crosbie is being counted on to revive the dormant Aggie offense.
DEFENSIVE ANCHOR: Cornerback Tony Walker. Not only is he a great cover guy with terrific speed, he returns punts and will also see action as a receiver. Walker led the team with two interceptions last year but is expected to come up with several more this year for the Aggies, who had only six as a team.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT -- DEFENSE: Linebacker Tony Newson. He's replacing Tony D'Amato, who not only set a USU record with 170 tackles but was named Big West defensive player of the year. Brent Passey and Blake Eagal are returning starters at the outside linebacker spots, but Newson's leadership in the middle will be a key to the Aggies' defensive success.
SPECIAL TEAMS STAR: Brad Bohn. He converted 24 of 28 field goal tries to set a school record but only had 20 PAT tries. This year he needs to kick about twice as many extra points as field goals for the Aggies to have a successful season.
SCHEDULING QUIRK: The Oct. 23 game with Idaho is being played at Washington State's Martin Stadium in Pullman because Idaho needs to play all of its games in a bigger stadium to qualify for Division I-A status.
KEY STRETCH: After playing defending champion Idaho, the Gas play home games against Boise State and New Mexico State. If they can win those three, they'll have a good chance to play for the league title in their final two games at Nevada and North Texas after a bye week.
BIG BLUE CLUBBERS HOPE. . . The Aggies will have a much-improved offense this year with a bunch of talented running backs, who will be led by Brown. And they've got a quarterback with experience in Crosbie, who showed a good deal of potential in the Aggies' final five games last year. Despite losing several top individuals, the defense will be better collectively with several experienced players and better depth. All-American candidate Brad Bohn will win some games with his strong, accurate foot. A winning season and a Humanitarian Bowl berth are not out of the question despite the rugged non-league schedule.
THEN AGAIN . . . Another brutal schedule will beat the young Aggies up early and they'll never recover for a tough Big West schedule that includes road games against the two best teams, Idaho and Nevada. They figure the Aggies will struggle again on offense and the defense won't be as good without Tony D'Amato & Co. and will be lucky to match last year's unacceptable 3-8 record.
"MUST WIN" GAME TO KEEP ALUMNI HAPPY: Beat BYU at Romney Stadium on Oct. 1 and coach Dave Arslanian can solidify his job status until, oh, about 2010. A win in the opener against No. 13 Georgia may make Aggie boosters forget about John L. Smith.
CRYSTAL BALL SAYS: The Aggies will be better than the coaches in the Big West predicted (picked for sixth place out of seven teams). However, they don't have the horses to contend with Nevada and Idaho for the league title. A talented senior class needs to carry the young team, which has mostly sophomores and freshmen.
Jeff Crosbie should be more than adequate at quarterback, but if he gets injured -- look out. There is little experience behind him. Demario Brown has rushed for more than 100 yards 13 times in his career but has yet to put together a 1,000-yard season. He must stay healthy for once for the Aggies to have a winning season.
Defensive coordinator Paul Arslanian installed a multiple 4-3 system that looked awfully good last year. With several top players graduated, it will be interesting to see if the system, which relies on aggressive play, will produce another strong unit without as many stars.
The Aggies should beat Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 11 and Arkansas State on Oct. 9. Otherwise there are no sure wins on the USU schedule and they'll be big underdogs at Georgia, Kansas State and Utah and at home against BYU.
The Aggies should be better than last year, but with the tough schedule and a young team, it may not show up in Utah State's win-loss column.