LOGAN — Utah State football coach Mick Dennehy said preparing his team mentally will be just as, if not more, important than preparing it physically this offseason.
Physically, the Aggies (3-9) were in most games. At times, the Aggies were overmatched mentally.
Of the Aggies' nine loses, they beat themselves in more than half of them with bonehead penalties, turnovers, surrendered sacks, etc.
"You gotta give them (the opponents) credit because they won the games," Dennehy said. "But on the other hand, we made it easier for them than we should have, without question."
He said those lapses can be corrected.
"It's easy to identify what we need to get cleaned up," he said. "We need to address that and work on it every single day in terms of being responsible, not tolerating excuses, being accountable."
The Aggies averaged only four points fewer per game than their opponents and 10 less yards total offense, but they were penalized 115 times for 899 yards while their opponents were flagged just 91 times for 789 yards. They allowed 34 sacks and turned the ball over four more times, and that doesn't count bad punt snaps, which directly led to a loss to North Texas.
"As good as a football game we played, throughout the whole thing we'd find ways — find ways to make it so hard on ourselves and it really cuts down our chances to win games," Dennehy said.
Utah State's 20-13 season-ending loss was a microcosm of the Aggies' disappointing 3-9 season.
"When you looked at that doggone thing you probably didn't have to watch the rest of the season," Dennehy said. "That's exactly our whole season went."
The Aggies blew a 10-point lead with offensive and defensive lapses, turnovers and penalties.
"We need to retool a little bit," Dennehy said. "It's not OK to take shortcuts. It's not okay to cut corners. If we're going to get this done it's important for us to do this right."
The Aggies have a majority of their offense and defense returning. Dennehy said it will be just a matter of getting his team to understand they are as good as the Sun Belt Conference teams they lost to — North Texas, New Mexico State, Troy State and Idaho.
QUARTERBACKS: Travis Cox, who led the Sun Belt Conference in total offense returns, as do backup Matt Crivello, Bryan Black and redshirt Leon Jackson.
Crivello broke his collar bone at New Mexico and was out for the season with just minimal action.
Black had a few mop-up minutes, but when Cox went down early in the second half against Troy State, his inexperience showed as the team had only 121 yards total offense with him in the game.
"I really think we're okay there," Dennehy said.
RUNNING BACKS: With the loss of David Fiefia to graduation, the Aggies will need to recruit running backs. Dennehy said it is one of their top priorities.
"We've got to bring in a guy that's capable," Dennehy said. "My objective is to bring in a feature back that can play right away."
Fiefia had 206 carries and Travis Davis was next closest with 21. Richard Watson, who was injured in the first game of the year, had just 10 carries.
RECEIVERS: Tight end Chris Cooley, who had 62 catches for 732 yards, will leave a big hole and Chris Stallworth will leave a big hole at wide receiver.
The Aggies do have a good group returning in Patrick McNutt, Jason Stephens, Tony Pennyman, Raymond Hicks, Joel Higginson and Barry Tolli.
Dennehy said they need to get more speed at wide receiver.
OFFENSIVE LINE: The Aggies are losing three-fifths of the hogs in Trevor Hutton, Greg Vandermade and Aric Galliano.
The line does need to get better. Utah State had 1,300 yards rushing and the line surrendered 34 sacks.
Donald Penn and Elliott Tupea leave a good foundation, and Dennehy likes what he sees in redshirt Casey Crookston, Victor Eti, Brennen Burningham and returned missionary Pace Jorgensen.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN/TACKLES: Justin Jackson is the only defensive lineman the Aggies are losing. Emosi Fiefia is returning from injury and will add a lot of flexibility to the defensive line. Ronald Tupea, who led the team with six sacks, can move outside a little more. Ryan DeQuillettes, who made five starts is back.
Nate Putnam and John Chick make up a solid combination at defensive end. The two combined for seven sacks, and Chick missed the first three games of the year. Chick, however, could be moved to inside linebacker.
LINEBACKERS: The Aggies are the deepest at linebacker with five or six solid players. They are losing Rodney Wilson, who made 11 starts, but Robert Watts and Nate Fredrick are back. Watts led the team with 118 tackles as well as recording two sacks. Michael Gates, Joe Lindsay, Jared Johnstun, Ryan Taylor and Kelly Poppinga all saw considerable minutes.
DEFENSIVE BACKS/SAFETIES: Dennehy said recruiting a pair of cornerbacks will be one of his main priorities defensively.
The Aggies lost three players from the secondary to graduation in Mike Rosencrans, Derrek Shank and Mark Estelle.
Terrance Washington, who had five interceptions, anchors the defensive backfield along with Reggie Willson, Ross Luna and Cornelius Lamb. Jerome Dennis and Bryan Johnson, who were both injured, will petition for medical hardship.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com