LOGAN — The fall camp is over and new Utah State coach Gary Andersen is now immersed in reaching a goal he never thought he'd be chasing for the past few years — finding a way to beat the University of Utah.
"We are excited to get to an opponent. The team is getting tired of going against each other," Andersen said after the Aggies wrapped up camp last week. "There's good competition between the offense and the defense. They've done a good job of working together to make each other better."
Of course, that opponent the Aggies will face is Utah and Andersen knows the team as well as any coach in the country after having served as the Utes' defensive coordinator for the previous four seasons.
It's also a reason Utah State has been more closely guarded when it comes to allowing spectators at practices. Fans hoping to get a glimpse of what Andersen and his staff are practicing have been kept in the dark, so to speak, by a series of recent closed practices and a couple of scrimmages that most observers felt were a little on the vanilla side.
"We're seeing improvement in all phases of the game," Andersen said. "We're making progress and getting better, but we still have a lot of things to work on."
Saturday, the Aggies held a controlled-situation scrimmage and didn't tip their hand much on offense while a quick-whistle setup for the first teamers prevented possible injuries.
Second and third team players, however, got some live hitting in.
"It was just some basic situations from an offensive and defensive standpoint. We were able to come out here and execute," Andersen said. "We gave the three's, the four's and the five's 25-30 extra reps and we were able to get that done. We put the offense and defense in some situations and we were able to stay healthy. We were as generic as we could be for the offense and defense."
Things in Logan will get even more intense and more guarded as the Aggies put in the final week of practice and preparation for the season opener in Salt Lake City against Andersen's former team, the Utes.
"Overall, I'm pleased with my first training camp as the Aggie football head coach and excited to get the season under way," Andersen said.
CAPTAINS NAMED: After a team vote on Monday, Utah State named its captains for the season. On offense, junior quarterback Diondre Borel, sophomore running back Robert Turbin and senior center Brennan McFadden were chosen. The defensive captains are senior safety James Brindley, senior cornerback Kejon Murphy and senior linebacker Paul Igboli.
COACH SPEAK: Despite the semi-closed nature of many Aggie practices, USU fans in Cache Valley have had a chance to see and get excited about the team with its new coach.
Salt Lake-area Aggies, likewise, will get a chance to hear from Andersen this week when he meets with boosters and fans at a luncheon on Wednesday.
Meeting at the Homewood Suites Hotel just south of The Gateway mall, Andersen will discuss the team and the upcoming season with fans. Cost for the lunch is $15,or $12 for Big Blue Scholarship Fund members.
Andersen will be back in Salt Lake City on Sept. 10, Oct. 15 and Nov. 12.
IGBOELI/LOMBARDI: Igboeli was named to the preseason Rotary Lombardi Award watch list.
The Grand Prairie, Texas, product had 78 tackles last year for the Aggies and is one of 153 players on the watch list that honors the nation's best lineman or linebacker. There are 13 players from the WAC and 41 linebackers on the watch list.
Igboeli is 85 tackles away from passing Al Smith for No. 10 on USU's all-time list and just 63 stops away from matching Fresno State's Bryce McGill in the conference Top 10.
MYERS TAKES FLIGHT: Former Utah State tight end Rob Myers didn't see a lot of action with the Aggies.
His injury problems and the offensive schemes used by the Brent Guystaff kept the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder out of the stat sheet for the most part.
That didn't keep him from getting a chance to make the Philadelphia Eagles roster as a free agent, though.
"I've been here for two weeks now, so I'm a little bit more comfortable with everything — just the routine, the routes and the offense and kind of all that stuff," Myers told the Delco Times. "I feel like I've picked it up pretty quick but I need to work on details, the small, little things as far as blocking or running routes that make a big difference on the field. I've just got to keep this thing going."
Myers is making a solid impression on the coaches and writers covering the team.
"He has shown some signs that he might be able to compete to make this football team and then possibly help it," Philadelphia assistant coach Marty Mornhinweg said. "He is impressive running and catching."
e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com