LOGAN — When Utah State took to the field Wednesday evening for its third scrimmage of the fall camp, Aggie coaches wanted to see some very specific things — primarily from the quarterback position.
When the controlled-situation scrimmage ended, USU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin was much happier than he was that morning.
"I was extremely pleased with Diondre Borel," Baldwin said after the scrimmage. "He was 8 of 9 and had a very nice touchdown. He was very accurate."
Baldwin said Borel's showing was just the confidence boost he needed.
"He had worked hard all camp at that," Baldwin said. "We just hadn't seen that in a scrimmage. So for Diondre, it was really good to see that."
Of course, the Aggies were almost as interested in how the backup quarterbacks played.
With senior Jeff Fischer out with a broken collarbone, Utah State will be forced to use a true freshman at both the No. 2 and No. 3 quarterback positions.
Jeremy Higgins was throwing for St. Louis High in Hawaii last year and Alex Hart was breaking records at Jordan High in Sandy. But Division I football is a different beast and Baldwin said he's pleased with the progress he is seeing.
"We need to see one of those quarterbacks jump up and do something," Baldwin said. "We're one play away from one of those guys having to play. So we're trying to create opportunities for them to grow and compete."
Baldwin said he will not set the two-deep at that position for a few more days. With both players knowing they have a shot to win it, he wants continued competition and focus until the very last moment.
USU coach Gary Andersen was also an interested observer of the backup QB battle.
"Right now, I would say that we are going to have to continue to take time, we've got the rest of this week and it could go in to the season," Andersen said. "There is really no reason why not to go into the season, if you sit down and look at the schedule you could easily travel three quarterbacks all the way until our sixth game. I would foresee that happening and we will see how the games go and if kids get in and how they are when they get the opportunity in a football game."
On defense, linebacker Walter McClenton impressed his coaches with his hustle and big-hitting.
"He really stood out," USU defensive coordinator Bill Busch said. "He was already going to play a lot for us, we knew that. But it was great to see him step up like he did today."
The scrimmage was one of the last opportunities for the team to go through some 'live' situations before the Aggies take on Oklahoma next Saturday.
"With the twos, a good opportunity for some guys to make some strides, and I thought that Jeremy (Higgins) did some good things as the quarterback. We will obviously take a good hard, closer look at those two quarterbacks, and try and get an evaluation if he is going to be the second quarterback, at this point," Andersen said. "It was a good rep day, and also lots of special teams were out there, those are live out there, so it is good to get those on film. They are leg weary right now definitely but they should be, and that is where I want them to be at this point. They'll work out and switch gears, get their legs back and get ready for Oklahoma."
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