Utah State head football coach Matt Wells is excited and anxious to see more from his team following the completion of his sixth fall camp, which concluded last weekend with the Aggies’ third and final scrimmage.
Utah State returns 18 starters as part of 51 letterwinners from last year’s team that tied for fourth place in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West with a 4-4 record and finished its season at 6-7 after playing in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. Overall, it was USU’s sixth bowl game in the past seven seasons and the 12th in school history.
The 18 returning starters for Utah State are tied with the 2007 team for the most in school history, while the 51 returning letterwinners are the most at USU, bettering the 49 in 2013.
Highlighting Utah State’s returners in 2018 are four players who earned various all-Mountain West honors a season ago. Junior PK Dominik Eberle earned first-team honors and was named a third-team All-American by Phil Steele and an honorable mention All-American by SB Nation, along with being a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, while senior OT Roman Andrus, senior OC Quin Ficklin and junior TE Dax Raymond garnered honorable mention honors.
Utah State returns six other starters on offense in senior OG Rob Castaneda, senior OT Sean Taylor, senior WR Ron’quavion Tarver, junior OG Moroni Iniguez, sophomore QB Jordan Love and sophomore WR Jordan Nathan. In all, USU returns all five of its starting offensive linemen from the previous season.
Tarver, who earned third-team all-Mountain West honors from Phil Steele’s Magazine last season, is the most experienced returning player on offense for Utah State as he has played in 25 games and started 19 during his two-year career while catching 94 passes for 1,171 yards (12.5 ypr) and 10 touchdowns. Entering his senior season, Tarver is just 37 receptions and six receiving touchdowns shy of entering the top 10 all-time in school history in both categories.
Utah State also returns nine starters on defense in senior DE Adewale Adeoye, senior LB Chase Christiansen, senior S Gaje Ferguson, senior LB Suli Tamaivena, junior DE Devon Anderson, junior CB Cameron Haney, junior LB Justus Te’i, junior NG Christopher ’Unga and sophomore CB Ja’Marcus Ingram, to go along with one other returning specialist in senior P Aaron Dalton.
Ferguson is the most experienced defender returning for Utah State as he has started 16 games and played in 21 during his first two years in the program. During his career, Ferguson has a team-best 130 tackles, which includes 4.0 tackles for loss. Two other Aggies have 100-plus tackles in their careers in Tamaivena (111) and Christiansen (110). Tamaivena started all 13 games a year ago in his first season in the program, while Christiansen has played in 25 games and made 14 starts during his first three years with the Aggies.
In all, Utah State returns 19 players who have played in at least 20 career games, while 36 players have started at least one game in the program.
Following the completion of the scrimmage last week, we sat down with Wells for a brief question-and-answer session.
Q: What is your takeaway from fall camp?
“The biggest takeaway for me was the competitiveness of camp. We have a lot of returning players, but we added about a half dozen new kids in this last recruiting class that have come in and established themselves in roles that (have) made us deeper. Now, hopefully, we can stay somewhat healthy and come together as a team coming out of training camp is the biggest thing here moving forward.”
Q: How would you assess the offense, including quarterback Jordan Love?
“Jordan Love has made good progress throughout camp. He, like any quarterback, is going to be a better quarterback and the better people will play around him. We’ve added some better wideouts around him. There is more talent and he has got an experienced offensive line, and that always gives a quarterback a sense of comfort and peace a little bit. Jordan has done a nice job of progressing and taken into his hands the leadership role, and it has kind of become his offense.”
Q: What pleased you the most about the defense this fall?
“I think we played faster. (Defensive coordinator) Keith (Patterson) came in and simplified it, and we played faster. We’re deeper in the front seven than we’ve been, even though we kind of leave camp right now a little banged up at linebacker. I think they’re playing fast and with a lot of confidence right now.”
Q: Is there one player on each side of the ball that really stood out this fall?
“A lot of guys stood out and some of the consistent ones are Dax Raymond, who is one of the most consistent performers we have every single day. He is one of the most, if not the most, consistent players on offense. I would defensively say Ja’Marcus Ingram may be the most improved; if you can believe that or not. He has improved, and his skill and his mental knowledge of the defense stands out. He can play safety and corner. Gaje (Ferguson) is a very consistent player, as well.”
Q: What question marks do you have with this team heading into game one?
“Right now, you still have a few position battles that we have to solidify and make the decision and roll with it. More than anything, it is now honing in exactly on Michigan State stuff on offense, defense and special teams.”
Q: What are your expectations for the team this fall?
“My expectation is that we compete at the highest level, (and) that with the opportunity to play these games early in the season, that we leave it all on the table and find ways to finish. There is going to be a game early in the season that in the fourth quarter it comes up, can we finish and find a way to win a close game? That is what I am looking forward to.”