The first season of Utah State football under newly returned head coach Gary Andersen may be a challenge.
That was the main takeaway from The Athletic’s “State of the Program” piece on the Aggies, written by Chantel Jennings.
An in-depth look at the Utah State program, Jennings’ story examined anything and everything about the Aggies under Andersen and included a position-by-position analysis of the team’s depth chart, an examination of the team’s recruiting over the past three seasons and a look at the coaching changes that accompanied Matt Wells’ departure and Andersen’s return.
There was also schedule analysis, and anything Aggie fans could want to know with fall camp drawing ever closer.
Jennings tapped the brakes on expectations for Utah State this year, despite the fact that the team is coming off one of the best seasons in program history.
The reason is fairly simple, though: numbers.
Utah State will boast 54 new players and coaches this season, making for a nearly unrecognizable team, a much different one at least than the Aggies had a season ago.
“If you’re a Utah State fan and you look at the television this season and think to yourself 'I don’t recognize half of these guys!', you don’t need to pinch yourself and you don’t need to sweat anyone calling you dramatic,” Jennings wrote, “Because with more than 50 new players and coaches on the 2019 iteration of the Utah State Aggies, it’s true, you might not recognize about half of the people in the program.”
Other links
A four-team Playoff of the best non-P5 teams since 2000 would include Utah, circa 2004 (The Athletic)
Pac-12 Football on 2019 preseason awards watch lists (Pac-12.com)
Zach Wilson On Watch List For Maxwell Award (247Sports)
Utah State Football Has Three Players Named to Maxwell Award and Bednarik Award Watch Lists (UtahStateAggies.com)
And finally…
It has been nearly eight months since former Utah quarterback Alex Smith went down with a gruesome season-ending leg injury in the Washington Redskins’ Nov. 18 loss to the Houston Texans.
Since being diagnosed with a fractured tibia and fibula in his right leg, Smith has been through the proverbial ringer, a journey which has included multiple surgeries and a life-threatening infection.
Almost a month ago, Smith made his first public appearance since the injury, wherein he told Fox 5 DC’s Angie Goff that the goal is to get back on the gridiron.
“That’s the plan,” Smith told Goff in her Oh My Goff podcast. "There are steps I've got to conquer before I get there. ... Learning to run again. That's a big one. I'm already throwing. Throwing isn't a problem, but dropping (back), moving around, change of direction."
Smith may not be moving around just yet, but he crossed one milestone off his recovery list: the removal of his leg brace.
Smith’s wife, Elizabeth, posted twice on Instagram in honor of the occasion, noting “the last 8 months have been nothing short of crazy. Although it’s not over, today is a big milestone. We are shedding the weight Alex has been carrying (literally and figuratively). It’s one step closer to the goal. The resilience, determination and mental fortitude of this man is unmatched.”