Cache-ing In

Friday evening the Cougars didn't waste any time pouncing all over the Aggies "cache-ing in" on running up to an early 24-0 lead. After that it got ugly with Utah State outscoring the #7 team in the nation 14-10 in the remaining three quarters of play. The Cougars (as much as it pains me to say this) simply played uninspired football. Poor tackling, penalties (13, most penalties since Tulsa last year), turnovers, sloppy execution, and out of sync (Cougs simply lost their focus and composure after the first quarter) were all attributes that were so painfully present coming back from their bye week. Somehow as odd as it sounds through it all the jerseys in blue from "Happy Valley" found a way to hang on to win by 20.

Prior to friday night Max Hall looked unstoppable like a Heisman Candidate machine reading defenses, making audibles then picking them apart with the weapons at his disposal. Friday's performance definately didn't contribute to Max's resume in likely his worst outing of the year maybe even since the passing of the torch from Beck to Hall. With Pitta often double teamed Max often locked onto his security "Austin" blanket who was able to shred the Aggie secondary for 8 receptions 132 yards and 2 TDs. Collie has been padding his stats now for the year with 7 TDs in 5 games. It was painfully obvious how much a prime secondary target like Reed has been sorely missed. Locking onto receivers and forcing into coverage Hall was only able to muster barely 300 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs against a team what could have been ranked in ESPNs "the bottom 10".

The ground game just simply wasn't there friday. Unga was able to punch one in from the 11 yard line but finished with only 86 yards. Slated against the Aggies who were 2-10 last year I would have expected more from Fui and Harvey.

Ashworth, Chambers, and Kozlowski all had solo receptions. It would have been nice to spread the rock around more but Max rarely looked their way for whatever reasons (timing? confidence?). Pitta was rather productive despite the low numbers (6 catches for 70 yards) but seemed to absolutely disappear after half. Collie, Ashworth, and Pitta all had dropped passes. Not sure what the issue what (concentration, trust, mindset or what).

The hogs in the trenches provided somewhat decent protection against last year's worst WAC defense. Although the pass blocking seemed shaky at times giving up the second sack of the year with NFL scouts present.

The line for the Cougars defense stood strong all night beginning with Brett Denney and Jan Jorgensen. As a defense the Cougs collectively had 13 tackles for losses providing 5 sacks and 3 fumbles. David Nixon said it best "That's our main goal to create turnovers and give our offense a short field". The linebacking corps forced turnovers early but as the game wore on missed too many tackles. Hopefully the re-emergence of Hooks into the linebacking crew will breath some more life and consistency. In the secondary Brandon Bradley continues to get better every game. On special team Santiago was only able to average 42 yards per punt while Mitch was simply a "Payne" to watch missing 2 of 4 FGs. After the game Jan Jorgensen mentioned "A win is great but it was ugly. We've got a lot of things to work on". Aggie coach Brent Guy gave the Cougs some love "They capitalized like a top 10 will do".

Both Scott Johnson and David Nixon left the game nursing injuries. Scott had a thigh contusion while Nixon's looked worse with a helmet to the shin. Nixon and Johnson will be closely monitored day by day but probably will be available. Monday should be able to provide a better indication on their status. Shout out to ESPN and the other sports media outlets for the national press that was only able to see how the Cougs dominated early and often in a positive reporting spin. Hopefully this won't affect our national ranking that much. With a weaker ranked strength of schedule the Cougs gotta take care of business in a major way. Luckily there is a big difference between a humbling win than a humbling loss. Still on track undefeated marching to the BCS goal. Look for Bronco to pull the Cougars together in the den and begin focus back to the fundamentals and the Lobos.