USU scrimmage report

For a time, Gary Andersen was like a kid in a candy store. The Utah State coach was fired up and giddy as he watched the Aggie defense make stop after stop, force a few turnovers and generally dominate the offense during Tuesday morning’s 115-play srimmage.
Then he remembered he’s also the head coach and the offense is his concern as well.
“We got to the 1-inch line and have to throw the ball to score,” Andersen said. “That’s disheartening.”
Despite those offensive struggles, Andersen said he saw much of what he wanted to Tuesday morning. The defensive line was getting a much better push and giving the quarterbacks all sorts of problems. The receivers, despite a few drops, showed they have plenty of potential and depth. The running backs didn’t exactly light things up, but were far from disappointing except in those red-zone situations.
The scrimmage also had a bunch of developments that should have Aggie fans intrigued.
Diondre Borel was not his normal sharp self.
“We need to step it up a little bit,” Borel said of the offense. “Overall, I feel like the defense was playing a lot better today.”
That’s good news for a team that struggled, especially in the red zone, last year.
“The red zone is something that we harped on a lot,” Aggie linebacker Junior Keiaho said. “We really want to improve on that.”
The highlight of the scrimmage was clearly the goal-line defense. After a couple of nice offensive plays gave USU some seemingly-easy scoring opportunities, the defense buckled down and refused to give an inch.
“I’m sure Diondre will tell you he didn’t play the way he wanted to,” Andersen said.”But I’m sure the defense was an issue. I’m not sure you can put all of that on Diondre. He didn’t get the protection he needed.”
Though the linebackers appear to be the strength of the defense, the defensive line is coming along well.
Redshirt freshman D.J. Tialavea, in particular, is standing out with his rapid development as a defensive tackle.
“It’s different,” the 6-foot-4, 265-pounder from West Jordan said. “I’ve never played inside before.”
He’s learning the position rapidly while also learning what it takes to succeed there.
“It’s a grind in there,” he said. “You have to be a tough kid … You’ve got to be strong, got to be stout.”
Andersen, taking a special interest in the defensive line this year, said Tialavea still needs to work on his technique, especially getting lower to get a better push into the offensive line, but is going to be a factor in years to come.
Another defensive player that stood out was former Juan Diego star Jake Doughty. Playing linebacker and getting lots of reps with the first defense, Doughty had several big plays and should challenge for back up minutes behind Bobby Wagner.
Statistically, freshman Jeremy Higgins had the best scrimmage of the quarterbacks, completing 8-of-13 passed for 102 yards and a touchdown. Borel was 5-13 for 61 yards, Jeff Fischer 5-9 for 94 yards and a touchdown and Alex Hart was 3-6 for 17 yards.
Kerwynn Williams had the best day on the ground with six rushes for 49 yards while Michael Smith added 40 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

The Aggies will keep practicing through the week until Saturday’s formal fall scrimmage at 1 p.m. followed by Aggie Family Fun Day at Romney Stadium.
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