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Show “Rockets and Energetic Materials” Join us Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. ESLC Auditorium www.usu.edu/science/unwrapped Join our Facebook group Page 16 16 StatesmanSports Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 Kane: Freshman quarterback is ready to go -continued from page 13 practice goes he has gotten a lot better with our terminology and our system … I didn’t doubt that he could come in here and learn the system, but I did have my doubts that he would have the ability to pick it up this quick – because doing that is tough – but he surprised me with that.” If Wilson has shown an uncanny ability to pick up the system and transition to the college game, it may be due to his family lineage. His mother, Lori, was an All-American high jumper in college, while his father, Dave, played for the New Orleans Saints between 1981 and 1990. Not only did Kane inherit his father’s almost unheard of combination of size and speed, but the freshman quarterback and California native has inherited his father’s arm strength as well. Baldwin, who coached current NFL backup Drew Stanton while at Michigan State, compared the younger Wilson to Nevada starting quarterback and 2008 WAC Offensive Player of the Year Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick became only the fifth player in NCAA history to rush for over 1000 yards and throw for over 2000 yards, which he did last season. When it comes to his own development on the field, Wilson doesn’t just credit his family gene pool for his success, and said that his father’s advice has been instrumental in helping him deal with the challenges of college life – both on the practice field and in the locker room. “He helps me out a lot,” said the freshman signal caller in reference to his father. “If I’m having a bad day or whatever I’ll call him and he knows exactly what to say and exactly how to handle the situation. Just things from how to handle the coaches and how to react to how they treat a true freshman coming in … (My dad) has helped me out a lot with that.” Despite his rapid maturation, Wilson remains humble when talking about his role with the team. Acknowledging that starter Diondre Borel gives Utah State the best chance to overcome more than a decade of on-field futility, Wilson said that he’ll remain ready and able if called upon this season. “I’m just going to be 100 percent for when and if I have to go in, so we don’t take a step back.” –adam.nettina@aggiemail. usu.edu FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK KANE WILSON has been one of the biggest surprises of fall camp. TYLER LARSON photo SectionF A different point of view L adies and gentlemen of the Utah State student body, I would like you all to get familiar with the name Diondre Borel. I say this because I know many of you out there have not yet done so, and I’d hate for you all to continue living in the dark. If you need to, go and take a second to search his name on YouTube and come back to read this column. Go ahead and look up Robert Turbin while you’re at it just for good measure. Now that we’re all caught up, I need to rant a little bit on an issue that seems to have cursed Cache Valley. The issue is all the naysaying that constantly surrounds the athletic programs here. While I’m mainly talking about football, people somehow manage to even nitpick about USU men’s basketball despite our team having one of the top-five winning percentages of any team in the nation over the past decade. It’s almost as if the sky is always falling in the eyes of many. I could’ve sworn we are sitting on backto-back Western Athletic Conference basketball championships too. Weird ... When it comes to football, the naysayers argument definitely holds a little bit more water than the argument against our basketball team’s legitimacy, but I’ve come to realize that most of the doubters are blindly doubting the program based solely on the past 10 years without taking an actual analytical look at the here and now. When it really comes down to things, the majority of people I’ve talked to in the past several weeks since the start of football’s training camp are either shaking with excitement for this coming season, or they are already writing the team off based on their belief that Utah State football could never actually be good. Among those naysayers, there seems to be one almost universal aspect about them: When asked who Utah State’s starting quarterback is, the naysayers haven’t the slightest idea. Well, if you were quick to figure out where the plot was headed, you’ve probably picked up by now that the answer to that question is in fact the aforementioned Borel. In a nutshell, Borel is 3-6 in his USU career as a starting quarterback, and was just three plays away from that record standing at 5-4. This was all in his first season playing quarterback at the Division-1 level. Regardless of record, Borel’s dualthreat abilities as a quarterback made the Aggies competitive a year ago while they fielded a team that consisted almost entirely of freshman and sophomore players. Now those players are all sophomores and juniors on a team that returns more starters than anyone else in the WAC. Sprinkle in a handful of All-WAC candidates from this year’s senior class, a high quality recruiting class, and possibly one of the brightest up-and-coming head coaches in the nation now at the helm and this could make for a pretty enjoyable season. Not to say we’re going to go undefeated right from the get-go with Gary Andersen as head coach, but a bowl game or topthree finish in the WAC are two things that are very possible, if not likely for this season. Basically what it comes down to is that if you’re not excited for the improvement that is on its way this football season, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening here. The last few years have been building the tracks for success. This year the train is leaving the station. Among the naysayers, there seems to be one almost universal aspect about them: When aked who Utah State’s starting quarterback is, they haven’t the slightest idea. Matt Sonnenberg is a junior majoring in print journalism. Matt is an avid fan of Aggie athletics and can be found on the front row of every home football and basketball game. He can also be reached at matt. sonn@aggiemail. usu.edu. |
