OCR Text |
Show StatesmanSports Page 10 Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 Coach’sCorner Ask and ye shall receive Question 1: What do you expect from your players this semester? – Kade Ellis, Senior, Print Journalism Coach Andersen: The same thing I expect from them every semester. I expect them to be successful from an academic standpoint, from a social standpoint and a football standpoint. Question 2: What are you going to do so we can convert third downs? We need to keep the ball in order to win. – Josh Nagao, Senior, Exercise Science Coach Andersen: Well, the biggest thing for us is practice. Third down is a big down on offense and a big down on defense. At the end of the day those who win third downs usually win the foot- ball game. It’s a very, very, extremely important stat, third down conversions. It’s almost if not as important as turnover margin. We put a lot of time into that prior to last game and we will continue to do the same thing and we expect to convert third downs. Question 3: What effect does hanging with Utah have on the team? It seems commonplace to say that there is no such thing as a moral victory, but does competing with successful teams late into games increase confidence, or does it cause a letdown from still not being able to turn the corner and win a tough game? – Scott Ficklin, Senior, English Coach Andersen: The first thing I’d say to that is, I think every young man in this program understands that this is a process. If football was easy, if football was simple, there’d be about 500 more football teams in the world. It’s a long, drawn-out process. You have to learn how to compete hard and play for four quarters, you have to be consistent, you have to be tough, you have to be physical and you have to be smart. I think we played extremely physical the last game. We played tough, we played consistent at times and inconsistent at times. That was a nemesis for us and our goal as always against good football teams is to get ourselves into the fourth quarter and find a way to win. Is there a moral victory in the way we played at Utah? No, absolutely not. We expected to win. We played well at times and we didn’t play well at times and that wasn’t enough to win the football game. If you would like to ask USU head football coach Gary Andersen a question about the Aggies previous game or upcoming matchup, please e-mail your questions along with your year and major to statesmansports@aggiemail.usu.edu each week by Wednesday at 5 p.m. Texas: Igboeli, others return home Cougar: BYU must face Ags -continued from page 8 like A&M that they missed out on him, Bowman said the idea hadn’t even crossed his mind. “That’s all the incentive I need, having my family and friends watching,” Bowman said. Actkinson agreed with Bowman’s assessment, and said that he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to proving himself, although he admitted that a good showing in the game will be especially important given the audience. “I’m very happy where I’m at right now,” said Atkinson. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I’m happy at Utah State, but it is just nice to go back and play in front of fans.” One player who is especially looking forward to the game is senior outside linebacker Paul Igboeli, a native Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas. Unlike Atkinson and Bowman, Igboeli said he is eager to prove himself in front of the Texas A&M coaches and fans, emphatically answering “yes” when asked if being passed up by Texas A&M out of high school gives him an extra edge in his approach to the game. “Playing well against (BCS conference teams) is a big thing,” said Igboeli, who recorded six tackles against another Big XII power, Oklahoma, during a game in 2007. “It feels good when you get recognition and stuff like that from those big dogs,” Igboeli said. Whether they’re playing for family and friends or the chance to show in-state programs that they missed out on them in high school, -continued from page 9 Utah State’s 13 Texas natives all agree that defeating the maroon Aggies will be a challenge. Utah State has lost its last nine games to Big XII opponents and has not beaten any team – regardless of conference affiliation – from the Lone Star State since a 17-12 victory over North Texas in 2000. The challenge is one that Utah State’s players are ready for, however, and after falling to Utah two weeks ago, it is a challenge that the team and its 13 Texas natives are embracing with a high level of confidence and focus. All that’s left now, Actkinson said, is for the team to execute on the field. “We’ve just got to play 100 percent like we know we can,” Actkinson said. -adam.nettina@aggiemail. usu.edu said, “I don’t think they’re like a Utah-type program yet but they’re definitely on the downfall from the last couple of years that I’ve played against them. That being said I think our team is on the uprise. We just made adjustments over the summer that made our team a whole lot better than it has been the last couple years.” After opening their home season, the Aggies will head to the Ogden Ice Sheet Saturday night for a battle with another bitter rival, Weber State. Last season, the Wildcats went to nationals while USU sat at home, even though the Aggies had dominated in games between the two schools. “This year all that I know as of now is that they lost their goalie and one of their big forwards,” Aggie forward Jeff Sanders said of the Wildcats. “We can’t take them too lightly, they’re still a good team. I think last year we might have taken them just a little bit too lightly. As you can see they went to nationals. We just have to go in there with the same mindset we had against BYU and take control of their home rink.” Sanders is being counted on to replace AllACHA caliber power forward Mike Daugulis on a line with Wyman and Billy Gouthro. “Obviously it’s hard to replace a guy like Daugy,” Sanders said. “I mean he’s a big strong guy, played the body and buried the puck when he needed to but I think what I bring to the table is pretty much the same thing. I’ve got two great line-mates in Wyman and Gouthro.” Arsenault said the team’s deep stable of scoring forwards is its biggest strength this season. “That’s one thing that we don’t have to worry about this year is our lines,” Arsenault said. “We’re carrying three solid, solid lines that can match up with anybody in the west and our fourth line is probably one of the hardest-working lines in the ACHA this year.” USU demonstrated its depth at the forward positions with the scoring effort against BYU. Besides Wyman’s game-high four, Brendan MacDonald scored three goals, and Gouthro and Tyler Mistlebacher each had two. They were Mistlebacher’s first goals as an Aggie. Also scoring for the first time were Jason Moore, freshman Dillon Sondergaard, and Jimmy Schwer. -graham.terry@aggiemail.usu.edu |