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Show Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012 Page 4 TuesdaySpOrt Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Aggie Bo Idaho Utah State 0 6 3 0 —9 14 7 7 17 — 45 First Quarter USU — Kerwynn Williams 19 pass from Chuckie Keeton (Nick Diaz kick) 9:42. USU — Keeton 1 run (Diaz kick) 1:35. Second Quarter USU — Will Davis 59 interception return (Diaz kick) 13:03. Uofl — Trey Farquhar 38 field goal 7:59. Uofl — Farquhar 46 field goal 0:00. Third Quarter Uofl — Farquhar 52 field goal 9:55. USU — Kellen Bartlett 3 pass from Keeton (Diaz kick) 9:20. Fourth Quarter USU — Diaz 45 field goal 11:37. USU — Williams 14 run (Diaz kick) 8:53. USU — Joe Hill 7 run (Diaz kick) 1:47. Idaho USU First downs 15 19 Total Net Yards 210 250 Rushes-yards 47-158 31-133 Passing 52 117 Punt Returns 0-0 3-25 Kickoff Returns 4-60 2-72 Interceptions Ret.2-11 3-111 Comp-Att-Int 12-26-3 18-26-2 Sacked-Yards Lost2-27 3-31 Punts 6-49.8 4-38 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-86 5-35 Time of Poss. 35:49 24:11 Potato F OOT BALL Aggies accept invitation to Famous Idaho Potato Bowl BY CURTIS LU N D STROM sports senior writer For the Utah State football team, this season has been one for the record books. Saturday, the Aggies added to the pages with another handful of firsts and several other milestones to boot. "Being a champion is a great thing for these kids," said USU head coach Gary Andersen. "To have it outright, that's a big time, big deal. I'm so thankful and grateful to be here and to be part of this university, for the opportunity that Mr. Barnes IF and President AL, Albrecht gave me four and a half years ago and to be surrounded by these kids." With a 45-9 drubbing of Idaho at Romney Stadium, the Aggies clinched their first ever WAC title and the school's first outright league title since 1936. Additionally, it was USU's first-ever undefeated season in the WAC and the first time the squad has gone undefeated at home since 1982. And perhaps most significantly, the Aggies hit the 10-win plateau for the first time in school history. "We started this week with the term 'never,— Andersen said. "There were so many things that they could do that had never been accomplished at Utah State and they won today. It was a great opportunity for me to part of these kid's lives." This season's seniors are 16-7 at home under Andersen, who is fifth alltime at USU in wins with a 29-23 record overall in his four seasons at the helm. But for Andersen, it's all about the players. "These kids have come so far," head coach Gary Andersen said. "They put high expectations on themselves at the beginning of the year, starting Jan. 7. I'll never forget the day when they broke out of this room right here saying `WAC champs.' They've said it hundreds and hundreds of times since then and now it's true." Despite first half struggles, the Aggies got the job done against the Vandals to send the seniors out on top. Senior running back Kerwynn Williams recorded his third straight 100-yard rushing game and finished with 150 total yards. Fellow seniors Bojay Filimoeatu and Will Davis had two , of the Aggies' three interceptions, and Davis took his fifth interception in as many games 59 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead to help a struggling offense. Despite setting up the first three scores of the game, Davis said the defense played better later on. "I felt like in the second half that we played a lot better," Davis said. "Turnovers were huge. We haven't had that many turnovers in a game: It is always our goal to get three turnovers a game and this was the first time this year that we got it. Our defense definitely stepped up the second half. We finished it off right even though we *See POTATO, Page 6 Individual Statistics RUSHING — Idaho, R. Bass 21-95, J. Baker 14-52, T. Davis 8-11, B. Cowan 1-5, J. Parkins 1-3, D. Cunningham 1-0, L. Bushnell 1-m8. Utah State, K. Williams 17-110, J. Hill 6-23, D. Glover-Wright 7-33, C. Keeton 7-33. PASSING — Idaho, T. Davis 10-233-49, L. Bushnell 2-3-0-3. Utah State, C. Keeton 17-25-2-133, C. Harrison 1-1-0-m16. RECEIVING — Idaho N. Lovett 3-11, R. Runner 2-11, M. Scott 2-6, J. Parkins 2-ml, M. LaGrone 1-17, J. Baket 1-5, A. Grymes 1-3. Utah State, M. Austin 4-41, K. Williams 4-39, C. Jacobs 4-22, T. Reynolds 2-15, K. Bartlett 2-12, C. Webb 1-4, C. Harrison 1-m16. MISSED FIELD GOALS — none. BCS Top 2 Football 1 Notre Dame 2 Alabama 3 Georgia 4 Florida 5 Oregon 6 Kansas State 7 LSU 8 Stanford 9 Texas A&M 10 South Carolina 11 Oklahoma 12 Nebraska 13 Florida State 14 Clemson 15 Oregon State 16 UCLA 17 Kent State 18 Texas 19 Michigan 20 Boise State 21 Northern Illinois 22 Northwestern 23 Oklahoma State 24 Utah State 25 San Jose State RECORD 12-0 11-1 11-1 11-1 11-1 10-1 10-2 10-2 10-2 10-2 9-2 10-2 10-2 10-2 8-3 9-3 11-1 8-3 8-4 9-2 11-1 9-3 7-4 10-2 10-2 Coaches Top 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 RECORD PTS Notre Dame (56) 12-0 1469 Alabama (2) 11-1 1398 11-1 1341 Georgia (1) 11-1 1277 Oregon 11-1 1265 Florida 10-2 1124 LSU Kansas State 10-1 1114 10-2 1076 Texas A&M 10-2 1008 Stanford South Carolina 10-2 972 Oklahoma 9-2 878 Florida State 10-2 829 10-2 765 Nebraska 10-2 720 Clemson Boise State 9-2 479 UCLA 9-3 445 Oregon State 8-3 410 377 Northern Illinois 11-1 11-1 Kent State 337 Northwestern 9-3 314 Texas 8-3 312 10-2 264 Utah State Louisville 9-2 184 Michigan 8-4 158 Rutgers 9-2 152 Dropped from rankings: Oklahoma State 21, Mississippi State 24 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Hitting the books on the road BY JASON BORBA staff writer With the end of the semester coming to a close and finals right around the corner, students around campus are gearing up for the final few weeks. Student athletes are no exception to that, especially those on the Utah State women's basketball team. "Being close to finals does add a little bit more pressure, but I try to juggle it and plan my days to where I can separate business from school," said senior Jenna Johnson. "Basketball is definitely a priority for me, but so is school. Being a senior is crunch time to do what I need to get done and accomplish everything to get my straight A's." The Aggies opened the season with eight of their first nine games on the road and are in the midst of playing six-straight away from the friendly confines of Logan. "The first eight out of nine games are on the road, that is a brutal schedule," said USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. "I think the home team has a 7- 8 point advantage just right out of the gate, so for a college student on the road thinking about school and the game, its not a life of leisure that's for sure." Despite playing so many away games to begin the season, the players have found time to stay ahead in school. Finkbeiner makes it a priority to recruit players who have high academic standards who know what it takes to stay on top and not get too far behind. The team also has an academic advisor in Jason Thompson who Finkbeiner said does a good job of getting players to get their work ahead of time. During the 2011-12 season, Devyn Christensen, Jenna Johnson, Jennifer Schlott and Pua Furtado were all named to the Western Athletic Conference all-academic team. The coaching staff hopes to add more players to the team this season. Many players on the team are taking online classes this semester, which eases the burden of missing classes while on the road. For those who don't have online classes, Finkbeiner tells his players to attend class early in the year. "We tell the girls early in the year go to class and stay on top because when basketball hits, you need to understand that's who you are and what you need to go through," Finkbeiner said. Before leaving on their road trip, players contact their professors to get all the classwork and homework they will be missing while on the road so when they get back they aren't too far behind. "To say the least, my bag is very heavy," Johnson said. Freshman Stephanie Bairstow said it's hard work being on the road for an extended period of time and missing class because there is so much going on while on the road trip. "Obviously its hard because you are doing so many things on the run, like when are you going to eat and sleep," Bairstow said. "You just have to use the time you do have, like on the bus, to get homework done. It's just really important to prepare yourself before you leave." Although the team doesn't have a study hall, the players use travelOSee ROAD, Page 6 JUNIOR GUARD JENNIFER SCHLOTT takes a shot in a game earlier this season. Schlott and the Aggies will play eight of their first nine games on the road this season. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo |