Mountain West Being ‘Recognized Nationally Is Big’ For Aggies
Sep 25, 2019, 6:57 PM | Updated: 6:58 pm
Troy Lefeged Jr. #3 and Kevin Meitzenheimer #33 of the Utah State Aggies tackle Steven Claude #5 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the first half of their game at BB&T Field on August 30, 2019 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head coach said that having the Mountain West Conference “be recognized nationally is big” for the Aggies.
During his weekly press conference, Andersen spoke about the recent success that Mountain West teams have had against big-name opponents and the coverage that the conference has received.
“It seems to me, and I don’t read much, in fact, I don’t read any, but what I do hear and what I do see is there is a lot of good information out there on the Mountain West. Nationally, there should be,” said Andersen.
As a conference, the Mountain West has multiple wins over Power 5 teams in 2019. So far, MWC teams have won against teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC.
MWC has wins over the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 (4) and SEC (2).
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) September 22, 2019
“There should be a lot of respect that is being gained this year with the type of football that is being played,” said Andersen. “As far as us looking at it, it seems like this is conference game number two. You see another opponent and they’re good. They’re explosive. There’s a lot of good football players. The Mountain West is playing not only good football but great football outside of conference is just a huge feather in all of our caps as a conference. To have it be recognized nationally is big for all of us.”
The Aggies have two Power 5 opponents on their 2019 schedule. Utah State fell to the ACC’s Wake Forest in Week 1 by a score of 38-35. USU plays fourth-ranked LSU in their fifth game of the season.
We want competitive games in a tough conference where you can line up and play good football every single week,” continued Andersen. “It’s going to be very interesting as we move through time to see who can knock off the guys that have been the cream of the crop throughout the years. As we’re playing better, is somebody going to be able to knock those guys off? Time will tell.”
Since joining the Mountain West Conference in 2013, Utah State has played multiple Power 5 opponents including Michigan State, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, USC, Utah, Washington, and Tennessee.
The Aggies currently has a 2-1 record this season with their only loss coming at Wake Forest.
Utah State will head on the road to face LSU at 10 a.m. (MDT) on October 5. The game will be available on the SEC Network.
