Aggies Taking Every Opportunity To Prepare For Air Force
Oct 23, 2019, 6:09 PM | Updated: Nov 21, 2019, 3:01 pm
Utah State head football coach Gary Andersen talks to his team at the end of scrimmage Saturday, March 30, 2019, at Maverik Stadium in Logan. Courtesy of Jeff Hunter/Deseret News.
LOGAN, Utah – Gary Andersen said that since he’s taken over as head coach of the Aggies, his team has tried to “squeeze in a few moments” of game prep for the Falcons whenever they’ve had the opportunity.
Andersen spoke about his team’s preparation for their upcoming game against Air Force during his weekly press conference on Monday, October 21.
“Camp, spring ball, bye weeks, the day after Christmas. Whenever we find an opportunity to squeeze in a few moments of Air Force, we’ll absolutely do it,” said Andersen. “You have to in my opinion.”
Business Trip ➡️ Air Force
NOTES ➡️ https://t.co/0lpwqSkyVw#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/lpCub9eXac
— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 21, 2019
Andersen spoke about the difficulty of playing the Falcons. He said that the Aggies needed to be at their best and play a complete game is they expect to come home with a conference victory.
“I’ve been on both sides of that thing where we’ve played very well and where we have not played very well. I do know this: if you don’t play well in all three phases in this game, you won’t win,” said Andersen. “You have to play well. You always say that, right? Play well in all three phases: offense, defense, special teams. Sometimes one phase has to pick the other team up to get them over the hump to win the game or even to play well in the game. That may be special teams, offense or defense. That may be two out of the three phases. But, in my opinion, in this football game, you have to play well in all three phases to have an opportunity to win the game.”
The Aggies have played the Falcons seven times in school history. Six of the games have been played since 2013. The first meeting between the two programs came on November 8, 1969. The Falcons hold a slight edge over Utah State, winning four of the seven games.
Andersen suggested that the eighth meeting between the schools will be a rollercoaster of a game but he likes his team’s chances.
“There will be ups-and-downs and flows both ways. These guys will keep on battling,” said Andersen. “You know the guys from Air Force are going to battle until the end. I know this football team is going to battle to the end. They’re both battle-tested.”
Big football game coming up for the Aggies! #AggiesAllTheWay https://t.co/RMFQemNtp7
— Kyle Ireland (@kyleireland) October 23, 2019
The Aggies are looking for consecutive victories over the conference foe for the first time since 2013-14 when the two square off on Saturday, October 26 at 8:15 p.m. (MDT).
“Our team has proven to be pretty tough,” said Andersen. “These are a couple tough-minded groups going against each other.”
This will be Andersen’s first time facing Air Force as the head coach of USU.
The game will be televised on ESPN2.
