Aggies Should Take LSU Loss In Stride, Focus On MW Championship

LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies took a beating from LSU in Baton Rouge that reminded us of the dark days of the past. A past where getting crushed in money games by Power 5 opponents was common for the Aggies.

It wasn’t pretty.

The program had competed well against Power 5 competition on the road the past decade against Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisconsin, USC, Michigan State and earlier this season at Wake Forest.

They had late leads in several of these big games only to fall short in the end. To see Utah State dominated the way they were by LSU Saturday was a bit disconcerting and has Gary Andersen searching for answers.

“Every single person in the program needs to look at themselves and take a big, deep breath and take a big piece of humble pie and swallow it, move ourselves on, deal with the adversity and fight to get better,” Andersen said.

Utah State did not score a touchdown for the first time since a 6-3 loss at BYU in 2012, a span of 91 games.

Is the result of the LSU loss a reason to panic? No.

They won’t face another quarterback as good as Joe Burrow. They won’t face another secondary loaded with future NFL players. The Aggies saw how they measure up against one of the best teams in the country.

They weren’t good enough. It exposed their weaknesses. It will serve as motivation to perform better, especially for a quarterback as talented as Jordan Love.

LSU is an SEC championship contender, and a National Championship contender. Time will tell just how good LSU is, but the Aggies won’t face an opponent as good as the Tigers the rest of the season. Not even close. That should give this team confidence as they prepare for what lies ahead.

“You can’t forget these moments. They’re huge,” Andersen said after the loss. “You have to be able to look at them, swallow them, digest them, deal with them, never forget them, put them in your rear view mirror. There has to be a little piece of that rear view mirror that you see in anytime you face adversity and we are facing adversity right now, and it’s a big piece of adversity where we have to get better.”

The injuries sustained against LSU were far more concerning than the final score.

Several players had to leave the game, but most concerning were the injuries to Utah transfers Siaosi Mariner and Caleb Repp. The Aggies need their production to compete with Boise State and BYU in the coming weeks.

Utah State has a bye week to rest, recover and refocus on what is really important to them – a Mountain West Championship. That goal is still there, and the LSU experience can help them in that quest if they apply lessons learned in defeat.