football
7/29/2022 2:54:00 PM
Second year coach Blake Andersonwho is in his ninth year as a collegiate coach, was pleased with his team’s performance on day one.
“It was a good, strong day,” Anderson said. “It’s hard to believe we’re back here. It seems like we just finished this thing yesterday. The energy was good and you always expect it to be on Day 1. We’ve got a lot of new faces, but they seem to fit in where we have them.
“Obviously we can’t make contact yet, but the guys are lining up in the right spots. The best thing for me Day 1 is seeing what they did over the summer. Did the guys pay attention? Did they learn well? They should you knew the setup of day 1 before we came out here today and the meets should have been stale, and for the most part it looked like that. The guys were where they needed to be and they were running around trying to give us the pace we wanted. We threw it and caught it OK, and the defense wasn’t broken and wrong, so it’s a strong first day.”
Overall, Utah State welcomed over 100 players to the first practice, which included 12 starters (O-7, D-5) as part of 32 letterwinners (O-15, D-13, S-4), to continue along with 49 newcomers (O-24, D-23, S-2), including 16 four-year transfers and seven junior college players.
One of those returning starters is the graduating senior quarterback Logan Bonnerwho is entering his second season with the program after setting five school records a year ago, including 3,628 passing yards and 36 touchdown passes.
“The energy was high and the guys came out ready to play,” Bonner said. “Obviously it’s Day 1 and things will start to pile up after that. I haven’t played football for a long time so it was good for me to get out here.
“This time last year we were still trying to figure things out, but now we’re way ahead of where we were last year, and it just gives us an opportunity to grow even more and install more things I am very happy where we are now”.
As part of the NCAA’s five-day acclimatization period, Utah State will be back in shorts and helmets on Saturday, then add shoulder pads on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. The Aggies’ first practice with full boards will be Thursday, August 4.
All fall camp practices – barring two scrimmages – will be closed to the public. Fans are invited to watch Utah State’s first scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 11 a.m. and its final scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 1 p.m., as part of Family Football Fun Day its annual. Both clashes will take place at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium.
Utah State will open the 2022 season on Saturday, Aug. 27, when it hosts Connecticut at 2 p.m., in a game that will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1. USU then plays at Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 3 and waits Weber. State on Saturday, Sept. 10, before starting MW play at home against UNLV on Saturday, Sept. 24, in a game that will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network at 5 p.m.
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact USU Athletics Ticket office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also purchase their tickets in person at USU Ticket office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the “Buy Tickets” tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
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