Opener: With Tumultuous Offseason Behind Them, The Aggies Are Ready To Play
On Aug. 26, Nate Dreiling took to the podium for his first game week press conference as Utah State's acting football coach. The 33-year-old head coach, college football's youngest in 2024, has talked openly and consistently about how much he still has to learn about this job, and how his chief focus is preparing himself for responsibilities he's never before held and questions he's never had to think about answering. You can't synthesize a career's worth of experience with phone calls to other coaches, but he's tried his damnedest over the last 59 days, and all those hours spent cramming for a test he never expected to be taking so earlier have netted him at least two of the oldest tricks in the book.
He was behind the podium at Noon on the dot, exactly as scheduled, and he came armed with an opening statement that managed to correctly assess the situation at hand while still wildly underselling it.
"It's been a crazy summer."
It certainly has been a crazy summer in Logan. From staff changes and roster attrition in the winter and spring; the surprise victory of newcomer Spencer Petras over two incumbents in a quarterback battle; the ill-fated "run it back" campaign that approximately three Aggies actually followed through on; and three discreet panic cycles around whether star safety Ike Larsen would transfer, to the far more serious month of July, when Utah State fired head coach Blake Anderson and several administrators following an external investigation into their handling of Title IX reporting procedures, and when a team already faced with so much had to mourn the tragic death of a teammate, Andre Seldon Jr.
When Dreiling leads the Aggies... his Aggies through the recently reinstated Aggie Walk, and later onto the field at Maverik Stadium for a season-opening bout with Robert Morris on Saturday evening, it will be his 60th day on the job. He may not have the experience of a grizzled veteran head coach, but he's been made to do more in these last two months than some coaches will in an entire tenure. And now, at long last, he can talk and think about a football game.
"Fall camp went great, we came out injury free and now it's just getting ready for Robert Morris," Dreiling said. "If you look at their record, it doesn't look like much, but if you look at the team that we're playing, it's a great team coming in. They won four games last year and they're still picked third in their conference this year, so they have a lot of returning starters. That will be a challenge for us, but as we know, it's never about the opponent. It's always about us, and I'm excited for these kids to put on a show and show the Aggie community what we're made of."
Utah State is comfortably favored in this opening salvo as it plays host to a Robert Morris squad that went 4-7 at the FCS level a year. But, as Dreiling says, the Colonials aren't exactly as they may seem on paper. The 2023 season was their first big step in an extended rebuild after a winless campaign in 2022, and though 2024 may not constitute a culmination, it does see a great deal of continuity in tow.
Behind center, junior quarterback Anthony Chiccitt will again lead the way for RMU's offense after a terrific debut, completing 66 percent of his passes for 1,651 yards and 16 touchdowns with only four interceptions. His favorite target, wideout Noah Robinson (70 receptions, 848 yards, six TDs), returns as well, and will draw the full attention of Utah State's new-look defense.
"He's 6-3, right around 195, and he does and unbelievable job," Dreiling said. "He's one of their biggest third-down targets as well, but we'll have to defend him on every single down. That's the number one priority for us, taking him away and making the quarterback go to the second option. He's about the same thickness as Jalen Royals, just a little bit taller, but he has great ball skills. He's a player who has stayed at the FCS level and slid through the cracks. That's going to be a challenge for us for sure."
Tight end Landen Lucas (16 receptions, 256 yards, four TDs) and wideout Trenell Ridgley (28 receptions, 234 yards) further bolster the passing game alongside Robinson. The Colonials could never find much of a rushing attack last fall, but they're optimistic about improvement in 2024, with leading man DJ Moyer (88 carries, 319 yards) back in the saddle, accompanied by All-NEC Merrimack transfer Tyvon Edmonds Jr. (279 carries, 1,247 yards, 10 TDs) and five returning starters on the offensive line.
The defense was relatively stout last season, allowing 159.7 rushing yards and only 183.2 passing yards per contest, but they were on the field far too often and surrendered a hair over 28 points per game as a result. It should again be solid, though attrition may keep it from remaining the strength of the team. Starting DE Trey Woods (16 tackles, 5.0 TFL, one sack), hybrid DT Tizlam Muhammad (33 tackles, 5.0 TFL, one sack), standout LB Jamar Shegog (51 tackles, 5.0 TFL, one sack), No. 3 CB Rob Carter Jr. (22 tackles, four PBUs, one INT), and starting safeties Dee Pierce (57 tackles) and William Barber (37 tackles) are all sticking around for another season, but six starters will need to be replaced – including last year's leading tackler, LB Joe Casale, and a cornerback tandem that was strong enough to land at Duke (Diassa Diakite) and Virginia (Jam Jackson) respectively.
Newcomers like Miami (Ohio) starting safety Jacquez Warren, Lenoir-Rhyne starting LB Devin Hibbitt, Charleston DE PK Ackah-Yensu, Seton Hall DT Joshua Darisme, Eastern Illinois CB Tyris Harvey and Penn CB Logan Nash should help matters as well, and the defensive system – overseen by head coach Bernard Clark Jr. and DC Dave Plungas – has impressed Dreiling.
"They're very, very physical," Dreiling said. "They play a four-man front; They love blitzing on third and long. But, on mixed downs, first and second down, they play it... I don't want to say safe, but they're not very aggressive because they're very good at doing their assignments. It's kind of the same approach we take, get to third down and go win third down. Hats off to their defense and their head coach on how they teach it.
"But, that's what I'm saying. They won zero games two years ago and four games last year. They're going to the spot that they want to go to. It's a very good opponent coming in here at Maverik Stadium. If you dig into the stats and look at the returning players, this is a group that I think will have a fun season at the FCS level."
The Aggies deserve their position as heavy favorites and hold a significant advantage against this rebuilt RMU secondary. They also understand, however, that any game against any foe can go south quickly without proper care.
"We don't assume anything," Dreiling said. "That's what I told them two days ago, I said, 'Raise your hand if you've lost a football game to someone you weren't supposed to.' And obviously, everyone had their hand up. That's one thing we'll always preach. It has nothing to do with the opponents, it always has to do with us and how we're getting better. It won't be about the score, it will be about the process and what our tape actually looks like.
"We put a lot of time into fundamentals and technique and a little details that we feel make a huge difference for us. That's what we'll be diving into when we evaluate the film on Sunday. Ultimately it's just a chance for the kids to get back out there and have fun again in front of this home crowd. It'll be my first game here at Maverik Stadium too, so I'm sure I'll be a little antsy and juiced up. We're just excited for it to finally get here and to perform."
All coaches love to center development and the virtue of controlling what can be controlled when talking about any forthcoming matchup. Most of the time, it's just something you say – a vague statement of team ethos and an easy way to avoid giving too much away. In this case, though? It's hard to argue, not because Utah State can safely overlook Robert Morris, but because of an offseason that challenged Dreiling, his staff, and their players more than any offseason ever should.
These Aggies have already been through so much. Saturday marks two points: The end of their anxiety, confusion and heartbreak; and the beginning of a new season, rife with potential not only for success, but for joy and celebration of the young men finally tasked with nothing more than donning the Aggie Blue and Fighting White to represent their university, their community, and their fallen brother, gone well before his time. So long as they do so with pride and love, they cannot fail.
Football is back in Logan, Utah. Rejoice.