In a battle between two 1-6 squads on tap in War Memorial Stadium this Saturday, one team will end the game with their bowl eligibility squashed and another will hold onto the slim hope of keeping their bowling dreams alive.
With many questions up in the air about Cowboy football, it’s a real question on what team we will see show up this Saturday; both personnel wise and performance wise.
Get to know Utah State
The Utah State Aggies are also off to a grueling 1-6 start similar to the Pokes, and enter the game after letting an early 17 point lead over New Mexico slip in a 50-45 loss to the Lobos. The loss marks their second straight week allowing 50 points, after they gave up 50 to UNLV the week prior. The Aggies’ defense ranks as one of the worst in the nation, ranking 132nd out 133 FBS programs in total defense. They’ll come toe to toe with the Cowboys’ 131st nationally ranked offense to see who will come out on top.
The Aggies’ offense is a much different story than their defense, as they currently rank 13th in the nation in total offense. They’re offense is commandeered by Spencer Petras, a senior transfer from Iowa. Petras has thrown for 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go along with 1,631 yards.
“With Petras, the thing that he does a really good job with is he sees the field well, and he gets the ball to people in spaces that they can do things with it,” head coach Jay Sawvel said of the Aggies’ quarterback.
Petras will be looking for his top target in Jalen Royals, who was a preseason all-Mountain West offensive selection. Royals has 55 catches for 834 yards along with six touchdown grabs.
“[He’s] an explosive receiver that does a lot of great things for them in the receiver,” Sawvel added of the Aggies’ top receiver.
Cowboys will test the waters with a dual-quarterback system
Sawvel announced during his Monday presser that both current starting quarterback Evan Svoboda and the current top reserve quarterback, Kaden Anderson will be splitting minutes against the Aggies this weekend as Sawvel and his staff begin to re-evaluate the quarterback position after their sixth loss of the season.
“Both of them will be playing throughout the game this week,” Sawvel said of the quarterback situation. “The anticipation would be that Evan would start and Kaden will come in very early in that game, and we’re going to play both throughout the course of the game.”
This decision comes to light due to Svoboda’s poor performance this season, despite showing flashes of brilliance in small doses throughout this year. The junior signal caller is currently the lowest rated quarterback in the nation in passing efficiency and has only just eclipsed 1,000 yards passing to go along with only four touchdown throws and six interceptions, two of which have been pick sixes.
Anderson, a redshirt freshman, has played in small amounts in five games this season. He recently received a hefty amount of snaps towards the tail end of the Cowboys’ loss to San Jose State, where he threw for 116 yards and a touchdown. However, he also threw two interceptions in his short amount of time on the field.
“I’m not the biggest fan of that in terms of that’s the method and the mode to go,” Sawvel added of employing a dual quarterback system. “This isn’t a loss of confidence in Evan Svoboda…in the situation that we’re in, occasionally getting some plays to step back and recenter and refocus can help us.”
Is the Cowboy defense finally back to full form?
The Cowboy defense has been devastated by injuries this season, particularly in their secondary. This has caused a lot of growing pains for them, as many younger players have had to step up and other players have had to play out of position due to the injuries.
“We’ve had two straight weeks with a first year player getting a penalty on special teams,” Sawvel said of his teams’ growing pains.
Sawvel noted that he may finally have his reliable safety duo of Isaac White and Wyett Ekeler on the field together against the Aggies for the first time since the Cowboys hosted BYU in their third game of the season. Both White and Ekeler have combined for 48 starts over the previous two seasons before this one and are integral to the Cowboys’ secondary.
The Cowboys are also enjoying the slow return of defensive end DeVonne Harris, as he played his first game of the season against San Diego State two weeks ago after missing the first half of the season with an injury.
Most importantly, Sawvel is beginning to see consistency from his defense, which is the primary reason the Cowboys have been competitive in their most recent contests. Most recently, the Cowboy defense forced four turnovers against San Jose State, which kept that one from becoming a blow out.
“I think from Air Force [to] San Diego State and last Saturday, defensively, we’re starting to look more like what we should,” Sawvel said.
Can the Cowboys keep their bowling dreams alive?
The Cowboys are currently on a three year streak of bowl eligibility, with that streak on the line this weekend against the Aggies. If the Cowboys drop to seven losses on the season, they will no longer be eligible for a bowl game. The loss would also drop them to 1-3 in conference play, which would likely completely wipe the small chance they already have to compete for a spot in the Mountain West championship.
The Cowboys desperately need a win to keep not only all these hopes alive, but for this team to hopefully finally find some footing heading into the latter half of their season.
