This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Nobody is going to shut out anybody this time.
In Utah State's second season of Mountain West membership, the Aggies' most remarkable all-time result remains a 13-0 win over Colorado State on a windy afternoon in Logan last November. When the teams meet again Saturday (5 p.m.) in Fort Collins, Colo., it would not be be surprising if one team or the other tops the 13-point mark in the first quarter.
BYU and Nevada also should score a lot of points Saturday in what amounts to an MW doubleheader for Utah schools, even if BYU is independent.
For several months, I've targeted the trip to Colorado State as one of USU's two losses in conference play, the other coming in the regular-season finale at Boise State. Nothing has happened to alter that forecast, except that the way both offenses are playing, this game should be even more entertaining than I've anticipated.
The Aggies have scored 35 and 34 points against BYU and Air Force in their last two games, even while producing a total of only 10 points in second halves. They'll have to keep scoring against CSU, which features the MW's best quarterback, Garrett Grayson. He'll present a big test for USU's defense.
In turn, Darell Garretson and the USU offense will probably be asked to come through in the fourth quarter, as opposed to just protecting a lead, as they did against BYU and AFA.
The pick: Colorado State 35, Utah State 31.
In Provo, BYU vs. Nevada (8:15 p.m.) is a consolation-bracket game, after what's happened the past two weeks. BYU lost 35-20 to USU and Nevada lost 31-24 to CSU, after trailing 31-10.
BYU's season was radically altered when quarterback Taysom Hill was injured. This game, for example, once shaped up as a preliminary contest to BYU's trip to Boise State next week. Now, it's a really good test for Christian Stewart and the Cougar offense — partly because of the weakened, struggling state of the BYU defense.
Nevada is going to produce a lot of yards and points, exploiting BYU's secondary, so the Cougars will have to score in the 30s to win. Can they do that? Yes, if the running game works well enough to take some pressure off Stewart. He was effective in spurts against Central Florida, but the offense had trouble sustaining drives all night in a 31-24 overtime loss. That group will have to be much more consistent against Nevada.
The pick: BYU 34, Nevada 31.
Twitter: @tribkurt