Tag: Utah State

USC could have a reunion with a pig farmer vs Utah State

It’s likely that former Utah Ute Bryson Barnes, the pig farmer, will play against USC with Utah State on Saturday night. It’s revenge time, folks.

When Utah State’s offense takes the field at LA Memorial Coliseum late Saturday night against the USC Trojans, will it be Spencer Petras or Bryson Barnes at quarterback?

Bryson Barnes, the self-admitted pig farmer, is a familiar face to USC. He spent his the previous four years as a Utah Ute in the Pac-12. The former walk-on had the best game of his career in an upset over USC last season.

Barnes earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and Davey O’Brien Great 8 honors for his performance in Utah’s win over No. 18 USC in 2023, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns (14-of-23, 1 INT) with 10 rushes for a season-best 57 yards and a touchdown.

Barnes has played in 24 career games with 10 starts, going 6-4 in those starts.

Former Iowa starter and sixth-year senior Spencer Petras lost his job to Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara. He was named Utah State’s starter last month, but he suffered an injury in his first start with Utah State in the Aggies’ Week 1 victory against Robert Morris.

At Iowa during a tumultuous four years under center, Petras went 23-11 as a three-year starter. Petras threw for over 5,000 yards with 19 interceptions and 24 touchdowns.

With Barnes under center, the Aggies’ offense looked way more explosive with a huge second half Saturday, outscoring Robert Morris 26-0. Utah State finished with 646 yards of total offense (343 through the air and 303 on the ground), which was tied for the ninth-most yards in school history.

Interim head coach Nate Dreiling had this to say on the quarterback battle: 

“Spencer Petras is a very good quarterback,” he explained to reporters, “and I have 1,000% confidence in him and in Bryson Barnes. With either quarterback, we will be just fine.”

If I’m Utah State I’m going with Bryson Barnes because of his playmaking ability with this arm and legs. USC’s defense is not last year’s defense; it’s revamped and explosive as we saw versus LSU. Utah State will need any leg up it can get against the Trojans Saturday night.

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Robert Morris defender’s twisting one-handed interception was the best catch of the week

What a snag.

College football got an early candidate for catch of the year Saturday night, and most fans likely missed it.

That’s because the catch occurred in a game between Utah State and Robert Morris… not exactly a marquee event. Especially not with the top-25 matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M happening at the same time.

But this catch by Robert Morris DB Rob Carter Jr. was special. He snagged the ball over his head with one hand while doing a 360 spin vertical to the ground.

https://twitter.com/RMU_Football/status/1830063677564993621

If that doesn’t stand as the catch of the year, it’ll at least hold the title for best catch of Week 1.

It’s a great thing for USC football to play late at night vs Utah State

The late kickoff vs Utah State is the best thing that could have happened to USC.

The news that USC football will have to play another 8 p.m. local time game in Los Angeles might be annoying to some members of the Trojan fan base, and that’s understandable. Some people might have had the impression that USC would play fewer late games. However, late games were always going to be part of the television setup in the Big Ten. After all, Big Ten Network is jumping at the chance to air late-night games, something it hadn’t previously been able to do. Ohio State and Michigan won’t be in this night-owl time window, but Rutgers and Utah State definitely will be! That was always the plan for the Big Ten and its TV partners.

Beyond that set of points, however, it’s worth noting: If there was ever a time for USC football to play a late-night game, this is it. This is the right time for the Trojans. Why? It’s not that complicated, actually.

USC plays LSU on Sunday, Sept. 1. That means Week 2 versus Utah State is a short week. USC needs more rest and recuperation before the Utah State game. It would have been bad if USC had played a 12:30 p.m. local time game in Los Angeles. Even a 3:30 local time game would have exposed USC players to a potentially hot late-summer sun. At 8 p.m., USC gets freedom from sun and probably from extreme heat. Conditions should be pleasant and forgiving. After the short week following the LSU game, that’s a really good thing for the players.

So, you need to enjoy this piece of news instead of being upset about it.

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Why is USC playing a very late game vs Utah State on Sept. 7?

USC is playing another late-night game for a very simple reason.

You might be wondering why USC is having to play another 8 p.m. local time kickoff in Los Angeles. You’re not alone. The Trojans aren’t just playing a late game; it’s another 8 p.m. start as opposed to 7:30. Why 8 and not 7:30 for the Sept. 7 game versus Utah State?

We know that USC-Rutgers is an 8 p.m. local time game in L.A. on Oct. 25 because it follows Game 1 of the World Series on Fox Sports. Why the late start against Utah State in early September?

Adam Bradford, who covers USC for the Sporting Tribune, points out that Big Ten Network — which is airing the USC game — has a quadrupleheader on Sept. 7.

Penn State plays at noon Eastern on BTN on Sept. 7. That game is followed by Michigan State-Maryland in the 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific window. Then comes Ohio State’s game at 7:30 Eastern time, followed by USC and Utah State at 11.

The TV networks shelled out big bucks for Big Ten media rights. They are going to get their money’s worth and a legitimate return on their investment. Big Ten Network, which has never previously had a chance to air games in the late-night window, is loving the ability to add an extra football game to its lineup on most — if not all — Saturdays each season.

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USC football gets another very late start time in 2024 Big Ten season

USC plays Utah State in another 8 p.m. Los Angeles kickoff this season. Welcome to the Big Ten!

To the disappointment of Trojan fans everywhere, USC recently announced that more of its upcoming football games will kick off at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, a significant inconvenience for fans on the East Coast. This news dashes hopes that USC’s days of late-night games were over. The team’s 2024 home opener against the Utah State Aggies is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. local time, which translates to 11:00 p.m. for viewers in the East.  This comes after the news earlier in May that USC will face Rutgers in an 11 Eastern, 8 Pacific Friday night game on Oct. 25.

The 2024 USC season will commence with a game against LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, slated for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Following that matchup, the Trojans pivot to the late-night kickoff against Utah State in Week 2. Then they will face the defending national champion, the Michigan Wolverines, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern and 12:30 Pacific in the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sept. 21.

Until USC reasserts itself as a perennial powerhouse in college football, fans should brace themselves for late-night games that fill valuable television slots for networks that invested millions of dollars in the realignment of the sport.

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Seahawks hire former Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton as an offensive assistant

The Seattle Seahawks have added yet another assistant to head coach Mike Macdonald’s inaugural staff.

The Seattle Seahawks have added yet another assistant to head coach Mike Macdonald’s inaugural staff.

According to a report by Aaron Wilson, former Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton is joining the team as an offensive assistant. He had been working this offseason as the quarterbacks coach at Montana State.

This will be Keeton’s first coaching job at this level. He got his first coaching gig right out of college at Oregon State as a graduate assistant, followed by Utah State, then Texas Tech, then Utah State again as a running backs coach and last season he was at Marshall as an offensive analyst.

“Offensive assistant” is about as vague as it gets, but given his personal experience at the position plus his last job, we can probably assume he will be working with QBs coach Charles London, Geno Smith, Sam Howell and potentially any rookies the team adds during the 2024 NFL draft.

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Former Georgia football DE commits to Utah State

Former UGA defensive end commits the Utah State Aggies after spending one season at Butler Community College

Georgia Bulldogs defensive end Marlin Dean, who left the Bulldogs in the summer of 2022, has committed to the Utah State Aggies.

Dean played one season at Butler Community College in Kansas. The former Bulldog recorded 17 tackles and 7.5 sacks in his lone year at Butler Community College.

Dean is a four-star transfer, per 247Sports. Dean is the No. 7 junior college recruit in the country and the No. 2 player at his position.

Dean played high school football at IMG Academy and was a member of the class of 2021. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound pass rusher transitioned to more of an outside linebacker role at Georgia.

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Dean is from Elberton, Georgia. He played high school football for Elbert County during the first three years of his high school career. Dean announced his commitment to Utah State via social media:

The former three-star recruit spent much of the 2021 college football season on Georgia’s scout team. Dean played in one game and recorded two tackles during the 2021-2022 season. He enrolled early at Georgia in January 2021.

2023 NBA draft prospect Taylor Funk modeled his game on Larry Bird, and it shows

The Utah State alum has worked out for the Celtics ahead of this year’s draft.

If you want to get the attention of Boston Celtics fans ahead of an NBA draft, tell the media you are a fan of Larry Bird’s game. If you want to get the attention of the Celtics’ front office ahead of an NBA draft, spend your entire career as a basketball player molding yourself in the image of the Hick From French Lick.

Utah State’s Taylor Funk has done the latter since a young age, his family’s interest in the sport (and one of the greatest to play it) helping to shape him into the player he is today. That player is a very solid prospect known as much for his passing as his shooting, qualities which have got Funk in the door to work out with Bird’s storied ball club. And he shares Bird’s near-maniacal dedication to his craft as well.

“I was home-schooled my entire life,” said Funk in an interview with Utah State Athletics’ Patrick Mayhorn. “The decision of me being homeschooled was so I could train more than the average player.”

Catching up with the Boston Celtics’ 2023 NBA draft workouts part II

A new round of prospective Celtics have worked out for Boston ahead of the 2023 NBA draft.

The Boston Celtics are working very hard to work out as many prospects seen as likely to go somewhere in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft ahead of the big event, with the ball club bringing in quite a few prospective targets seen as likely to end up somewhere outside of the first round of the annual affair.

With a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) giving contending teams like the Celtics a new two way player slot on rosters to raise the total to three per team at the same time it puts up new barriers to teambuilding for teams over the so-called “second apron,” it is more important than ever to make the most of the draft to onboard talent around the roster’s margins.

Adding to our previous reporting of the team’s known workouts comes a new wave courtesy of our sister sites Rookie Wire and HoopsHype — let’s take a look at who Boston has been scoping out.

Perfect late-round, undrafted free-agent QB fits for the Eagles in 2023 NFL draft

We’re looking at the perfect late-round, undrafted free-agent quarterback fit for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 NFL draft.

The Eagles’ 2023 NFL offseason is in full swing, and as Howie Roseman retools a roster that’ll look entirely different on defense, we’re looking at a potential backup quarterback.

After two years of uncertainty, Jalen Hurts is the man in Philadelphia and the NFC after leading the franchise to its second Super Bowl appearance in the past five years.

An All-Pro and MVP Runner up, Hurts reset the market after agreeing to a five-year, $255 million contract extension.

Still, Philadelphia is in the business of developing quarterbacks, and with Marcus Mariota aging, Howie Roseman could look to add a young signal-caller to groom under Hurts.

With the first wave of NFL free agency now complete, and the draft just one week away, we’re looking at the potential late-round, undrafted free agent fits at quarterback.