Pardon the Utah State defenders if they’re a little tired of hearing about the Aggies’ high-powered offense.
Of course, they’re glad that record-setting quarterback Chuckie Keeton and the offensive line, led by senior all-star candidate Tyler Larsen, are on their side. Last season, Keeton accounted for 3,992 total yards and 35 touchdowns, leading the team to an 11-2 mark, losing only two road games (Wisconsin, Brigham Young). Only five points separated the Aggies and a perfect season. Keeton has been named to the Watch List for the Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to the nation’s top quarterback.
But, the Aggies’ defense wasn’t too shabby, either. It held the Rose Bowl-bound Badgers to 16 points in Madison, held the Cougars to 6 points in Provo, and allowed only two opponents to score more than 20 points. They led the Western Athletic Conference in every defensive category, finishing in the nation’s Top 20 in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense.
“We are overlooked a little bit,” said junior linebacker Zach Vigil. “But, I guess that’s OK with me.”
As a sophomore, the 6-2, 232-pounder from Clearfield, Utah, was in on 105 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He was recorded double-digit tackles 10 times, and, along with sophomore Kyler Fackrell and senior Jake Doughty, makes up one of the toughest linebacker trios in the conference, if not the country.
Vigil acknowledges that moving to the Mountain West will elevate the level of competition, but he still has confidence.
“Our stats have shown that we can be a No. 1 defensive team,” he said. “We have a high-octane offense that we go up against every day in practice. That helps our defense a lot.”
First-year Utah State head coach Matt Wells agrees with his star linebacker. He was offensive coordinator for the Aggies in 2012 and went up against that defense every day.
“It’s true what they say, ‘defense still wins championships’,” he said. “Sure, our quarterback situation is strong, but we won the WAC championship last year because of the defense, and we have seven of those starters back. Everybody is talking about our offense, but our defense should be good again, too.”