Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

Bowl game prep, something no player on this entire team has experienced. It felt a little weird coming into the facility early this week, kind of like reporting for your first camp. You have an idea of what is going to happen (practice, film, lifting, etc.), you’re just now sure how and when. Needless to say it has been a great experience so far and I am so grateful that I’ve gotten to enjoy it. It’s been a little hectic because a lot of kids on the team have had to run around telling professors they are going to have to break the one rule every teacher has, missing finals. A lot of kids have had to move their finals up to Monday, or have taken them already during dead week. It goes to show you the great job Coach Andersen and his staff have done in grooming all our players not only athletically but academically and socially. The fact that every kid was able to meet with their professors, work out a time, study early, and take the finals (successfully we hope in the end) is a testament to the maturity of these team. That maturity is something that can’t be measured with stats or plays, but has undoubtedly contributed to our wins this year. Myself included had to join in the studying. I had a project due this week and between Monday and Thursday I was in the library for about 24 hours finishing up a project I waited a bit too long to really dive into. My dad told me once “procrastination is a dreadful thing, it always ends in sorrow. But I can quit it anytime, I think I’ll quit tomorrow.” Needless to say I’m always quitting tomorrow!!! 

As far as football is concerned, I think each and every one of my teammates handled it great. No one was upset that we had to practice another week or practice outside, we were just all happy that we got to practice. In fact I feel as if we have had some great practices this week. Competition between the offense and defense in practice hasn’t dipped at all and I really think it has increased. Also, everyone is practicing hard because we get rewarded after each one ends. You may or may not know this but one great perk of going to a bowl is the gifts. Each team is allowed to get gifts which include things like clothes, shoes, and gifts from the bowl themselves. This week each player, even the redshirts and the walk-ons, received clothing gifts after each practice. It started out small with just a Utah State Football shirt with the bowl logo on the back, but each day it got better and better. We have gotten shorts, long sleeve t-shirts, shoes, and even a new awesome travel suit that we will be wearing to the game in Boise. It is really sweet and can’t wait to see what the bowl gifts from the companies sponsoring the bowl are when we get there.

I thought I would use the rest of this blog on this down week to express my gratitude to my coaches, teammates, Utah State, the fans, and the Cache Valley Community. Some of you may know I was a transfer walk-on and for those who don’t well I was. I didn’t get recruited to come here even out of high school and in all honesty hadn’t heard a whole lot about USU except that it was in Logan and had a pretty good basketball team. I know I’ve told a lot of people I came here for football and the culture, but in all honesty I chased a girl here (no it didn’t work out ha! But in the end turned out for the best). Even though my reasons may have been immature and skewed I will always look back on that decision and know that it was one of the best choices I made in my entire life. I have had a lot of ups and downs here throughout my career. Things like catching my first pass against Utah, catching my first touchdown at Romney Stadium against Nevada, receiving a full-ride scholarship, and beating Nevada to become bowl eligible will always stay with me. The lows have hurt too, dropping those punts at CSU (which yes if you ask me I will put that game on my shoulders and always will) and then waking up on Sunday morning to find my car egged, even some experiences that I have shared with my teammates that I won’t disclose have all put me at all time lows in my life, not just in my time at USU. Yet the one thing I can take from all of those is they taught me lessons, they have made me who I am now, and in the end the community has always had my back. Football has taught me how to deal with adversity and success, how to look at life from a different perspective and in many cases good or bad that sometimes the hardest thing to do is just take that next step. I will admit that when we won that Nevada game it felt as if a weight was off my shoulders because I knew we were going to a bowl game and that no matter what happened, nothing that I did personally (cough CSU cough) kept the team from achieving their goal. That won’t haunt me forever, and I have my teammates, coaches, and community to thank for that. Whether it was a good game or a bad game I have always had players, coaches, and fans come up to me and say great job and that really meant a lot to me, it really means a lot to us to know that you’ve always got our backs. 

The thing you’ve got to realize is we are all living our dreams, when we were kids we would play catch in the backyard and dream about catching touchdowns to go ahead or win the game, and we get to do that now because of those around us. We have shown the skill but the community and the coaches are the ones who have provided us with the opportunity to play and we know that. So when you have come up to me and said ‘great game,’ ‘good job,’ or ‘get em’ next time,’ I cherish those moments because I know I have helped repay all of you for the wonderful opportunity that you have given me and all my other teammates as well. There is nowhere else in the world I would have rather played than Utah State, I don’t want to ever be anything other than an Aggie. 

There are so many people who have taken me under their wing and helped me grow while I’ve been here. Austin Alder is the person I have known the longest here and after seeing me at my first workout came and sat next to me at the Junction and helped me out a lot that first semester here. Coach Bouknight has helped me become ten times the receiver I should be. I’m not dumb, I understand what it takes to be a college athlete and even a starter at that, and I know I’m not fast enough, tall enough, strong enough to be the player I am. But thanks to Coach Bouknight I’m able to be fundamental, smart, and dedicated and all those things have helped me get on the field. At any other university I’m not sure if the coaches would see what Coach Andersen, Coach Bouknight, and Coach Baldwin see in me and I may have never even seen the field, but the fact that they did gave me confidence and joy, something that at that time of my life I was seriously lacking. 

I wish that I could take the chance to sit down and talk with every fan (after they talked with Bobby, Turbin, Adam, and the real ones they wanted to talk to of course!!!) and just let them know that we all appreciate them just as much as they appreciate us. I can’t help but smile every time we run on the field because I see all the fans and hope they know we are doing this for them. Thank you all so much for your cheering, your donations, your patience, your dedication, and above all your support. It has helped turn these four years at USU into the best years of my life. I will never forget my time here and will do my best to convince my children to come back here. It is my hope that all of you can make it to the bowl game in Idaho, and if not catch it on ESPN, it will be the last game for many players that they ever suit up and play for Utah State, but I can assure you it will not be the last game any of us are Aggies. Lets go out and get that bowl victory!!! Thanks again for all you guys do for us.

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but just like there is no asterisk next to our loss to Auburn that says “oh close but barely lost”, there won’t be anything next to this W in the record books. It was a situation nobody on this team had ever been in. We had already accepted a bid bowl and the press had congratulated us for it and outside of the players and coaches it felt as if many people forgot we had one last game. I will admit it was hard to focus at times knowing that it had no affect on our post-season play, but we did a good job of staying focused because we are a mature team. We knew that if we won against NMSU we could secure a winning record for sure, win seven regular-season games which hasn’t happened since 1979, and possibly be set up to win eight games which hasn’t happened in 37 years.

I hope the fans know that we didn’t overlook NMSU when we went down there or didn’t care about the game, we came out ready and fired up, but for some reason just didn’t play our A game. Coach Andersen told us after the game that in a 12 (now 13-game season) that can happen sometimes. A team for any number of reasons can under-perform, it happens all the time in sports. The difference now is we are a good enough team to still come out with a victory. Not to say we can every single game, if we played like that every game of the year we would not be going to a bowl, but great teams find a way to win in those situations. Last year, we played bad games like ones against SDSU and got blown out, and even two years ago we went down to NMSU and played a bad game and lost 20-17. It just goes to show you how different of a team we are without even having to look at the record.

Offensively and defensively, although we didn’t play our best, we executed the game plan. As an offense we ran for 393 yards, which is ridiculous, but we knew we could out-physical them in the trenches. It is kind of funny that we ran for all those yards, and then the three TD’s were all passing, Adam Kennedy and I were laughing about that on the bus after the game. In terms of defense, our squad did a great job of neutralizing a great quarterback and a good set of receivers. The DB’s did an amazing job of breaking on some balls on a wet and slick field to get some PBU’s. When it came down to it, just as it has throughout this second half of the year, when we needed to make big plays, we did. Kyle’s interception in the redzone which was forced by a great pass rush on a 4th and goal. A fourth down in which Adam stretched out to get by a few inches. Matt’s catch with time running out to take the lead and Nevin’s pick to the end of the game. It was ugly, but in the end players make plays and we did that to get #7 and rewrite those Utah State history books.

Now that the regular season is over, we can focus for the first time in a long time on the post-season. We are incredibly excited to travel to Boise and play in a bowl game, and are even more excited because we know that the fans are going to come out and support us up there. These next two weeks will be a new experience for all the players, but I am so grateful that I am going to be able to get the opportunity to go through bowl prep and play in a bowl game. We aren’t satisfied with just going to the bowl though, the team is hungry to win this game. We fell one win short of our goal as WAC Champs, and our goal was really never to just go to a bowl, but to become bowl champions. We will practice hard and focus this week I have no doubt because we want to show the rest of the nation that we aren’t a fluke, we are a great team that can become a champion. We know it, the coaches know it, the fans know it, now it’s our turn as players to go out and show it to the rest of the nation.  See you all in Boise!

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

WE’RE GOIN’ BOWLIN’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Something you have to understand is how much time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears are put into playing football. The offseason workouts at six in the morning, conditioning three times a week in January, lifting weights four times a week, sacrificing summer breaks, sacrificing time with family and friends, all for one goal, to play in the post-season, to go to a bowl game. Finally all that work has paid off. I really can’t express the emotion I felt after that game. For me it just felt as if a huge burden had been released from my shoulders, like a great weight had been lifted. To know that all that hard work has paid off not just for me and my teammates, but for the coaches, the fans, the Alumni, and future players to come. It truly was an emotional afternoon on Saturday and what better day to be this thankful for a program then on Thanksgiving weekend. 

The game was a very well-played game on both sides of the ball, truly a team effort. It was really hard to get in a rhythm on offense at first because they held the ball so long. I believe that was the fastest first half I have ever played in my time at Utah State, before I knew it there were only two minutes left in the first half and I felt like it was still the first quarter. Once again we had tons of players step up and make huge plays. Matt Austin had some huge catches, Bobby Wagner played amazing as he always did and is continuing to build his resume for WAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Robert Turbin had some great runs as well and is pushing for WAC Offensive Player of the Year. To me, I believe we have the best offensive player and defensive player in the league, both of whom are gaining national recognition and will be playing on Sunday’s when their college careers are over.

The defense this week was amazing once again in the redzone, only allowing the Wolf Pack three points in three trips inside the 20. That is an amazing staff and I hope all the fans can start to see that the defensive scheme that Coach Andersen brought with him to Utah State is finally being executed by the players and in result is keeping teams out of the endzone. I think there has been some doubt in the past from people that his scheme couldn’t be run or maybe that he should take a more conservative approach to defense, but we all believed in him and his process and knew that one day, when we decided to truly buy in and execute, that it would work and we could become one of the best teams in our league.

Offensively, it wasn’t the prettiest of games but we definitely got the job done. We were some 100 yards below our season average but we did a much better job of taking care of the football. We had the one “questionable” turnover (which I believe was defensive pass interference) but other than that we did not fumble the ball or turn it over any more. It made a huge difference in a game where field position and time of possession were key factors. One thing I am proud of is what we call the “four minute offense”. Most people know “two minute offense” which is used at the ends of games (something we’ve used quite a bit this year), but four minute offense is when you have the lead and need to run out the clock. We executed this drill immaculately. We ran the ball I believe 12 times in a row when the defense knew we were going to run, but still managed to get first downs and end the game with no last minute heroics needed…for the first time in a few weeks!!! We had huge plays by Turbin and Adam Kennedy, both getting first downs in key situations to keep the ball out of Nevada’s hands and ending the game.

I really can’t explain the gratitude and relief I felt when AK took that last kneel down. And all I did is look up at the stands and hope that everyone there understood that we are celebrating this with all them as well. All the fans that have been patient over the years, those that believed in us and stayed up to watch the entire Hawai‘i game, those that came out to the San Jose State game and stayed through the cold, all those that have come to home games at the end of the season even when we haven’t been bowl eligible, this win was for all of you guys just as much as it was for us and players. It was great to do it on Senior Day, to leave this legacy on this program and be able to do it on my last ever game at Romney Stadium. Had I been a little faster (or a little younger) I might have had my last catch be a touchdown as well…but alas it was not meant to be, once you hit 23 that 6th gear is gone, you downgrade for a more reliable manageable 5-speed transmission!!

The season isn’t over yet, and we still have to go down to New Mexico State where we lost last time we traveled there, and beat a solid NMSU squad. They are trying to get to five wins for the first time in a long time for them and we know that they will play hard and want to finish out their careers with a win as well. We have a chance to get to seven and eight wins, something that hasn’t been done in decades, and we understand that we must not look past the other Aggies in the conference. They have a very explosive offense and a very solid defense, especially in the secondary so we know it will be a very tough and physical game. A winning record is our goal, not 6-6, not 6-7, so we know that if we want to accomplish that goal that we must come out and play a complete game and get another victory. Thank you again so much for all the support from all the fans and I hope that we can see you in Boise on Dec. 17th for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

First off I would like to apologize for the lateness of this excerpt and the lack of one last week. School has been quite busy of late and other parts of my schedule have made my free time pretty slim of late. So for this one I’m just going to talk about the two games, those being Idaho and SJSU, in the same terms because in many aspects they were very, very similar games. I’d also like to say thank you, especially to all those fans that came out to the SJSU game. I know the weather was awful but it was still great to see how many fans we got out there both, students and non-students. 

The biggest problem we had in both games was turnovers, I think that is apparent, and in all honesty with how many times we turned the ball over, we should not have won either. As an offense we have to do a better job of securing the football, especially late in the game. Almost all those turnovers came in the second half and almost cost us the game in many regards. We emphasize it every day in practice, but now I think we understand the implications that it can truly have on a game and we are dedicated to being a sound football team that won’t turn the ball over.

On the flip side of that, our defense did an amazing job both weeks of reacting to a sudden change in the game. I can assure you that it is not easy to stop somebody, often times on a long drive, then come off sit on the bench for two plays only to have the offense give them ball right back. However they never wavered, they were tough-minded and bowed up when we needed them to. The redzone defense was amazing, and seeing how they were in the redzone a lot of the time because of offensive mishaps, to get a field goal or even no points is a great accomplishment. Each week we have needed every point and every stop and we made the plays on defense to keep our team in the game with a chance to win. 

In terms of the Idaho game, I think you can see how much we have truly grown as a team. We were in double OT again, just as we were against CSU, and had to win this game. We had a must score situation that we didn’t execute against the Rams, but we executed it against the Vandals. And when we needed a stop, well quite frankly we stopped them three times, they just caught a few breaks that still is leaving our team scratching our heads. But the important thing is we took our mistakes that we made in the past and the experiences and we didn’t sulk, we didn’t dwell on the past, we learned from it and used it to our advantage. It would’ve been easy to play that overtime “not to lose” because we had felt the heartbreak of one before. Or been apprehensive in the 4th quarter of the SJSU game because the season was on the brink of basically ending, but we didn’t think of that. We know that all that matters is the score when the clock hits 00:00, everything leading up to that you have to put behind you and play the next play. We did that in each game and had so many people step up and make big plays. Because of that we were able to come out victorious and keep all our dreams and hopes for the season alive.

This upcoming game is a huge one. Nevada is a great team and they have had our number for quite some time now. They are coming off a tough loss to another great team, La Tech, and they will be hungry to remain in the hunt for a share of the WAC title. For us it is a huge and important game. If we truly want to go to a bowl game we know we don’t want to leave anything to chance and want to make sure they have to place us in one. If we want that we have to win this game. It will be hard and it will be physical, they are a great opponent and we know and understand that. It is senior day as well, so we will all want to leave Romney Stadium with a sweet taste in our mouth rather than the bitter taste of defeat. 

Thanksgiving is also a time to take a deep breath and appreciate all you have been given. We are truly blessed to be able to go out every week and have the support of our fans, friends, and families. Not a day goes by that we don’t appreciate how truly lucky we are. I hope each and every one of you will appreciate Thanksgiving as well and find something to give thanks for. Enjoy some turkey and some NFL football (finally good games to watch this year!!!) and then get ready for a great day on Saturday when the Aggies take on the Wolf Pack.  Saturday is also Senior Day and will be my last game played on Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium.  I just want you all to know how much of an honor it is to be a member of this senior class in this program, but I’ll express more of that in next week’s note.

As always, that you for your continued support of USU football. We hope the stands are full of Aggie fans on Saturday, your support is greatly appreciated and means a lot to us.

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

“The proudest I’ve ever been of a team, of my family.” I tweeted it right after the game and I meant it with all my heart. That was a game that no matter how long I live I will remember, and I will remember the look in every single players’ eyes as we walked out of that tunnel in the second half knowing that we were weren’t going to accept a loss, not again not this time.

Funny little tidbit about the game: Two years ago when we played at Hawai‘i in Coach Andersen’s first year as a coach we were up 7-0 in the game and had just got a pick. Diondre threw a deep ball to Xavier Bowman and to everyone on the sideline it seemed as if X caught the ball, but in reality he had it taken from him by a player named Tank Hopkins. From then on the momentum of that game shifted and Hawai‘i rattled off 35 unanswered points and ended up winning that game. Fast-forward to two years later when Adam Kennedy throws a ball to Stanley Morrison and to everyone in the stadium it seems as if #4 Tank Hopkins has a surefire interception, but then all of a sudden Stan emerges with the ball and takes the ball the rest of the way to the endzone, finishing a 71-yard touchdown to shift the momentum our way and help us win the game. It’s kind of eerie and I was talking to Stan about it after the game, but like we’ve always said it was about time.

I don’t really want to speak much about the first half, but of course will touch on it. It just seemed as if they came out with a little more fire. Not to say we weren’t ready because we were. The extra day of travel helped tremendously and Coach A and all the staff did an amazing job at planning all that. We as players handled it well and used our free time to enjoy things like the beach, but understood that it was a business trip and come game time we were ready. But Hawai‘i is a very physical team and it just seemed as if they had that little extra edge. Now you may say “little edge” and think I’m crazy because it was 28-7 at half, but that is what happens with good teams, they make you pay for the mistakes you make. We didn’t play terrible, it is not like we turned the ball over five times and missed tons of blocks or tackles, Hawai‘i just capitalized on the mistakes we did make, and that is the true mark of a good team.

Now the second half on the other hand, we showed that we were a great team because we capitalized on our opportunities like we never have before. It was tough seeing Chuckie go down, I was right there and it scared me a little, sometimes this sport does that to you. It is a physical game, especially when you play Hawai‘i, and hits like that are an occupational hazard, but you never wish them on anyone. Everyone came out of that tunnel with Chuckie in their hearts and prayers and kept him in the back of our minds throughout the whole game. We wanted him to know that we had his back. However, we couldn’t dwell or sulk, and just as we always have with Coach A and his staff, we trust 100% whoever they put in the game. Adam Kennedy has had the best attitude all year and has helped Chuckie in every practice, has taken reps, and has always been ready and that showed. He stepped in and we all knew he was Coach A’s recruit, he was there for a reason, we knew that he would do his job, and he did it remarkably. He marched the offense up and down the field, made amazing throws, and did it all while staying calm, collected, and composed. Some people may have been surprised but nobody on the team was, we trust him just like he trusts us. The defense made some huge stops, the corners played amazing shutting down their prolific passing offense with the help of a great pass rush and allowed very few deep balls. In that second half we dictated the pace of the game, the play of the game, and the physicality as well and that is why we came out with a victory.

The fourth quarter had been our clutch all year, we know that, but we had talked about it all week about finishing. This week it came down to finishing in a different way than before, but still if we didn’t win the fourth quarter we would’ve lost the game. In our minds so many games had been taken from us in the fourth, it was our time to go take one from someone else. We had some breaks, like the tipped pass from Stanley to Bobby and landing in Joe Hill’s hands, but Joe was right where he was supposed to be. And don’t for one second let those plays where it seemed like the “ball bounced our way” overshadow the great plays by Stanley, Matt Austin, Chuck Jacobs, Robert Turbin, Mike Smith, Adam Kennedy; or the sacks by Bobby, Levi Koskan, Kyle Gallagher, or that fourth down stop by the defense to give the offense the ball back in the fourth. Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness, it’s just taking advantage of what the universe gives you and on this day as a team we found a way to do that.

The trip home was brutal, the red-eye, then a layover, then flight to SLC, then bus back up to Logan, but it was not nearly as bad as it could’ve been and everyone had a smile on their face the entire time. It was good to come back home and get a victory but just as every other week we have to put the previous week behind us and look forward to the next opponent. The win was big in keeping our bowl game hopes alive that is true, but next week is just as crucial and important. San Jose State is a good football team and it took some amazing plays for us to beat them last year. They are coming off a tough loss, something we know all too much about, and are fighting for a bowl game as well. We have more momentum then we have had in past weeks and we are going to have to take that and use it against a very good and underrated in the minds of fans team.

Us as players and coaches understand the task ahead and are just going to take it one week at a time and try to make our fans in Logan and all over the country proud. Thanks all for the support of those who went and all those who stayed up and watched or listened to the game, we really do appreciate and love all the support it helps us I hope you all know and understand that you guys mean just as much to us as you may think we mean to you. And for the record…I did compare Adam Kennedy to Neville Longbottom (they look exactly alike!!!!) but as a huge Harry Potter fan that’s like a huge compliment coming from me, just so you know.

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

I think that this bye week has come at a very good time. As I’ve stated before, it has been a rough couple of weeks and sometimes the best thing to do in situation like this is to just step away and take a deep breath. During the week of practice we as a team were still motivated and focused on preparing for a good Hawai‘i team and using this extra week of practice to gain that competitive edge. However, come the weekend I know of many players that headed home, myself included, or got out of Logan for the weekend to stay with friends. Speaking from my personal experience, it is nice to be able to, every once in a while, see the family and friends in an environment where you can talk and chat about things other than football. I was able to watch my nephew, who is 6-years old, play flag football and also able to see my new nephew who is 3-months old for the first time. Being from Colorado, the distance is large enough to not see my family on a regular basis, but also short enough (flight wise only about an hour) to be able to take advantage of a bye weekend later in the season. I have spoken with many of my fellows players returning from trips home as well and speaking with them I can tell that this bye week gave a lot of people that ability to put their feet up a little and relax.

The funny thing about bye weeks, however, is talking with all my teammates, we all spent the whole week watching college football. It shows how much we as a team love this sport. Many people would think that we would want to get away from football, but instead we spent the week watching prime time games and future match-ups as well. In addition to that, everyone was excited and ready to come back and practice on Monday. Walking up to practice on Monday, Xavier Martin said to me “good to have this helmet back on”. I chuckled because it had only been three days since we practiced, but I couldn’t agree more with him. This team loves football, and while taking a breath from practice and games is a good thing, the reason is not because we are away from football, but instead get to spend time with the ones we love for a longer duration.

Another reason why this bye week came at a good time was because we have to travel for Hawai‘i, and the bye week gave us three more practices than we would have been able to get, and allows us to leave an extra day earlier to cancel out the travel and change in time as well. This week of practice, while shorter, will be crisper and has been crisper because of the extra practices last week.

Hawai‘i is a great team, and this is a very crucial game for our team as I think everyone knows. I believe that this team is ready to play and itching to get back out there and show how resilient of a team we can be. We know that once we get the ball rolling we can show this town who we really are, and we believe that this week is crucial to getting that ball on the move.

Eric Moats – #82 – SR – WR – Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Highlands Ranch HS/U.S. Air Force Academy)

Finish in the fourth quarter. I don’t think it is much of a surprise to anyone, player or fan, that this is the crutch to our Utah State University Football team this year. I want you all to know that physically and emotionally this year has crushed every player on this team. If you think we don’t care about the losses or believe that we simply don’t want to win and that is the reason for our faults in the fourth, you are sadly mistaken. We are a tough team and I hope that we will prove to all the disbelievers out there that we are the team that we know that we are and that we will always keep fighting for our fans, for the university, but most importantly for each other.

Both the Fresno State and Louisiana Tech games were very similar, everyone who has followed us knows that. The positive coming out of these games is the performance of our defense. In both these games, the defense gave the offense great chances to take the lead and put the game away and we didn’t capitalize. The defensive unit has done a great job of stopping both the run and pass, and giving the offense great chances to take over the game. It just seems as a matter of putting together a whole game. Sometimes it feels as if one side of the ball, whether offense, defense, or special teams, makes one or two costly mistakes that negatively affect the game and it hurts us in the end. We know that if we can ever play a complete game, in all aspects of the game and for all four quarters, we can compete with any team in the country. We are addressing all these problems in both practice, meetings, and in the weight room. We are going to continue fighting and we all believe on this team that we can still qualify for a bowl game, but in the end all we are focusing on now is beating a very good Hawai’i team that has had our number the past two years.

As a player we hear utterances from friends, fans, and strangers. I know that some people have been questioning the coaching calls of late and I’m here to tell you as a player that they have done nothing but put us in the best possible position to win the games. It is on us as players to execute and we haven’t done a good enough job of doing that. The schemes are there, the plays are called right, we just need to execute better. We as players trust the coaches 100% in whatever they decide because we know it is the best decision for the team. I have heard many complain about Coach Andersen’s decision to punt on fourth down late in the fourth quarter. We as players of course wanted to get the first down but trusted Coach A’s decision and supported it 100%. For those who doubted him look at the result…with the fumbled punt and penalty the LA Tech offense was in their own redzone with every chance to put the game away. Our defense held them to a field goal. Now I’m not here to say the play calling would’ve been the exact same and the defense would’ve got a three-and-out for sure, but look at the facts. Our defense stopped their offense and gave us the ball back with ample enough time to go down and score, I believe that had we even not had a botched play on that punt, that the exact same would’ve happened. Coach Andersen knew that and knew that the field position, had it been executed correctly by the players, would’ve given the team the best chance to go down and take the lead. And because he believed it, so did every player on the sideline.

The season is not over, we have a bye week this week which will be beneficial to prepare for this tricky Hawai’i squad, but we will not be relaxing just because we don’t have a game or because the ball has bounced our way. This has been one of, if not the, toughest season that I have ever been through in my entire athletic career, but every player on this team, myself included, is 100% dedicated to making this one of the greatest season. And more importantly we believe that it can happen.