Utah State football: Aggies hoping to add more beef and brawn

LOGAN — In Utah State's second recruiting class with Gary Andersen as head coach, the Aggies set out — as most teams do — to fill some glaring holes on the depth chart at some positions while building for the future at others.

Most notably, Andersen — a former offensive lineman himself — wanted more beef, more brawn and more skill in the trenches.

He found that, he hopes, by securing commitments from a pair of junior college players to step in and battle right away form starting jobs.

Of those, Brooks Abel — a 6-foot-6, 310-pound sophomore-to-be from the College of the Siskiyous — is already on campus and participating in off-season conditioning at USU. He'll be joined by Jeremy LaPan, a 6-6, 300-pounder from Santa Ana JC in California.

They, along with a handful of other JC transfers and a pair of transfers from other colleges, are the sure things on the Aggie recruiting list. As Andersen learned last year when he had a couple of verbal commitments change their minds in the last couple of days, there are no sure things in recruiting until a signature comes through the fax machine on a national letter of intent.

Still, the Aggies brought a dozen recruits on the last weekend of the recruiting season and, according to a source at USU, all 12 either committed or reaffirmed past verbal commitments to sign with Utah State on Wednesday.

They include several in-state players as well as a pair of speedy cornerbacks from Florida who will give USU an instant boost in athleticism in the defensive backfield.

And while the source at Utah State said Andersen feels good about the crew he believes will sign, there are still fingers crossed in hopes of landing a prize linebacker from Hawaii.

V.J. Fehoko is a 4-star recruit, according to most Internet services, and has reportedly narrowed his choice down to Utah and Utah State. He has offers from Texas Tech, Washington, Colorado and UCLA but has said he's either going to be a Ute or an Aggie — where he has a cousin coaching on each staff.

"We're still swinging on him," the source at USU said. "We feel pretty good about the way we've recruited him and our chances. We just have to wait and see, I guess."

Aside from Fehoko, few players on USU's list are who might be considered on the fence, the source said.

If there's a need yet to be filled, it might be on the defensive line.

The Aggies have verbal commitments from a few high school players with potential, and Andersen's staff is targeting a late signee or two from the JC ranks that can come in and compete for a starting spot next fall. Last year, the Aggies showed speed and heart on the defensive line but were outsized against most opponents. Andersen said after the season ended, he would like to change that through recruiting.

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