Utah State football: Aggies tackle tough '09 schedule

Gary Andersen, like the football coaches before him at Utah State, has a deck stacked against him in many ways.

The new Aggie coach has fans excited and looking forward to a new season of action, but the schedule will again be a tough one with few "easy" wins for USU to look forward to.

Utah State released its 2009 schedule on Wednesday, and if Andersen hopes to guide the Aggies to a winning season, he'll have to do it on the road.

Seven of USU's 12 games, including four of the first five, are away from Romney Stadium and include the difficult task of playing at Utah, BYU and Texas A&M.

"The only thing I'm really worried about right now is our first game, and that just happens to be the Utah game on Sept. 3," Andersen said. "We'll have our work cut out for us there, but we've known that's going to be there on the schedule for a long time. Overall, the schedule has a good mix of being on the road for a couple weeks, then home for a couple weeks in an alternating pattern."

The trip to College Station, Texas, on Sept. 19 will be USU's first meeting with that brand of Aggies.

The first home game on the schedule will be Southern Utah on Sept. 26 will be a reunion of sorts for Andersen, who spent one season coaching the Thunderbirds in 2003. The first road game is at Utah, where Andersen spent more than a decade coaching as an assistant.

"There's a little something extra with both of those games," Andersen said.

"The Utah game will mean a lot to me, based on the amount of kids I know on their football team and my ties there. It's been a big part of my life for a long time, so I can't say that there's not going to be emotions. It will be different than walking into a place I've never been before; that is where it's been home for me for a long time. That will be a little bit different, but we will prepare as a team and I'll prepare as a coach the exact same way to go in and compete."

After being on the road for much of the early season, the Aggies will enjoy four home games in six weeks — each against Western Athletic Conference foes — as they try to become bowl eligible for the first time since John L. Smith was the Utah State coach.

Another key to the schedule is the Nov. 20 game against Boise State. The contest against the Broncos will be USU's first home game broadcast nationally by ESPN — the game will be on ESPN2.

Seven of Utah State's opponents played in bowl games last year.

USU's 2009 schedule

Sept. 3 at Utah 7 p.m.

Sept. 19 at Texas A&M TBA

Sept. 26 SOUTHERN UTAH 6 p.m.

Oct. 2 at BYU 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 at New Mexico St. 6 p.m.

Oct. 17 NEVADA* 1 p.m.

Oct. 24 LOUISIANA TECH* 1 p.m.

Oct. 31 at Fresno State* 3 p.m.

Nov. 7 at Hawaii* 3 p.m.

Nov. 14 SAN JOSE STATE* 1 p.m.

Nov. 20 BOISE STATE* 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 28 at Idaho 3 p.m.

*WAC game

Home games in CAPS

E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com