USU football: Aggies looking to take better care of the ball against Y.

PROVO — Max Hall and the BYU offense are capable enough.

The Cougars know how to score points, know how to move the ball and know how to suck the life out of an opposing defense.

And because of that, Utah State coach Gary Andersen is making it a priority for Utah State to not give the Cougar offense any more possessions than it has to.

Primarily, that means holding onto the ball and staying sharp.

Through three games, Utah State has fumbled the ball an eye-popping 13 times and lost five of them.

Needless to say, Andersen isn't pleased with that, and the Aggies had to change their offensive scheme after the ball hit the turf a few too many times last week — especially when running the option.

"With the ability we have in the running back position and the ability we have with the quarterback to run, the option has to be a big part of what we do offensively," Andersen said. "It keeps people much more vanilla on defense and causes them a lot of issues. But, if we execute like we did last game, it won't be a factor for us. But when we have those running backs in there, it is a major threat. But the way we ran it on Saturday night, it was not a threat."

Of particular concern is quarterback Diondre Borel's ability to accurately toss the ball to his running back. USU has lost significant chunks of yardage on misdirected pitches and has seen several drives stymied as a result.

Coupled with three turnovers on special teams — one was a fluke in which a short Southern Utah punt hit a USU blocker in the foot — and the Aggies have a bona fide problem with keeping the ball secured.

"We had the turnovers on special teams. We break down every area of special teams. We won every phase of special teams if we didn't turn the ball over. But we did," Andersen said. "So we lost four out of five areas of special teams because of our turnovers. It was situations where ball security was an issue. One was a mishap. That one I can deal with. We need to get that fixed."

If the Aggies are able to keep the ball off the ground and out of the BYU defense's hands, they think they've got a chance to surprise the 65,000 or so fans waiting for them in LaVell Edwards Stadium tonight.

Seeing a potential weakness exposed in BYU's loss to Florida State, Utah State players hope to use what speed they have to break a few big plays. Running backs Robert Turbin and Michael Smith each have had ample success sprinting past defenders once they get into the open field and Borel is a threat to move the ball with his legs as well as his arm.

"Our ability to be dominant on the offensive side of the football is impressive," Andersen said after the Aggies posted more than 600 yards against Southern Utah and 527 against Texas A&M. "We had big explosive plays and a few long, sustained drives."

Against BYU, the ability to keep doing that — while also eliminating turnovers and momentum-changing fumbles — will be imperative.

"We have to get turnovers and get our offense on the field," Andersen said. "Then on offense you have to control the football. You have to control the ball and score on offense."

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com