He'd coached against schools from the Western Athletic Conference before and knew what to expect.

Still, first-year Utah State coach Gary Andersen didn't think getting his new team of Aggies ready to do battle in the WAC would be such a tough assignment.

After a pair of losses to conference teams, Andersen said he's learned quickly just how tough the WAC is.

"It's a very physical league. I'm very impressed with the defensive lines in this league," Andersen — who coached at Utah for much of the last decade, said. "I thought Nevada's defensive front was as good as any front I've seen in a long time, and then I turn on the TV and see Louisiana Tech's."

While emphasizing he did not take the league lightly, he said the Aggies have a ways to go before they can win most of the battles on the line of scrimmage.

"They're superior to where we are at this time," Andersen said.

That point was played out in Saturday's 35-32 loss to Nevada.

Despite having a more-than-respectable running game and a double-digit lead, the Aggies abandoned that part of their offense and gave Robert Turbin only one rushing attempt in the second half and just seven carries overall.

And with his offense unable to sustain drives, the high-powered Wolf Pack stormed back and took what appeared to be a much-needed victory away from the Aggies.

"We've got to be more physical," Andersen said. "You can't hide from who you are and we are not doing a good job ... When you can't run the ball and can't stop anyone from running it, you're going to have a hard time winning."

Nevada's 313 rushing yards compared to Utah State's 74 certainly proved that.

BOREL'S PROGRESSION: While Utah State's running back took a step backward against Nevada, the development of multi-threat quarterback Diondre Borel continues.

Saturday against the Wolf Pack, Borel set a career-high mark of 353 yards in the air on 25-of-42 passing with three touchdowns.

The junior has now passed for 1,493 yards this season with nine touchdowns and only one interception.

Borel is already the school's all-time leading rusher as a quarterback with 865 yards.

VANDALIZING THE BOWLS: The University of Idaho — yes, the school that gave us Sarah Palin and hasn't fielded a competitive football team since John L. Smith was there in the early 1990s — is bowl eligible.

The Vandals, owners of a 6-1 record and standing 3-0 in the WAC, won their all-important sixth game of the season Saturday by beating visiting Hawaii. The gives Idaho, which has been slugging it out with New Mexico State and Utah State for ninth in the conference standings since they joined the WAC, all it needs to go bowling.

And with Boise State on a march to another BCS Bowl, it appears the Vandals will be the logical choice of the Boise-based Humanitarian Bowl for an invitation.

Bowl games these days are as much about selling tickets as they are about creating matchups and with thousands of Idaho alums living in the Treasure Valley, you can bet the bowl committee is thrilled with the prospect of what will likely be a sellout crowd in late December.

Who else is happy for the Vandals? Probably Utah State fans, who, when considering their own state of things, now know it is, indeed, possible for a cellar-dwelling WAC team to make the leap to a bowl game.

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com