Offense

Utah State’s offense has some question marks coming out of spring ball. Kevin Whimpey’s absence will be felt along the offensive line, especially early in the season. However, the line will return four other starters. Their problem will be run blocking. As a pass blocking line this unit is a B+, but as a run blocking team it is a C-. That suits USU’s offense under new offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.

The Aggies will operate mostly out of the spread again in 2015 and senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton will start the season again. Keeton —who saw his last two seasons end early due to injury— looked healthy and confident in spring.

Keeton looks poised for a season like 2012, where he had 3,373 passing yards and 27 touchdowns. Should he go down again Sophomore Kent Myers is the backup. Myers went 5-1 as a starter following a string of injuries that took him from redshirt freshman to bowl game winner.

The Aggies will rarely be under center and won’t win many games by handing the ball off. Instead USU will utilize their toy box of receivers. Hunter Sharp, Jojo Natson and Brandon Swindall lead a deep receiving corps that could produce multiple 1,000 yard receivers.

There will probably not be a 1,000 yard running back. That’s not to say there isn’t talent in the backfield. LaJuan Hunt is a good back who does go down easy, Rashad Hall is tough and fast and Tonny Lindsey was one of the few offensive standouts at the spring game.

However, a combination of a pass heavy offense, a quarterback who will take a considerable amount of the carries and an offensive line that won’t get much of a push off the line will result in an underwhelming rushing game. Should the team need to rely on running the ball it will not end well.

Overall the offense will be slightly worse than last year. The bad news is that the run game will get neglected and in an attempt to use the plethora of athletes the play calling will get too complicated. The good news is that the offensive line will improve each game —like it did last season— and, if healthy, Keeton will display his leadership abilities and flash his athletic abilities.

Defense

USU’s front seven is the deepest and most talented unit on the team. This is despite the graduation of Zach Vigil and B.J. Larsen.

Vigil’s younger brother —Nick— will lead the linebackers and the defense. L.T. Filiaga and Kyler Fackrell have already proven themselves as playmaking linebackers. Torrey Green, Alex Huerta, Jarom Baldomero and Ian Togiai are ready for extended playing times. As a whole the linebackers are athletic and just flat out impressive.

Jordan Nielson and Travis Seefeldt are the leaders of the defensive line. They are forces shielding the linebackers from the offense. They will lead Ricky Ali’ifua, Siua Taufa, David Moala and the rest of the defensive line.

If there is a weakness to the defense it is with the secondary. The corners can be beaten and former safety Brian Suite left a hole in the defense. Free safety Devin Centers is a consummate ball-hawk. He always finds a way to make plays. Corners Jalen Davis is likely to improve upon an impressive freshmen campaign and Daniel Gray will try to show the potential that got him a spot on an SEC defense out of high school.

Overall the defense will be better, if possible, than last season. They are deep and physical and arguably the best mid-major defense in the country.

Overall

The biggest struggle for USU its schedule. The Aggies play two Pac-12 teams on the road and finish with in-state rival BYU. The Aggies also face their last three MW losses in their first three conference games.

The Aggies have not stayed healthy in three seasons and a draining first half of the schedule might make that a third straight year.

Overall I think USU will go 9-3 and 7-1 in conference play. They will go to their fifth straight bowl game and likely win. It could be better and it could definitely be worse, but overall I’m buying this team.

Jeffrey Dahdah of The Utah Statesman provided the information for our Utah State Football 2015 Spring recap. For more Aggie football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Jeff on Twitter @dahdahUSU.