Homecoming festivities in Cache Valley last week included parades and face-painting with the cherry on top of a 59-28 football victory over UNLV. Here are three items of note from that thrashing, plus three things about the upcoming matchup on the road versus Wyoming and three things about the MWC, too.

Three things from the past: USU vs. UNLV

1. Offense, offense, offense

Heard this one before? The Aggies can score in every phase of the game, but it’s clear that the offense is an A+ on the grading scale. Consider:

It was the fifth straight game that the Ags have scored 40+ points. That accomplishment has only been done 134 times in all of college football since 1869.
In a surprisingly less-than-par first quarter, the Aggies found themselves tied with UNLV 7-7. In about five minutes of game time, Utah State scored four touchdowns to take a 35-7 lead.
Those touchdowns took an average of 50 seconds of playing time each time. That, my friends, is the definition of explosive.
You may have heard of the Alabama Crimson Tide. They lead the nation in points per game at 53.6. Utah State is second with 51.7 ppg. What’s telling is that despite ranking second in the nation for scoring, Utah State ranks 124th (out of 129) teams in the nation for time of possession. Again, my friends, explosive.

2. But also: defense, defense, defense

Flip the field and let’s talk about the defense. Those numbers are just as dominating. Consider:

David Woodward had three sacks and 12 total tackles against the Rebels. According to Daniel Hansen, a writer for the campus newspaper in Logan, he is the first FBS player to record three or more sacks and 10 or more tackles in a single game this year.
Tipa Galeai, the transfer from TCU, had another sack Saturday afternoon, which gives him five for the season. If you are wondering, Hansen also points out that five is already more than anyone totaled on last year’s squad.
Jontrell Rocquemore, a senior safety, had back-to-back games with interceptions at BYU and then home against UNLV. That now gives the Aggies seven picks on the season, plus seven fumble recoveries too. That’s 14 total takeaways, good for 11th in the nation behind teams like ’Bama, Florida and LSU.

3. Jordan Love is simply lovely