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Utah State coach Matt Wells’ stock surges following Boise State win

By Doug Carey

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Utah State coach Matt Wells’ agent didn’t play a single down in the Aggies’ 52-26 win over Boise State on Friday, but you can bet he was as thrilled as anyone.

Wells entered the season as the eighth-highest paid coach in the Mountain West at $750,000, but that figures to change after the Aggies took control of the Mountain Division in the conference with Friday’s upset win. Utah State forced seven turnovers in the first half and took a 45-10 lead into the break against a shell-shocked Boise State squad as Utah State rolled to its third straight win.

The season is only seven weeks old, but it’s already been a rocky roller-coaster ride for the Aggies. It began on a high note in the preseason, when ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and Mark Schlabach both predicted Utah State would end up playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Just as the bandwagon was reaching capacity, the Aggies opened with a lackluster win over Southern Utah, and then came back-to-back losses to Utah and Washington in September.

The Aggies also lost quarterback Chuckie Keeton, to a season-ending injury in the loss to the Huskies, and all appeared lost. But give credit to Wells, who regrouped with backup Kent Myers and saw the Aggies secure a 33-18 win at Colorado State.

Utah State’s defense dominated in a 56-14 win at Fresno State last week, providing a hint of what would follow against Boise State. If the Aggies were left for dead after their two early losses, a win over the Mountain West’s perennial power definitely puts them back on the national radar.

There’s no underestimating how big Friday’s victory was for the Aggies, who recorded their first win over Boise State since 1997. In his postgame press conference, Wells called the win “maybe the greatest win in this program’s history.”

Sure, the Fiesta Bowl is likely lost, but the Aggies are trending upward again. And so is their coach.

Wells wasn’t even mentioned in last week’s column by Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde, who listed “three coaches who could be ticketed for a move into a Power 5 job.” Forde listed Memphis’ Justin Fuente, Toledo’s Matt Campbell and Western Kentucky’s Jeff Brohm, but you can be sure Wells has moved ahead of all three after the Boise State win.

Wells is 23-11 in three years at his alma mater, and he was the Mountain West coach of the year in 2013. He’s not the big name that many USC boosters will want to replace Steve Sarkisian, but he should definitely be in the mix. There’s a little Pete Carroll in Wells, who was known as an offensive guru as an assistant but now boasts one of the top defensive units on the West Coast. Wells may not have Carroll’s dynamic personality, but his focus would be a welcome change at USC after the rocky Sarkisian era.

Of course, Wells’ rising stock is dependent on the Aggies building on the Boise State win. They don’t figure to be tested over the next five games, but the regular-season finale at home against BYU will be another good test for Wells and the Aggies. We’re guessing the phone will be ringing in Wells’ agent’s office well before that game even kicks off.

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