Feb. 11, 2009

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's 2009 season-opener and the debut of the Gary Andersen era has been moved up two days, as the Aggies will now tangle with the Utah Utes on Thursday, Sept. 3.

"We're in a mutual agreement with Utah to move the game to Thursday. This will be a great kick-off to the holiday weekend and we hope to get as many Aggie fans there as possible," USU Athletics Director Scott Barnes said.

Andersen was hired as the Aggies' head coach in December after five seasons as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Utah.

With the Utah game change, Utah State's non-conference schedule is now finalized, as the Aggies will play two other in-state foes plus a Big XII opponent for the second time in the last three seasons when Utah State plays at Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 19, in a clash of the Aggies. It will be USU's first match-up with Texas A&M.

Utah State hosts Southern Utah on Saturday, Sept. 26, matching up with the Thunderbirds for the first time since 2000. USU will also tangle with BYU on Friday, Oct. 2 at Provo, Utah.

USU is expecting the release of the Western Athletics Conference schedule in early March.

Andersen's Aggie team returns 47 letterwinners (24 offense, 20 defense and three special teams) from last season's 3-9 overall and 3-5 WAC record squad. It marked the first time since 2005 that the Aggies had three wins in a season and USU won three WAC games in a season for the first time in the Aggies' four seasons in the league. It is also the first time since 2003 that USU won three conference games and just the third time in the 2000's.

Aggie football tickets are available through the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, online at www.UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on "tickets" in left column, or by calling 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

2009 Utah State Non-Conference Schedule