The Extra Point: How Alabama's Week 1 Opponent Looked in Week 0

Utah State picked up a win at home over UConn after struggling for much of the first half.

Alabama is one of the few teams in college football to already have current film on its upcoming opponent. 

Utah State, last season's Mountain West champion, opened the college football season last weekend in 'Week 0,' defeating UConn by a final score of 31-20.

The game was much closer than the experts expected, with Utah State being roughly a 24 point favorite before kickoff on Saturday afternoon. 

Utah State came out of the gate sluggish and uninspired, trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and shocking the college football world in the process. UConn went just 1-11 a season ago while Utah State went 11-3, and the Huskies simply looked more physical and ready to play as the road underdog.

Utah State eventually woke up and proved it was the better team, rattling off 24 straight points in the second quarter to take a 10 point halftime lead. UConn didn't go away though, staying competitive in the second half despite giving up the lead. 

The biggest takeaway from the game for the Aggies was its inability to stop the run consistently. UConn running back Nathan Carter racked up 190 yards on just 20 carries for an average of 9.5 yards per touch. Carter's gashing of the Aggie defense is sure to have Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs licking his chops as he prepares to make his Crimson Tide debut on Saturday.

Quarterback Logan Bonner was very solid for Utah State on the positive side, throwing for 281 yards and three scores while completing 69 percent of his passes. He will have to maintain that kind of accuracy to stay competitive against Alabama this weekend.

While it's true that Alabama now has film on Utah State, the flip side is the potential for Alabama to come out of the gate rusty and sluggish against a lesser opponent, just like Utah State did a few days ago. Could the in-game reps that the Aggies got last week have prepared them to put a scare on Alabama early?

Check out the video at the top of the page where BamaCentral's Blake Byler and Katie Windham discuss Utah State's Week 0 game against UConn.