Gameday guide: Utah State at San Jose State

Utah State's Kent Myers (2) looks to pass against Wake Forest in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Utah State (1-2) will travel to San Jose State (1-3) to take on the Spartans this Saturday in the Aggies’ third road game of the season. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. MT.

<h4>WHAT IS ON THE LINE?</h4>

Each team only has one win so far this season, but this game gives both a chance at a fresh start. Saturday’s game will be the first conference game for both teams. Whichever team loses will be at an early disadvantage in its division standings.

“It’s our first Mountain West game and in a lot of ways, the three games we already played are almost in some ways like preseason games,” head coach Matt Wells said. “You learn some good things about your team and you learn a little bit of bad about your team, and then you’re dealing with some guys getting banged up.”

The Aggies and Spartans have met 37 times before, with San Jose State holding a 20-16-1 advantage, but Utah State has won the last six. It will be the first meeting since 2014, when the Aggies won 41-7.

“It has been a good rivalry and it has been a long-standing game between the two schools,” Wells said. “We’ve played them a bunch. We played them when I was a player here and when I was an assistant here.”

<h4>HOW TO WATCH &amp; LISTEN</h4>

The game can be viewed on Facebook through a page called Stadium. You can find it at this <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/StadiumCollegeFootball/videos/1926072571048692/” target=”_blank”>link</a> or view it in the window below.

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“KVNU Gameday” with Al Lewis and Craig Hislop will begin at 3:30 p.m. Tune in at 610 AM and 102.1 FM or listen online at <a href=”http://www.kvnutalk.com/” target=”_blank”>kvnutalk.com</a> or on the KVNU mobile app. Radio coverage on KVNU will continue with “Aggie Call” once the game concludes.

<h4>THE SPARTANS</h4>

San Jose State’s only win came against Cal Poly on Sept. 2, a 34-13 victory at home. The other three games have been lost by an average of 38 points, but have come against strong competition, including two Power 5 schools and a 3-0 South Florida squad.

The Spartan defense is giving up 476.2 yards per game, more than any Mountain West school, while the offense has been limited to 325.8 yards per game. Most of that offensive production – 65 percent of it – has come through the air.

Wells isn’t expecting an easy game.

“This is a team that plays hard,” he said. “They’ve had a tough schedule just like we’ve had at the beginning. They’ve got some guys banged up, they will play hard.”

<h4>AGGIE INJURY REPORT</h4>

Senior running back Tonny Lindsey had surgery earlier in the week, according to Wells, and will be out for the season.

“That is a tough thing for a young man and he was a young man who worked really hard in the offseason to put himself in a good position to have a good senior year,” Wells said. “I hate that for Tonny.”

Wells declined to mention specific names, but said other who are injured are day-to-day.

“We’ve got some guys who are banged up,” he said. “Some guys returned to the game last week and some guys didn’t because of the way the game was playing out in the fourth quarter.”

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