Six things to know ahead of Utah State’s matchup with No. 19 BYU

LOGAN – Utah State matches up with No. 19 BYU for a Thursday-night football game this week. It’s the first Thursday game for the Aggies since beating New Mexico 41-27 in 2020. Last year when these two sides met, the Cougars — ranked 13th at the time — got the best of the Aggies 34-20 in Logan. BYU has won each of the last two matchups, though before that Utah State won back-to-back games over BYU in 2017 and 2018. That 2018 matchup was in Provo and the Aggies won handily, 45-20.

This year will be much different from those 2017 and 2018 contests. For one, the Cougars are riding a surge in program success under seventh-year head coach Kalani Sitake. They’ve been ranked each of the last three years and have spent the whole 2022 season within the confines of the AP Top 25 poll. The Aggies meanwhile, are in a significant rut despite having a banner year in 2021. It will take everything USU can give to steal victory on the road against its most-hated rival.

Game Info

  • Kickoff: 6 p.m. MT
  • Location: Lavell Edwards Stadium; Provo, UT
  • TV Broadcast: ESPN
  • Aggie GameDay Coverage on KVNU (102.1 FM/610 AM & KVNU mobile app) & simulcast on 106.9 The FAN (106.9 FM / 1390 AM & 106.9 The FAN mobile app): 4:30 p.m. MT
  • KVNU Aggie Call (102.1 FM/610 AM, KVNU mobile app + 106.9 FM / 1390 AM The FAN, 106.9 The FAN mobile app): Immediately after game ends

End of the rivalry

Thursday’s game will be the 91st meeting between BYU and Utah State, with the first game being played in 1922. The “Old Wagon Wheel” trophy dates back to 1948 with the Aggies taking it first on a 20-7 victory. Overall though, the Cougars hold a 50-37-1 advantage in the series all-time.

Unfortunately, this could be the final time these two historic rivals play each other for a while. There are no current plans to play games in the future and with BYU’s move to the Big 12 Conference, it will become more complicated to schedule games; both in number of weeks available and in the willingness of the sides to negotiate terms of a game or series.

For their part, both head coaches said they’d rather see the rivalry continue.

Rivalry football is what college football is all about, in my opinion. I absolutely love it,” Anderson said. “Some of my most enjoyable experiences are these types of games. I hate to see it go.”

“I love the in-state games. We went up there to Logan last year and that was a cool environment. You can see how much the fans love it, love this game,” Sitake said. “I played in this. I remember being a fan cheering for BYU in these rival games, especially the games against Utah State. I played in it and now I get to coach in it. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Unfortunately, the ultimate decision is out of these two coaches’ hands. The players, fans and coaches all want the game, but administrations can’t come together.

USU seeking discipline

In the wake of USU’s loss to UNLV, Anderson brought up discipline as an issue with both his players and his coaching staff. One of the biggest outward showings of a lack of discipline is the team’s extraordinarily high rate of penalties. The Aggies have been penalized roughly 10 times per game for an average of 91 yards lost through those infractions. USU’s 39 total penalties is fourth-most in FBS and the 364 total yards lost is third-most.

We’ve got to show more composure,” Anderson said. “We had a great, frenzied kind of environment which is what we want. We need that energy and it showed on the field in how physically we played, with the energy that we played with. But obviously we can’t cross that line and start having emotional type penalties, frustration type penalties. We had way too much dialogue with an official.”

And for Anderson, the extracurriculars, as it were, are the real killers. Other penalties he said he can live with to some degree.

“It’s one thing to have, in the course of play, hand placement gets a little bad, you get a holding call,” Anderson said. “I get combative penalties, it’s the unforced errors, the unsportsmanlike conduct where your emotions take the best of you. We cannot have it. We cannot put ourselves in a position to retaliate. We definitely cannot instigate it.”

Anderson: Jaren Hall is “the total package”

Utah State had to face reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young earlier this season, and while Young is still considered one of the best in the collegiate ranks, BYU’s Jaren Hall is hardly an easier foe. Hall is statistically performing better than Young this season, ranking 21st in FBS in passing yards per game (291.0) and 29th in passing touchdowns (9). Hall is one of just three quarterback so far this year to have at least 1,000 passing yards, nine touchdown passes, one or fewer interceptions and complete at least 70 percent of their passes (others are C.J. Stroud and Jalon Daniels).

“He’s been somewhat flawless,” Anderson said. “He can reach every area of the field and he can hurt you with his feet. He’s the total package.”

Statistically, the Aggies fared well against the pass, currently ranking 48th in passing yards allowed at just 204.8 and are T-10th in defensive interceptions. Continuing that trend, especially in picking off Hall and creating turnovers, would go a long way in securing an upset over the Cougars.

BYU has a stout defense that gave USU fits last year

Anderson had a lot of praise for BYU’s defensive unit, one that confounded the Aggies at times last year.

They’re built really well up front. They’re big. They play a lot of guys,” Anderson said. “They’ve got length out on the edges to play man coverage, which they will. They played a lot of man coverage against us last year. But their ability to play the run and slow the run down – obviously with the exception of two really good rushing teams in Baylor and Oregon – they’re still able to play the box with few numbers and commit guys out in space which makes windows really really hard to get into.”

Anderson noted his team’s inability to run the ball last year against the Cougars. USU managed just 22 total rushing yards a year ago on 35 attempts. This year’s BYU team is currently allowing fewer yards per rush (3.9) than it did last year (4.4), a considerable feat when noting that two of the Cougars’ four opponents rank in the top 30 for rushing offense.

Cougars getting back Romney, several other previously-injured players

BYU’s roster has been struck with the injury bug lately. In the team’s win over Wyoming last week, several players left the game, including wide receivers Puka Nacua and Chase Roberts. Nacua has played just two games for BYU this season a year removed from being the team’s top receiver (43 receptions, 805 yards, six TDs in 2021). Roberts is one of BYU’s top wideouts this season, being second in both receptions (15) and yards (223). Nacua’s status is still unknown but most other players are expected to be available. Roberts is “going to play” according to Sitake. Others expected to return are right tackle Kingsley Suamataia, linebacker Max Tooley, and defensive linemen Gabe Summers and Earl Tuioti-Mariner.

The most notable returner will be receiver Gunner Romney. The senior has yet to play this season due to a preseason injury. Last year Romney was the third-most productive receiver on the team with 34 catches for 594 yards and three touchdowns.

Utah State struggling to protect the ball recently

In the first two games of the Aggies’ season, they turned it over twice. The lack of turnovers was a point of pride for Anderson, who specifically pointed out after the Alabama loss that the team didn’t throw an interception. Things have changed since then. In the two most recent games, Utah State has amassed 10 turnovers – nine interceptions and one fumble lost. It’s a significant issue for a team that’s already spent too much time trying to figure out its offense.

If there’s on positive trend in this for the Aggies, it’s that the Cougars are not a team that’s forced too many turnovers thus far in 2022. They have two interceptions and have not even forced a fumble yet, let alone recover one.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

1 Comment

  • KA September 29, 2022 at 8:13 am Reply

    You pretty much need to know only one thing: USU is going to get creamed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.