There’s no pleasant way to put it: The Utah State Aggies looked awful in their season opener against the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday.
There was excitement within the Utah State program leading into the season, especially with the move to the Pac-12, but it all came crashing down in dramatic fashion.
Whether it was defensive lapses, foolish penalties or turnovers, it all led to a 29-17 win for the Bengals. Saturday was the first time Idaho State beat the Aggies since 2000, and Utah State’s first loss to an FCS opponent since Weber State in 2022.
“The team wasn’t prepared well enough to win,” Aggies head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “My job is always to prepare the entire team.
“We also have to make clear and early assessments of where our team is, so today gave us great feedback, (and) a clearer idea of where we are offensively, defensively, special teams. Lots of work to do.”
Despite outgaining Idaho State 407-241, Utah State only found the end zone twice. The discrepancy in the score came from the four interceptions thrown by the quarterbacks, as McCae Hillstead threw three and Grady Brosterhous one.
The offense looked good to open the game, as the Aggies marched downfield and Hillstead found Virginia transfer Eli Wood for a 15-yard touchdown to give Utah State a 7-3 lead, but Hillstead and the rest of the group struggled from there.
The Aggies struggled to establish the run, as they didn’t get any meaningful rushing yards until late in the second quarter, when Javen Jacobs finally got some touches.
But then came the interceptions. Hillstead’s first was in the second quarter, and he threw two more in the second half. Any offensive momentum was halted, and Idaho State took advantage.
The Bengals scored on their first four drives, and 10 points after turnovers.
Brosterhous was given a few snaps but also struggled. He threw for 67 yards and one interception.
“Offensive football certainly starts with the front,” Mendenhall said. “Quarterback directs the whole thing and then just precision and execution, not only recognition, recognition of what we’re going against. Then the technical work and the position mastery to execute and pull that off.
“None of that held. There were glimpses here and there, but nothing consistent to where it looked like, ‘Oh man, that’s going to be what this offense looks like.’ So we have quite a ways to go.”
The brightest spot offensively was Wood, who pulled in 90 yards on six receptions and scored on the opening drive. Of course, he cares more about team success than personal success.
“We lost; that’s really the only thing that matters,” he said. “We can’t let one game define us. We got to come back on Monday ready to work.
“Every goal that we had set out for is still attainable. This team is really close. We’re not going to let this break us up.”
Idaho State clearly favored the passing game in its Week 0 win over VMI. In that game, it rushed for only 88 yards, while throwing for 366.
Similarly, the Bengals found early success on the pass Saturday, and kicker Mason Lindberg had a phenomenal game. Lindberg was perfect, going 5 for 5 on field goals, three of which were from over 40 yards out.
However, it wasn’t all bad for Utah State defensively. It held Idaho State to 152 passing yards after the strong start and forced a field goal after an interception put the ball on the USU 5.
Still, it allowed an FCS opponent to score on seven of its drives.
“Coach (Nick) Howell on the back end, he’s a mastermind,” said inside linebacker Harrison Taggart of the Aggies’ defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
“First game of the season, I didn’t like how it came out. I didn’t like how it finished, but I felt like we got in a little bit of a rhythm, but I didn’t like it.”
The most disappointing thing for Utah State was how many issues from last season still plagued it on Saturday, especially procedural penalties.
A moment in the third quarter especially showed the mental lapses. The Aggies had the ball in field goal range on third and two, but then back-to-back false starts pushed it 10 yards back.
“I think you have to look exactly where they’re coming from and if there’s a commonality to a year ago,” Mendenhall said. “The offensive front play a year ago, a lot of penalties came there, and most of those today were offensive front play.”
On Saturday, that group also allowed three sacks, six tackles for loss and three QB hurries.
Utah State has little time to ruminate on the loss as it travels to Seattle to face Washington next week, and then to Salt Lake City to face Utah the following week.
“Part of life is you learn and you apply and then you go,” Mendenhall said. “My word, there’ll be all kinds of commentary about it, but the team, they get tonight and tomorrow.
“Monday morning team meeting, and then we’re on to the next one. That doesn’t mean skipping over or going past anything that needs to be addressed, but we don’t have much time.”