Utah State’s Expectations Low Outside of Logan

It’s a time of optimism in Cache Valley right now.

Bronco Mendenhall is in, the Pac-12 is on the horizon and the vibes at Utah State University are certainly better than what they were this time last year during the termination of then head coach, Blake Anderson.

Excluding the 2020 COVID season, Utah State missed a bowl game for the first time since 2016 with last years 4-8 record and are looking to avoid that being a trend.

They also experienced their first losing record in conference play since that same year of 2016.

It was an odd feeling considering that in 11 seasons of being in the Mountain West, Utah State has more double digit win seasons (3) than they do of having less than 6 wins (2).

Still not counting the COVID season here by the way.

Long story made short, the Aggies have been competitive more often than not, making it relatively reasonable that fans are anticipating a bounce back year of sorts.

Yet, despite all the excitement and hope, the rest of the football world still seems relatively unmoved by the changes going on in Logan.

Take for example the team over/under odds from Circa Sports, where they pegged the Aggies at a grand total of 4 wins.

Utah State fans are likely pounding the over on those odds.

Another very recent example would be the Preseason Mountain West Poll, where Utah State was selected 9^th in the conference of 12 teams.

That puts the Aggies only above the likes of Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico while staying beneath teams like Air Force, Hawaii and San Diego State.

For those hoping to have a return to consistency, they’ll have to forge through a lot of change beyond just the head coach.

68 new players will be representing the battle cattle this year while only bringing back 4 starters to the fold.

One of those starters is Cache Valley’s very own Ike Larsen who was the only USU representative for the 2025 preseason Mountain West all-conference team.

Utah State’s star safety has seen his name in such discussions for three straight seasons now.

Larsen’s 2024 season was one of the lone bright spots for Utah State.

“Larsen a 5-foot-10, 195-pound safety from Smithfield, Utah (Sky View HS) finished second on the team during the 2024 season with 80 tackles (55 solo), which included 1.5 tackles for loss, to go along with a team-best nine pass breakups, while adding one interception. He finished the year with three double-digit tackle outings as he started 11 of the 12 games he played in.” (utahstateaggies.com)

Utah State starts the season out at home against a UTEP team that has had one winning season (7-6 in 2021) in the last ten years, giving the Aggies a chance to start this new era off right.