Utah State football has made a habit of rallying from poor starts to seasons. Can it do it again?

Utah Utes defensive end Van Fillinger (7) grabs the arm of Utah State Aggies quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) in Logan on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

After four weeks of football played, Utah State is in an eerily familiar position.

At least when it comes to the early season fortunes of recent Aggie teams.

Let’s look back.

It is 2022, and the Aggies are fresh off their first Mountain West Conference championship. Blake Anderson can, for now, do no wrong and the season starts off in good fashion, with a 31-20 win over UConn.

Things looked a little dicey at times in that opener — USU had to rally for the win — but a win is a win. Right?

Wrong.

After the win over the Huskies, USU proceeds to lose four consecutive games and starts the season 1-4. One of those games is a dismal blowout at Alabama. Another is a brutal upset loss to Weber State. A demoralizing defeat. Then there are losses to UNLV and BYU, games the Aggies are competitive in — at least to a point.

Sound familiar?

In 2023, Utah State starts the year with a competitive — to a point — loss at Iowa. After that is a blowout win against Idaho State. Then a disappointingly uncompetitive loss to Air Force, followed by a loss to James Madison in a game the Aggies could’ve won, only mistakes proved too much to overcome.

USU starts the season 1-3 overall.

See any similarities?

While neither the starts to the 2022 or 2023 seasons are perfect analogies for this current campaign — in which USU has beaten an overmatched FCS opponent, been brutally handled by a strong CFP candidate (USC), suffered a demoralizing loss to a perceived lesser opponent (Temple) and been competitive against a team that should prove to be clearly better (Utah) — there are clear similarities.

Utah State has just one win through the opening month and bowl…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/utah-state-football-made-habit-225718473.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-09-29 22:57:18

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