Utah State vs. Weber State
- Kickoff: Saturday, 5 p.m. MDT.
- Venue: Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium (25,513 capacity).
- TV: None
- Livestream: Mountain West Network
- Radio: Sirius XM 390 / SXM App 980
- Series: Utah State and Weber State will be meeting for the 16th time. The Aggies lead the series over the Wildcats 14-1 and are 9-1 at home.
- Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the high 70s at kickoff, with a 0% chance of precipitation.
The trends
For Utah State: The Aggies are 1-1 after a season opening win over UConn, followed by a 55-0 dismantling by No. 1 Alabama. The Aggies are hoping for a bounceback performance before their first bye of the season.
For Weber State: The Wildcats are 1-0, coming off a 41-5 season-opening win over Western Oregon. Weber State is trying to bounce back from a somewhat disappointing 2021 season, when the Wildcats went 6-5 and finished in the middle of the Big Sky Conference.
What to watch for
Utah State is coming off one of its worst performances in years, in a shutout loss to top-ranked Alabama.
The Aggies were simply overmatched by the Crimson Tide and must now find a way to put the loss behind them.
Thus far this season, Utah State hasn’t been quite able to put together a complete performance, something the Aggies will look to do against the “on paper” overmatched Wildcats.
Weber State, meanwhile, is hoping to put 2021 behind it and return to the top of the Big Sky and the FCS Playoffs, both of which have become regular occurrences in Ogden of late.
Weber State has been close to pulling off an upset of an FBS team recently. In 2019, the Wildcats lost to both San Diego State and Nevada by only six points.
Key player
Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. (31) celebrates a defensive stop against LSU during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Anderson was named to The Associated Press preseason All-America team on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.
Vasha Hunt, Associated Press
Calvin Tyler Jr., RB, Utah State: Thus far, Tyler Jr. has been the Aggies’ most effective and dangerous offensive weapon. In the season opener against UConn, Tyler carried the ball a career-high 33 times for a personal best 161 yards.
Alabama, with its vaunted defensive front and elite linebacking corps, shut Tyler down, but Weber State is not Alabama and Tyler is poised to have a bounce back performance.
In his Utah State career, Tyler has rushed for 1,058 yards and seven touchdowns on 241 attempts (4.4 yards per carry). He is one of 33 Aggies all-time to rush for 1,000 yards in a career.
Quotable
“Weber is going to come in this week with their hair on fire. This is the Super Bowl this week for a lot of guys on that roster. Jay (Hill) will have them coached up. They are good at what they do. They are coming off a big win and so we have to reset and refocus and play our best ball.” — Utah State head coach Blake Anderson, on facing Weber State.
“They should be prepared against us. ... They can be very explosive offensively. They go fast with their tempo, can run it from spread formations. (Logan) Bonner does a great job of getting it out of his hand. And defensively they can create a lot of havoc.” — Weber State head coach Jay Hill, on facing Utah State.
Next up
Utah State has a bye before resuming competition at home on Sep. 24 against UNLV. Weber State will host Utah Tech on Sept. 17.
Utah State schedule
Aug. 27 — Utah State 31, UConn 20
Sept. 3 — No. 1 Alabama 55, Utah State 0
Sept. 10 — Utah State vs. Weber State.
Sept. 17 — BYE.
Sept. 24 — Utah State vs. UNLV.
Sept. 29 — Utah State at No. 25 BYU.
Oct. 8 — Utah State vs. Air Force.
Oct. 15 — Utah State at Colorado State.
Oct. 22 — Utah State at Wyoming.
Oct. 29 — BYE.
Nov. 5 — Utah State vs. New Mexico.
Nov. 12 — Utah State at Hawaii.
Nov. 19 — Utah State vs. San José State.
Nov. 25 — Utah State at Boise State.
All times MDT.