Utah State (1-6, 0-3) at Wyoming (1-6, 1-2)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 5 p.m. MDT
- Venue: War Memorial Stadium
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Radio: KZNS 1280 The Zone
- Livestream: https://www.cbssports.com/cbssports
- Series: Utah State and Wyoming will meet for the 73rd time this weekend. The rivalry is the fourth-most played in USU football history. The Aggies are 40-28-4 all-time against the Cowboys and are 13-16-3 in Laramie. Utah State has won six of the last 10 meetings between the programs.
- Weather: Clear, sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-60s at kickoff and 15 mph winds out of the west.
The trends
For Utah State: The Aggies are 1-6 overall and 0-3 in MWC play. USU has lost six straight games since winning its opener at home against Robert Morris. Defense has been the major issue for Utah State, which enters the rivalry game against Wyoming ranked second-to-last among all 133 FBS teams in total defense. The Aggies are giving up just under 44 points per game.
For Wyoming: The Cowboys are 1-6 overall, 1-2 in MWC play. Wyoming is in its first year post-Craig Bohl and things haven’t gone well. The Cowboys were largely uncompetitive in losses to Arizona State, BYU and North Texas and lost to FCS foe Idaho. UW has been more competitive of late though, beating Air Force before losing close games against San Diego State and San Jose State.
What to watch for
Statistically, Wyoming has not played good football this season.
The Cowboys enter Saturday’s game against the Aggies ranked ninth or worse in the Mountain West in almost every single team-centered statistic — offensively or defensively. The lone exception is passing defense, where UW ranks No. 6 in the league.
And yet, Wyoming has been competitive in conference play. The Cowboys have a win. Yes, it is over a woeful Air Force, but a win is a win. More than that, the Cowboys have been highly competitive in recent losses to San Diego State and San Jose State, losing to the Aztecs by a field goal and to the Spartans by 10 points.
It is an interesting development, which suggests that the Cowboys should be competitive with Utah State, at worst. The game is in Laramie and the Cowboys have proven capable of competing with conference teams.
There is an argument that Wyoming is better than Utah State, given the fact that the Aggies have been competitive to the end in only one loss this year — at home against New Mexico. And they don’t have a win over an FBS team yet this season.
And yet, the Aggies boast one of the the top offenses in the MW. Few teams have been able to slow USU down, particularly since quarterback Spencer Petras has settled in as the starting quarterback.
On paper, Wyoming is poorly suited to slow down Utah State’s offense, as the Aggies can attack you in nearly every way.
Of course, Utah State’s defense has been its Achilles heel this season and every team the Aggies have faced has been able to score and often.
Even Temple, which currently has the No. 119-ranked scoring offense in the country. The Owls put up 45 points against Utah State, though.
Realistically, the game should devolve into a shootout. Like every USU game will probably be through the end of the season. Utah State can move the ball and score, but the Aggies haven’t proven capable of stopping anyone. Which means another game where USU needs to have the final possession of the game in order to win.
Key player
Spencer Petras, Utah State quarterback: Another week and a different opponent and yet Petras remains the key player. That is the reality of Utah State football right now. The Aggies have simply proven incapable of playing competitive defense for an entire game, which necessitates that the USU offense be elite. Petras is the one who ultimately decides that.
The veteran QB has been excellent at times this year. He is the first USU quarterback since Chuckie Keaton in 2012 to throw for 300 or more yards in three straight games. He has also been mistake prone, throwing seven interceptions and also fumbling the ball once.
If Utah State gets the best version of Petras against the Cowboys, there is no reason it can’t walk away from Laramie with the win. Petras has proven capable of leading a great offense and, most importantly, getting the ball to the many playmakers USU has.
If the Aggies get the mistake-prone version of Petras, though, even for a portion of the game, they will probably lose. USU needs Petras to be at his best going forward to win games. It isn’t particularly fair, but that is the reality of Utah State football right now. The Aggies need to be elite on offense to have a chance of winning any of their games going forward. Anything less than that could spell trouble and more losses. Even against a team like Wyoming.
Quotable
“They are extremely physical, with their defense. You look at their record and you would assume they are not very good but that’s not the case at all. They’ve played some tough games and they are flying around with the play and play sound defense. They are in a lot of these games, they just haven’t been able to finish it. ” — Utah State coach Nate Dreiling
“We’ve got a big game for us to play this week. A trophy game, for the rifle. ... They are a very good team offensively and have had a lot of success. That is a major challenge. ... They are a spread, tempo, fast paced offense that does a lot of things. We know that they will play hard. They will come in here and we have to play well. Play a lot better than what we have in critical times.” — Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel
Next up
- Utah State: Bye
- Wyoming: at New Mexico
Utah State schedule
- Aug. 31: Utah State 36, Robert Morris 14
- Sept. 7: USC 48, Utah State 0
- Sept. 14: Utah 38, Utah State 21
- Sept. 21: Temple 45, Utah State 29
- Sept. 28: Bye
- Oct. 5: Boise State 62, Utah State 30
- Oct. 11: UNLV 50, Utah State 34
- Oct. 19: New Mexico 50, Utah State 45
- Oct. 26: at Wyoming (5 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network)
- Nov. 2: Bye
- Nov. 9: at Washington State (TBA)
- Nov. 16: Hawaii (1 p.m. MST, Spectrum Sports)
- Nov. 23: San Diego State (1:30 p.m. MST, CBS Sports Network)
- Nov. 29: at Colorado State (TBA)