On paper, there is a lot that says that Texas A&M is the best team Utah State football will play during the 2025 season.
After all, Texas A&M — now ranked No. 16 in the latest version of the AP Poll, up three spots from last week — is the only currently ranked team that Utah State will play this year.
Two weeks into the season, ESPN’s FPI ranks Texas A&M as the No. 14 team in the country.
Texas A&M notably has quite the collection of talent on its roster and is considered a threat, though not a favorite, to reach the College Football Playoff.
USU saw first hand how talented Texas A&M is, at some of the most important positions in football too, like quarterback with Marcel Reed and on the defensive line with pass rushers like Cashius Howell and Scooby Williams.
The skill level along Texas A&M’s defensive front was especially eye opening, with Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall noting, “I’m not sure we’ll see a better one (this season). Really well coached and talented players.”
He continued: “We knew how important it was to stay on schedule on first and second down. Give Texas A&M credit, they didn’t allow us to that as frequently as we wanted to. And then, in obvious past situations, you saw what that looked like. They’re really skilled pressuring quarterback.”
Those who watched Utah State play Texas A&M would likely agree that A&M is skilled at a lot of things beyond that too.
The thing is, as more football is played, there is an increasing argument that Vanderbilt, not Texas A&M, will be the stiffest test Utah State will have this season.
Vanderbilt is only receiving one vote in the AP Poll currently, but the Commodores have a more impressive resume than any other Aggie opponent through the first two weeks of the season. That is because of Saturday’s resounding win at Virginia Tech.
Vanderbilt dominated the Hokies en route to a 44-20 victory. The Commodores trailed early, but completely controlled the second half and outscored the Hokies 34-0.
Vanderbilt nearly doubled up Virginia Tech in total offense, despite running fewer plays. The Commodores both ran and threw all over the Hokies.
While Texas A&M now boasts wins over two Group of Five teams in UTSA (0-2) and Utah State (1-1), Vanderbilt has a dominant road win against a Power 4 team, even if Virginia Tech doesn’t appear to be anything special this season.
Rankings still favor A&M in the debate, be it the AP Poll, FPI or Sagarin.com. Interestingly, though, Sagarin’s rating that favors recent performance more than preseason predictors now has Vanderbilt clearly ahead of Texas A&M at No. 18 while A&M is No. 35.
Utah State won’t play Vanderbilt until Week 5, after back-to-back homes games against Air Force and McNeese State. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the Aggies’ Power conference tests this season will both be incredibly difficult, more so than many might have expected, especially of the trip to Nashville.
Whether Texas A&M or Vanderbilt is actually the best team USU will play this year might not matter, though. At least when it comes to the progress Utah State is making under Mendenhall. That’s because the Aggies showed something in the loss in College Station, even if there remains a lot of room for improvement.
At no point in Saturday’s game did USU stop trying to win the game, even when it would have been easy to. Twice Texas A&M increased a three-score advantage to a four-score advantage, in both the second and third quarters, but each time Utah State responded with a touchdown to keep the possibility of an upset alive.
Even when A&M stretched its lead to 30 points early in the fourth quarter, Utah State didn’t stop trying. That effort led to 22 points in the game for the Aggies, the most points score by a USU team against a Power conference opponent since the win over Oregon State in the LA Bowl in 2021.
Afterwards, the Aggies were defiant about the notion that they could’ve quit or given up.
“We’re just a bunch of hard workers,” wide receiver Braden Pegan said. ”We come to work, we focus on the process, and you know, sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but it doesn’t matter. We just keep on going and we’re going to come out on top eventually.
He later added: “We’re going to try and get the job done next time. Get the win.”
That is a new mindset for Utah State football. Or at the very least one that hasn’t been seen in Logan since 2021, if not before that.
That Utah State competed throughout the entirety of Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M should bode well for the Aggies. Starting this coming Saturday at home against Air Force sure, but also as conference play kicks into full swing in October.
Utah State was predicted to finish No. 9 in the MWC this season and win between four and five games. After the showing at Texas A&M, expectations are already rising with ESPN now giving USU a better than 50% chance to win six games and go bowling this season.
Updated FPI has Utah State now as fifth best team in the MWC, ever so slightly behind Colorado State.
A new era indeed.