Utah State (5-4, 3-2) at UNLV (7-2, 3-2)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 5 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Allegiant Stadium (Capacity: 61,500)
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Radio: Aggie Sports Network (KZNS 1280 The Zone)/Sirius XM Ch. 382
- Series: Utah State leads all-time with an 18-9 record. The Aggies are also 9-4 on the road against UNLV. However, they’ve lost the last two matchups with the Rebels, with Utah State’s last win being in Las Vegas in 2021.
The trends
For Utah State: Perhaps the most obvious trend for the Aggies this season is their home vs. road record. Utah State is a perfect 5-0 at home, but 0-4 on the road.
Utah State’s road opponents have been notably different than its home games, though. It opened on the road with losses to No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 14 Vanderbilt, then came losses to decent Mountain West teams in Hawai’i and New Mexico.
“Texas A&M’s pretty good, Vanderbilt’s not bad, Hawaii, that’s a pretty good team and a unique challenge,” Bronco Mendenhall said. “Each one of those trips are different. What do they have in common? They’re all on the road. And then Albuquerque, and that context was a pretty different and challenging trip.
“So, there are subplots that have led to us not winning yet on the road. I’m anxious with this team to continue to help practice model, travel model, preparation model, and that facilitates not only the energy, but the execution that delivers a different outcome.”
Utah State is also just one win away from being bowl eligible, and the Aggies would certainly like to reach that six-win mark before their regular-season finale at home against Boise State.
Utah State showed extreme offensive dominance in its win over Nevada, and it’ll need all that and more for a road win over UNLV.
For UNLV: The Rebels are in a very similar spot as the Aggies heading into Saturday’s game. UNLV struggled on the road in Albuquerque, but it got a dominant bounce-back win over a struggling Mountain West team in Colorado State last week.
The biggest thing going UNLV’s way in Saturday’s game is its offensive firepower. It leads the Mountain West with 44 touchdowns and averages 37.4 points per game.
Junior quarterback Anthony Colandrea has thrown for 2,251 yards with a 69% completion percentage. Colandrea has thrown for 17 touchdowns while throwing only five interceptions. UNLV’s offense generally has taken good care of the football and the Rebels hold a +8 turnover margin on the year.
Colandrea combined with running back Jai’Den Thomas makes for a versatile and lethal offense. Thomas has been one of the top running backs in the conference with 780 rushing yards while averaging 7.6 yards per carry.
What to watch for
Is Utah State due for a barn burner?: Saturday will be a fight against the current top two offenses in the Mountain West. However, UNLV averages four points more than Utah State per game. The Rebels also are top 40 in both rushing and passing yards in FBS, and they average 463.4 yards per game (16th in FBS.)
Saturday’s game is much more likely to be a high scoring affair than a defensive battle.
Potential third-down disaster: While Utah State has one of the top offenses in the conference (averaging 33.7 points per game), it only converts on third down 33% of the time.
That stat could be especially bad against UNLV, who has allowed opponents to convert on only 26% of third downs, which is third-best in all of FBS.
The importance of Brevin Hamblin and company: Hamblin was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week after his stifling performance against Nevada where he put up eight tackles, one sack and one interception return. With an offense as hot as UNLV, Utah State will desperately need everything it can get against the Rebels.
Utah State and UNLV have the top two turnover margins in the Mountain West, with the Rebels at +8 and the Aggies at +4. Winning the turnover battle would be a big win for the Utah State defense on Saturday.
Quotable
“You’re really preparing for that team, which means there’s a great chance that’s four quarters of football, and there’s a great chance during the course of the game that there’s dynamic and explosive plays happening on both sides. So, their offense is scoring, I believe first in the conference in scoring. I think their defense is last in the conference in scoring... So, whoever limits the most big plays probably has a great chance to win.” — Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall
“It’s a huge challenge that they have so many explosive weapons and players and skilled athletes. Got a great quarterback that can hurt you with his legs, he hurts you with his arm, he hurts you with his mind, he hurts you with his heart and the toughness of how he plays. All of that comes together and then you combine it with the skilled receivers they have in the perimeter and the explosiveness. I think you saw it last week... They’re an explosive football team and so we’re going to have to perform.” — UNLV coach Dan Mullen
Next up
- Utah State: at Fresno State, Saturday, Nov. 22, 8:30 p.m.
- UNLV: vs. Hawai’i, Friday, Nov. 21, 8:30 p.m.
Utah State schedule/results
- Aug. 30 — Utah State 28, UTEP 16
- Sept. 6 — Texas A&M 44, Utah State 22
- Sept. 13 — Utah State 49, Air Force 30
- Sept. 20 — Utah State 47, McNeese State 7
- Sept. 27 — Vanderbilt 55, Utah State 35
- Oct. 11 — Hawaii 44, Utah State 26
- Oct. 17 — Utah State 30, San Jose State 25
- Oct. 25 — New Mexico 33, Utah State 14
- Nov. 8 — Utah State 51, Nevada 14
- Nov. 15 — at UNLV
- Nov. 22 — at Fresno State
- Nov. 29 — Boise State