Head Coach: Nate Dreiling is in his interim year as the head coach of the Aggies. He took over roughly a month ago when Blake Anderson was fired in a controversial situation that is still unfolding. Dreiling is tasked with one of the toughest jobs this season holding this program together amid everything. He’s a former linebacker of the Pittsburgh State Gorillas, and he was mostly a position coach or analyst on defense until Jerry Kill took a shot in the dark on him and hired him as the defensive coordinator at New Mexico State. Dreiling proved himself there before taking the same position at Utah State and getting on the rollercoaster.
Program Outlook: Utah State might have one of the most beautiful campus settings out there, they’re in Logan, Utah a college town nestled in a valley between 2 mountain ranges. It’s a university that’s also been notable for being the biggest in the state that doesn’t have the religious restrictions of BYU or the strict academics of Utah, essentially Utah State gets most everyone else in the state. As the state continues to grow it certainly isn’t a bad recruiting pitch. There’s tumultuous times currently but no doubt if this program can make the right moves in the next offseason they can rebound.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: The portal window opened with everything going on so I purposely saved Utah State for last to ensure I could catch all the departures. The offense was dynamic last season but it’ll be interesting if they can keep it up. The QB position is going through a lot of change, a lot of guys left in the spring and somehow it’s looking like they’re going into the season with former Iowa QB Spencer Petras as the starter. Petras was of course infamously much maligned at Iowa with their offensive struggles, he weirdly spent as season as a coach while he recovered from a shoulder injury. This is his first shot in a real offense at least. The backup is also well known in Utah transfer Bryson Barnes, the pig farmer. He has his struggles with the Utes last season but he also had some good moments in leading them to win over Florida and USC. Neither QB has thrown to a receiver like Jalen Royals, he catches everything thrown his way and can take any catch the distance. He’s become very underrated in his own conference because of Tory Horton and Ricky White taking the headlines but he’s up with them as one of the best in the conference. His loyalty deserves some praise you know during this process he was probably illegally recruited by just about every SEC and Big Ten coach and chose to stick around. Micah Davis was expected to man the other side but he hit the portal and immediately committed to Ole Miss last week, nothing going on there of course. Despite the losses this is still a loaded receiving group. The offensive line will be tasked with allowing more time for the passing game, they gave up a few too many sacks but with 4 starters back it’s likely they improve, the running back situation is a bit of a mystery but the line does a pretty good job opening lanes for the backs to run through. The defense had a lot of issues last season they were able to get after opposing QBs but they gave up way too many big plays especially against the run. There’s some challenges, the Aggies star pass rusher from last season will be on the other sideline in week 3, but at least they have Blaine Spires back to lead the unit, they hit the portal to try to find some more options inside to stop the run and to help them at linebacker as well. The secondary was hit by the portal as well but they managed to keep their star in safety Ike Larsen, at one point he was very frustrated with the handling of Anderson’s firing mentioning that he stayed here because of his relationship with his coach and that he turned down money to stay here. A little over a week later Larsen did reaffirm his commitment to the Aggies, he’s a little undersized but still is a NFL draft prospect.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: Utah State has a very tough schedule. The opener against Robert Morris won’t pose much of a challenge but it immediately ramps up with back to back games against USC (in Big Ten Network After Dark!) and a major home opportunity in a renewed rivalry game against Utah. They wrap up the non-conference against a Temple team that is figuring a lot out, but the cross country road trip will be a challenge and Washington State will be a tough challenge as well. The conference schedule is tough, Utah State faces a lot of the top contenders for the conference but they also get a lot of teams that are projected in the bottom half of the conference at home. Salvaging a bowl game out of this season is very possible, getting any further will be difficult.
Vegas Projection: Utah State’s win total is set at 5.5 with the odds geared toward the under. Utah State needs an upset to reach bowl eligibility and Vegas doesn’t see it happening.
2024 Best Case: Forget all the distractions of the offseason this team is ready to ball out. They win big in the opener and have USC on the ropes before losing a close one. The Aggies return home for the biggest home game in a long time. Backed by an incredible crowd the Aggies do the impossible and pull off the upset. They avoid a letdown against Temple to move to 3-1. The Aggies have a tough stretch to open Mountain West play along with facing Washington State but they manage to win 2 games of that 5 game stretch. Utah State finishes the regular season strong by grabbing wins over Hawaii and San Diego State to clinch a winning record even with the loss to Colorado State. The Aggies finish the season strong with a bowl win to end what was supposed to be a rough season with 8 wins. It’s apparent they don’t need a search they found their guy and Dreiling earns the gig full time.
2024 Worst Case: This might be a lost year. The Aggies win the opener but they lose in blowouts to USC and Utah. Things get really troubling when they aren’t able to beat Temple. The Aggies lose their opening 2 Mountain West games and get shocked by New Mexico at home to really send the season into a spiral. Eventually they fade to a 1-11 finish. The program hasn’t been in this bad of shape in a long time and the future is now more uncertain than it’s been in a long time.
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