Photo by Lorene Hale
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State’s 2023 Mountain West football schedule was announced Thursday by the conference office as the Aggies enter their 11th season in the league. In all, USU’s eight conference games will be spread out over 11 weeks from Sept. 16 through Nov. 25.
Thursday’s release represents the first phase in the 2023 football schedule process. Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports and Fox Sports will now initiate a selection procedure, which will include the shifting of particular games to non-Saturday dates. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times.
The Mountain West is debuting a three-year schedule rotation where, within Conference play, each institution will face two opponents annually and six other teams on an alternating basis. Throughout the cycle, all institutions will play each other at least twice, including once at home and once on the road.
Utah State’s 2023 Mountain West schedule will include home games against Colorado State (10/7), Fresno State (10/14), Nevada (11/11) and Boise State (11/18), and road games against Air Force (9/16), San José State (10/21), San Diego State (11/4) and New Mexico (11/25). USU will also have one bye during the season on the last weekend of October following its eighth game of the year.
Utah State will start the 2023 season by playing four of its first seven games at home, before concluding the regular season with three of its final five games away from Maverik Stadium. USU will also have back-to-back home games twice during the season, once in October and again in November, without playing consecutive road games.
Utah State opens the season with consecutive non-conference games as it plays at Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 2, and hosts Idaho State on Saturday, Sept. 9. The Aggies and Hawkeyes will be meeting for the first time since 2002 and third time overall, while USU will be facing the Bengals for the 21st time overall and first time since 2017.
Utah State begins its conference slate at Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 16, which is the second-earliest date USU has ever started Mountain West play. Overall, it will be the 12th meeting between the two programs.
Ironically, it will be the sixth time that Utah State has played its first Mountain West game of the season against Air Force, including its third on the road, as the Aggies are 4-1 in those matchups with the Falcons. It will also be the sixth time that USU begins MW play on the road as the Aggies are 7-3 all-time in MW openers, including a 4-1 road record.
Following its league opener, Utah State will conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule with a home game against James Madison on Saturday, Sept. 23, and a road contest at UConn on Saturday, Sept. 30. It will be the first-ever meeting against the Dukes and third-ever meeting against the Huskies as USU posted a 31-20 home win against UConn last year and a 38-31 road win in 2001.
Utah State then returns to Mountain West play for its first of back-to-back home games as it hosts Colorado State on Saturday, Oct. 7, and Fresno State on Saturday, Oct. 14. USU will be facing the Rams for the 79th time, in what is the Aggies’ third-oldest rivalry, while its game against the Bulldogs will be the 33rd meeting, which is the 10th-oldest rivalry in school history.
Utah State will then conclude the month with a road game at San José State on Saturday, Oct. 21, followed by its only bye of the season the following weekend. USU will be facing the Spartans for the 42nd time, in what is the fifth-oldest rivalry in school history. Overall, USU has won each of the last 10 games in the series, including five straight on the road.
As the calendar turns to November, Utah State will make another trip to the Golden State as it plays at San Diego State on Saturday, Nov. 4, in what will be the 17th all-time meeting against the Aztecs and first since USU posted a 46-13 road win against No. 19 SDSU in the 2021 MW Championship Game.
Utah State will then have back-to-back home games for the second time during the season as it hosts Nevada on Saturday, Nov. 11, and Boise State in its home finale on Saturday, Nov. 18. USU will be meeting the Wolf Pack for the first time since 2020 and 27th time overall, while the Broncos and Aggies will be meeting for the 28th time.
Utah State will then conclude Mountain West play and the regular season on the road at New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 25, as the Lobos are USU’s 12th-oldest rivalry with 29 previous meetings.
The 2023 schedule will play out over 14 weeks, concluding on Saturday, Dec. 2, with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two teams with the highest Conference winning percentage.
The 2023 Mountain West football membership includes Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming in the Mountain Division and Fresno State, Hawai’i, Nevada, San Diego State, San José State and UNLV in the West Division.
For Aggie football ticket information, fans can contact the USU Athletics Ticket Office over the phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 435-797-0305 during regular hours of operation. Fans can also buy their tickets in person at the USU Ticket Office inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or online by clicking on the “Buy Tickets” tab at www.UtahStateAggies.com.
Fans can follow the Aggie football program at twitter.com/USUFootball or on Facebook at Utah State Football, as well as on Instagram at instagram.com/USUFootball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
2023 UTAH STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Last Meeting Series Record
Sept. 2 at Iowa 2002 – L, 7-48 (a) USU trails, 0-2-0
Sept. 9 IDAHO STATE 2017 – W, 51-13 (h) USU leads, 18-2-0
Sept. 16 at Air Force* 2022 – W, 34-27 (h) USU trails, 5-6-0
Sept. 23 JAMES MADISON NA First Meeting
Sept. 30 at UConn 2022 – W, 31-20 (h) USU leads, 2-0-0
Oct. 7 COLORADO STATE* 2022 – W, 17-13 (a) USU trails, 37-39-2
Oct. 14 FRESNO STATE* 2020 – L, 16-35 (h) USU trails, 13-18-1
Oct. 21 at San José State* 2022 – W, 35-31 (h) Series tied, 20-20-1
Oct. 28 BYE
Nov. 4 at San Diego State* 2021 – W, 46-13 (a) USU trails, 3-13-0
Nov. 11 NEVADA* 2020 – L, 9-34 (a) USU trails, 7-19-0
Nov. 18 BOISE STATE* 2022 – L, 23-42 (a) USU trails, 5-22-0
Nov. 25 at New Mexico* 2022 – W, 27-10 (h) USU leads, 16-13-0
Dec. 2 Mountain West Championship
Home Games in CAPS
* – Mountain West game
