LOGAN — The 2024 college football season begins for Utah State this week, finally ending a summer of unexpected events and tragedy. There are a lot of new faces, from coaches to players, and all will get their first chance to show what they’re truly made of as the Aggies host Robert Morris on Merlin Olsen Field this Saturday evening.
Game Info:
- Kickoff: 6 p.m.
- Location:
- TV Broadcast:
- Radio: KVNU (102.1 FM, 610 AM)
KVNU Aggie Gameday Pregame: Begins 4 p.m. on 102.1 FM, 610 AM
KVNU Aggie Call Postgame: Starts immediately after Coach Dreiling’s post-game comments.
Utah State Depth Chart
USU Football Week 1 Two-Deep Depth Chart (OFFENSE)
| Position | Starter | Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Spencer Petras | Bryson Barnes |
| RB | Rahsul Faison | Robert Briggs Jr. |
| WR | Jalen Royals | Grant Page |
| WR | Otto Tia | Jack Hestera |
| SLOT WR | Kyrese White | Kahanu Davis |
| TE | Broc Lane | Josh Sterzer |
| LT | Cole Motes | Trey Andersen |
| LG | Wyatt Bowles | George Maile |
| C | Falepule Alo | Bryce Radford |
| RG | Aloali’i Maui | Elia Migao |
| RT | Teague Andersen | Jared Pele |
USU Football Week 1 Two-Deep Depth Chart (DEFENSE)
| Position | Starter | Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| DE | Blaine Spires | Marlin Dean |
| DT | Gabriel Iniguez | Taz Williams |
| DT | Miguel Jackson | Bo Maile |
| DE | Enoka Migao | Lawrence Falatea |
| WILL | Jon Ross Maye | Jadon Pearson |
| MIKE | Clyde Washington | John Miller |
| NICKEL | Simeon Harris | Torren Union |
| B-CB | Avante Dickerson | DJ Graham II |
| BS | Jordan Vincent | Malik McConico |
| FS | Ike Larsen | Chase Davis |
| F-CB | JD Drew | Noah Flores |
USU Football Week 1 Two-Deep Depth Chart (SPECIAL TEAMS)
| Position | Starter | Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| P | Stephen Kotsanlee | Ryan Marks |
| K | Elliott Nimrod | Tanner Cragun |
| KOS | Elliott Nimrod | Ryan Marks |
| LS | Jacob Garcia | Alexander McDougall |
| HOLD | Ryan Marks | Stephen Kotsanlee |
| PR | Robert Freeman IV | Robert Briggs Jr. |
| KR | Robert Briggs Jr. | Jalen Royals |
Top Storylines/Matchups
Spencer Petas’ Aggie Debut
It’s been a long time coming, the first start in the Aggie uniform for Spencer Petras (even longer for him since his last start for anyone was in 2022). His experience at Iowa and leadership for the team has received a lot of praise from coaches and attention from fans. Petras’ actual time on the field was so-so with the Hawkeyes, but the hope is that USU’s system under offensive coordinator Kyle Cefalo will bring out the talent Petras displayed that landed him a starting job at a Big 10 school to begin with.
The weapons around Petras will likely be the best he’s ever had. Jalen Royals is an All-American caliber receiver and his other pass-catching targets — Otto Tia, Kyrese White and tight end Broc Lane — should be highly capable and diverse too. A solid group of running backs next to him should provide relief and balance through the run game. An experienced offensive line in front of Petras ought to give him the time to needed to make any pass necessary in any given scenario.
It’s the last hurrah for the seventh-year QB, so now would be as good a time as any to have a career season. The talent and experience is there. A system that has elevated multiple quarterback to play at their best is at his disposal. Petras will have little excuse for failure and every avenue for potentially record-breaking success.
Aiming for Improvement on defense
Much has already been made of Utah State’s failures on defense last year. The numbers were appallingly bad, including giving up 300 or more rushing yards in each of the final three games of the season. The Aggies’ wins late in the season that got them to a bowl game were largely despite the defense’s efforts and not often because of them.
But all of that is in the past. Eight of the 11 spots in the starting lineup on defense are made up of newcomers or players stepping into that bigger role. How much of an impact will additions like Gabriel Iniguez, Jordan Vincent, Clyde Washington or Jon Ross Maye make? Will Blaine Spires, JD Drew find ways to become top-level defenders now that they’re being handed the reigns of their respective starting positions?
Of course, most of all is how will interim head coach Nate Dreiling, also the defensive coordinator, make things work on that side of the ball.
Robert Morris will make for a good test early on of whether the Aggies’ run defense is truly improved. The Colonials boast one of the top running backs at the FCS level, Tyson Edmond Jr. Last year, playing for Merrimack, he ran for 1,279 yards with 10 touchdowns.
Despite having a potential star at running back, there’s every reason to expect the Colonials to push to move the ball through the air, and potentially be rather good at it. Quarterback Anthony Chiccitt returns after completing 65.6 percent of his passes last year and having a 16-4 TD/INT ratio last year. His favorite target from a year ago, Noah Robinson, is back and ready to cause damage. Robinson caught 69 passes for 850 yards and six touchdowns. Dreiling compared Robinson to USU’s star receiver, Jalen Royals, though noting that Robinson is a bit taller (6-3 compared to 6-0) and a dangerous target on all downs.
“He’s one of their biggest third-down targets,” Dreiling said. “So you’re going to have to defend him on every single down. That’s the number one priority for us is taking him away and making the quarterback go to the second option.”
Stars looking for encore season
Two of Utah State’s players — Royals and safety Ike Larsen — have received far more attention than all the rest, be it through preseason accolades, numerous interviews and even hype about potential future careers in the NFL. Royals set multiple school records, including a new single-season high of 15 receiving touchdowns. Larsen led the Aggies with more than 100 tackles and four interceptions. Both earned First Team All-Mountain West at the end of last year and both are preseason All-MW players at their respective spots.
Both of these star athletes will face their own new challenges this season and have potential for even better things than last year. Royals has a new quarterback he’ll be catching passes from along with a new offensive coordinator calling plays. Larsen will be coached by his third defensive coordinator in as many seasons.
Game Prediction
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker both gave their predictions for the game on the Full Court Press (4-6 p.m. weekdays on 106.9 FM, 1390 AM The FAN). Vote on who you think will be the winner and by how much in the poll below.
Eric – Utah State wins 35-3
“I think that Coach Dreiling, Coach Cefalo, they’ll want to try to establish something early. They’ll want to show what they can do and then they’re gonna want to try to be conservative because of some of the games they have coming up. I think defensively they’re gonna get after it, I think that’s something that has been probably the biggest point of emphasis to try and resolve with this team over last year.”
Jason – Utah State wins 51-21
“I think the offense is going to have some rust in the passing game. And I think the defense will maybe give up some big plays on defense. But overall they’re gonna hit their groove, probably second quarter, into the third. In an ideal situation they probably get their starters out late third quarter…(Utah State) will have a highly productive game in terms of offense, largely thanks to a run game that I don’t think’s gonna skip a beat. I think they’re gonna have a great game on the ground and a passing game that’ll eventually get up to the 200 to 250 [passing] yards.”
Utah State vs Robert Morris Score Prediction
Who do you think will win on Aug. 31 and by how much? You can also share your exact score prediction to the Full Court Press by texting 435-339-0321 and hosts Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker will share it on the show (weekdays 4-6 p.m. on 106.9 FM, 1390 AM)
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