Utah State football has taken more than a first step into the danger zone for the 2026 season. The Aggies sit at 2-5, with only one more slip-up allowed if they are to continue to bolster their run of 13 bowl appearances in the last 16 years. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall has been firm in saying he sees improvement in his team, even within an offense that currently ranks last in FBS for points per game.
This week’s opponent, Colorado State, could be a chance at flipping the fortunes of the offense. The Rams will bring to town the worst scoring defense in the country to take on the Aggies’ FBS-worst scoring offense.
One might call this the battle of a stoppable force against a movable object.
For Colorado State, the defense has seemingly been getting worse. Since mid-September, the Rams have given up 54.2 points per game, with the lowest point tally allowed being 41. Colorado State’s 56-49 win over San Diego State marked the lowest amount of points given up since Sept. 19 (yes, the lowest total).
This decline from bad to worse hasn’t come without efforts to slow the roll. A little over three weeks ago, CSU’s defense made headlines in an unfortunate way as former defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was fired essentially mid-game during the Rams’ 56-26 loss vs Oregon State. Mora explained in his post-game presser that Summers was relieved of his defensive play-calling duties during the first half. He wasn’t fired at this point, but rather was let go when he left the game as it was still ongoing.
Kenny McClendon has taken over play-calling on defense and, according to Mora, McClendon has been sleeping in Colorado State’s football facilities, taking a position coach’s office and turning it into a makeshift bedroom (Whether you find that choice admirable or alarming is up to you). However, McCendon’s 3.5-week tenure has not gone much better than his predecessor. Colorado State gave up a season-worst 66 points to Texas State, even after the Rams had an entire bye week to prepare for the matchup. And while the 49 points given up to San Diego State may have been on the lower end of recent point totals allowed, it came against a quarterback making his first-ever start in an offense that had scored just 16.0 points per game against FBS opponents.
One of the main issues from Colorado State’s defense was an attempt to create “havoc” plays and turnovers that left the unit open to giving up explosives. The Rams are 133rd in plays of 10+ yards allowed (121) and are 137th in plays of 30+ yards allowed (29). At one point, Colorado State was generating turnovers, producing eight across its first two games of the season. But in the five games since, the Rams have forced only six turnovers and are currently 121st in defensive sacks and 126th in tackles for loss.
With explosives against his defense piling up, and without the havoc plays and turnovers to justify them, Colorado State has had to try and tone things down and play more conservatively.
Amidst the defensive struggles, Colorado State has quietly boasted one of the best offenses in the nation, let alone the Pac-12. Colorado State has scored a minimum of 23 points in each game this season and averaged 38.6 per game (12th in FBS). The return of quarterback Hauss Hejny has only made the offense more deadly. The sophomore QB made his return to action this past weekend after missing 3.5 games due to a hamstring injury. In just his first two games of the season, Hejny threw for 539 yards, nine touchdowns, and only one interception. He then left Colorado State’s game against BYU in the first quarter after starting that game 6-of-10 for 80 yards and one touchdown.
Hejny returned with a bang last week against San Diego State, completing 77% of his passes and tallying a career-high 418 total yards (including a career-best 333 passing yards and tying his career high with 85 rushing yards), plus three passing touchdowns and two rushing scores. All of that earned Hejny Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors, which is the second time he’s received that award in only three full games played.
Colorado State’s offense wasn’t exactly bad without Hejny, but it’s pretty clear the unit is far better with him taking snaps behind the center. In Hejny’s three full games, the Rams have averaged 49.7 points and 541.0 yards of total offense compared to 30.3 points and 399.5 yards. There is some consideration for strength of defense in that comparison, with Hejny taking on Wyoming, Southern Utah and San Diego State while his backup took on BYU, UTSA, Oregon State and Texas State. But the difference in explosiveness from the offense is drastic enough to be noteworthy.
Hejny has a host of pass-catchers to throw to, with no single target garnering significantly more attention than any other. Reginald Vick Jr., Jackson Harper and Terrence Smith all have between 23 and 26 catches for between 299 and 367 yards. And behind them, Tommy Maher has 19 catches for 257 yards, running back Cedric Ross has 11 receptions for 194 receiving yards, and tight end Juice Vereen has 17 catches for 117 yards. A total of 16 players have caught at least one pass, and seven have double-digit receptions. It’ll be a challenge for USU to defend the entire field with Hejny being able to fixate on any one of half a dozen targets for any given game.
The Rams do have a solid, if underutilized rushing attack. Durell Robinson leads the team with 88 rush attempts and has 383 yards and a team-leading eight rushing TDs, but it’s Mel Brown who appears to be the more explosive runner. He has only 52 rush attempts this season, but leads the team in total rushing yards with 454 and is averaging 8.7 rushing yards per attempt. That average ranks third nationally.
