Tomorrow marks the start of the college football season in Logan as Utah State is set to take on the Idaho State Bengals. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall enters his second year leading the Aggies, hoping to break the chain of 6-7 seasons the program has found itself mired in.
Here is all of the important information for the season opener. All of the how and where to watch, availability reports, plus keys to the game for the Aggies and predictions from Cache Valley Media Group staff.
Game Info
- Game Day: Sept. 5
- Location: Merlin Olsen Field (Logan, UT)
- Kickoff Time: 5 p.m. MT
- TV Broadcast: CBS Sports Network
- Radio Broadcast: KVNU 102.1 FM / 610 AM
KVNU Aggie Gameday pregame show with Stockton Jewkes and J.D. Walker: Begins at 3:00 p.m.
KVNU Aggie Call Postgame: Will begin immediately following Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s postgame comments
- Text (435) 554-1175 or call (435) 753-5868 during the pregame or postgame show to give your thoughts and reactions for the game.
Keys for Utah State
Limit Idaho State’s passing game (and don’t get gashed in the run game)
Stopping Idaho State’s passing game isn’t exactly an option. They’re going to throw the ball, and you just kind of have to accept that they’re also going to move the ball through the air. Jordan Cooke finished fourth in the FCS last year in passing yards per game (277.5). As a team, Idaho State only threw for less than 250 yards twice (and one of those was 240 yards in a 90-0 blowout where the Bengals just stopped throwing it after they got a massive lead).
Essentially, you can pretty much write in pen at least 250 yards through the air for Idaho State. And then flip a coin to determine whether they’ll eclipse 300.
The real question is whether those passing yards will be impactful. Will it be the 421 yards that led to 38 points against a top-five Montana team? Or will it be like the 368 yards that could only muster 14 points against a similarly ranked Montana State squad?
There’s quite a gap in the feeling behind both of those yardage totals despite both being headline-worthy for any quarterback at any level of football. Utah State’s job is to make sure Cooke’s yardage totals feel like empty calories.
A side quest, though still very much important, is to ensure Idaho State’s run game doesn’t sneak up behind the Aggies and bite them in the rear. That happened against San Jose State in a big way last year. A team that ranked 111th in rushing yards per game put down 194. Hawaii did it to a similar degree with 133 yards from the 128th-ranked rushing offense.
Idaho State lost its 2025 rushing leader, Dason Brooks (1,007 yards last year), to a Week 1 injury. That should benefit the Aggies, or make the next man up a mystery who could catch Mendenhall and DC Nick Howell off guard.
Control the line of scrimmage (both sides)
This sounds like the most obvious key to any football game since the beginning of the sport in the 19th century. But, for the Aggies, it takes on a more critical role since this is the area they’ve struggled with the most for several years.
Utah State’s front seven may seem like a bit of an afterthought against a pass-heavy offense, but forcing poor throws and getting sacks is something the Aggies will need a lot of with Cooke dropping back to pass as many as 60 times in this game.
On offense, the Aggies’ woes on the O-line in 2025 were well documented. That just straight-up has to improve, and Week 1 is as good a time as any. The job is to keep McCae Hillstead from needing to run for his life and give Javen Jacobs the best rushing lanes possible.
If Utah State accomplishes nothing else in this game besides showing it can dominate the trenches, it would still be a good week.
Dominate the second half
Avoiding a slow start is a recommendation, though not necessarily required against Idaho State. If you look back at the Bengals’ games against FBS opponents in recent seasons, their Achilles’ heel has been execution in the latter portions of the game.
Last year, Idaho State led a very good UNLV team 31-24 in the fourth quarter. But then the Bengals gave up 14 unanswered points and threw two interceptions in crunch time. They were also leading in the fourth quarter against another good 2025 team, New Mexico. Idaho State held a 22-17 advantage, but again allowed two unanswered touchdowns as New Mexico rallied to secure the victory. The same sorry tale was almost the case in 2017 when Idaho State actually pulled off a win over an FBS team. The Bengals led Nevada 30-7, but nearly fumbled the game away by allowing 21 unanswered points before time ran out and they escaped with a two-point victory.
Should the Aggies suffer a slow start, the second half will be prime real estate upon which to construct a stronger performance and secure a Week 1 win.
History of Utah State vs Idaho State
- All-Time Series: Utah State leads 19-2-0 (USU won last six games)
- First-Ever Meeting: Sept. 30, 1904 (Utah State won 10-0)
- Most Recent Meeting: Sept. 9, 2023 (Utah State won 78-28)
This is one of the most lopsided series Utah State is part of, and from the very beginning, too. The Aggies outscored Idaho State 447-21 across the first 11 matchups in this series (including a 136-0 domination in 1919). Utah State has won each of the last six games, the most recent loss coming in 2000.
Game Prediction
Here are the score predictions from Cache Valley Media Group staff.
Eric Frandsen — Utah State wins 42-25
Jason Walker — Utah State wins 40-23
J.D. Walker — Utah State wins 43-17
Stockton Jewkes — Utah State wins 38-24
