LOGAN, Utah — Working through Team IMPACT, Utah State football welcomed a new team member at today’s practice in 5-year-old Simon Hveem (pronounced veem). “We are incredibly excited to welcome Simon as our newest Aggie commit and the entire Hveem Family into the Utah State football program,” said interim head coach Nate Dreiling. “Team IMPACT provides an opportunity to allow kids like Simon to gain an entire team to help in their fight with cancer, and we couldn’t be prouder to be a part of his journey. While we will strive to make it amazing for Simon, we can’t discount the enormous impact he will have on our student-athletes and program. We are excited to welcome Simon and his family with open arms and look forward to Aggie Nation doing the same!” Simon lives with his parents, Rachel and Joshua, and three siblings in Wellsville, Utah, and was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year and has been undergoing chemotherapy since. On Wednesday, Simon was introduced to the team and was given his own jersey during the post-practice huddle. Simon will continue to be a part of the Utah State football team, including participating in the team’s national signing day in December.

Week 9 featured numerous thrilling games in the Mountain West as three contests involving MW teams finished within one score, including a walk-off field goal. Bowl hopes are realistic for as many as seven teams in the conference, whereas a few weeks ago they were sitting pretty low. There’s even very real expectations for a playoff bid coming from the Mountain West with Boise State maintaining its win streak and upping its rank in the AP Poll. There’s plenty to go over in the return of Mountain West Watch, including a bit of a revamp to the format (at least later). We’ve seen the Broncos staking their claim on a playoff spot, Colorado State is looking to play spoiler, Wyoming’s struggles with referees and some pretty big games from players across the conference. Week 9 Mountain West Standings / AP Poll Rankings Rk Team Record MW Record AP Poll Composite Rank 1 Boise State 6-1 3-0 15th 21.5 2 Colorado State 5-3 3-0 – 92.8 3 San Diego State 3-4 2-0 – 107.5 4 Fresno State 5-3 3-1 – 70.3 5 UNLV 6-2 2-1 RV (31st) 38.7 6 San Jose State 5-3 3-2 – 82.5 7 New Mexico 3-5 2-2

LOGAN – Utah State’s thrilling win over Wyoming won’t go down in the history books as the most well-played game in Aggie history. And perhaps it won’t be remembered as much more than a bright spot in a forgettable season. It’s a natural and expected reaction but perhaps not quite fair to the coaches and athletes who were finally able to walk off the field with every reason to wear an ear-to-ear smile. Despite imperfections, the Aggies made plays when it mattered. And that’s what winning teams do, which is why they can be proud. They did what great teams do — win games even when they play bad. So while the defense had its flaws and the offense sputtered for much of the game, when push came to shove, Utah State upped its game and made the plays necessary to fly out of “Laradise” with a win and a .50 caliber Rocky Mountain Hawken rifle. Tanner Cragun hits walk-off field goal as Utah State snaps losing streak with win over Wyoming Three key sequences stand out on offense with the defense’s moments being scattered through parts of half a dozen drives. We’ll look at the offense in a moment

With two seconds left on the game clock in Laramie, Wyoming, the home side Cowboys called timeout hoping to ice Utah State’s kicker, Tanner Cragun. The redshirt freshman was set to line up for a 40-yard field goal with a chance to give the visiting Aggies a walk-off win. Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvell wanted to give Cragun a little more time to get nervous about the stakes. Both sides sat at 1-6 heading into the game, Utah State was on one of the longest active losing streaks at six consecutive defeats. The Aggies trailed 25-24 meaning a miss would end the game and increase that skid to seven games. Cragun said the extra thinking time didn’t affect him. “I’ve never been fazed by icing,” Cragun said. “I know a lot of kickers are that I’ve talked to. But not thinking much (during the timeout). Just calming my body down, taking deep breaths and then just doing what I’ve practiced for so long.” Utah State interim head coach Nate Dreiling took the time to hug a few of the coaches and keep a positive outlook no matter what happened with Cragun’s upcoming kick. “I just told a bunch of coaches