Utah State is considered a bottom-20 team in college football according to the latest SP+ ranking update. The metric crafted by ESPN’s Bill Connelly puts the Aggies at 119th out of 136 FBS teams. It makes USU the third-worst ranked team in the Mountain West, coming out ahead of only Nevada (124th) and New Mexico (130th). The highest ranked team in the Mountain West is, unsurprisingly, Boise State (33rd) with a big gap before the second and third-highest ranked teams UNLV (75th) and San Jose State (83rd). While SP+ rankings are already incredibly unfriendly to Group of Five programs, Utah State hasn’t helped itself by having several mediocre years between its better days in the 2010s and the Mountain West championship season in 2021. Plenty of other Mountain West teams are currently very much on the wrong end of these rankings, having plenty of work to do if they want to end up on the top half of the college football ladder. Based on these rankings, only Boise State is in the top half of all teams (UNLV is just outside the cutoff line of 68 with its ranking). Let’s take a look at all of the teams in the

Despite falling all the way to the fourth round, former Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals is getting a warm welcome in Kansas City. Following his arrival, there’s been a growing amount of hype for the 133rd overall pick in the draft that may end up raising his stock high enough for him to become a notable weapon for the three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. There has been all kinds of talk surrounding Royals and his potential impact with Kansas City, from the frivolous, to overall positive draft grades for the Chiefs in selecting the USU star and even being cited as the mostly likely rookie to surpass expectations on the team. Perhaps the most interesting of the preseason hype is Royals’ selection to the NFL Player’s Association Rookie Premiere Player List. According to the NFLPA’s press release, the event “introduces these rising stars to the commercial side of professional football, setting the stage for future endorsement success and financial empowerment.” In addition to his on-field potential being praised by writers and fans alike, Royals seems to be drawing the eyes of the commercial and marketing aspect of the sport, which could see him rise even quicker as

Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals wasn’t the only former Aggie to receive a call from an NFL team over the weekend. Royals heard his name called by the Kansas City Chiefs on day three of the NFL Draft, but at least four of his USU teammates have also made a step toward fulfilling their pro football dreams. The first notable signing after Royals was offensive lineman Wyatt Bowles who signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Los Angeles Rams. Bowles wasn’t a bona fide draft prospect but his signing drew praise from online scouts and media covering the draft. 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎@wyatt_bowles 🤝 @RamsNFL #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/V0vWMUPJCX — USU Football (@USUFootball) April 27, 2025 Bowles is a player who had to patiently wait his turn to play a notable role on the team. His collegiate career began in 2018, making him one of the last Aggies on the team who had been teammates with the now-Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love. He had a redshirt, medical redshirt and COVID season to extend his college tenure. It took until 2023 for him to get more than scant snaps on the offensive line. Across 2023 and 2024 he appeared in 24

He had to wait longer than expected, but Utah State star wide receiver Jalen Royals eventually heard his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft on behalf of the Kansas City Chiefs, which drafted Royals in the fourth round with the 133rd overall pick. Royals’ selection ended a five-year drought of Aggies being drafted into the NFL, becoming the first player to be selected out of Utah State since Jordan Love was taken with the 26th overall pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2020. 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 ▪ 𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋𝐭𝐲@RoyalsJalen is headed to the @Chiefs !#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/lpRP8ODVjh — USU Football (@USUFootball) April 26, 2025 Royals spent three seasons at Utah State, the final two being the most prominent. He caught 126 passes for 1,914 yards and 21 touchdowns in 20 games across 2023 and 2024, setting a USU program record with 15 TD catches in 2023. Royals had eight 100-yard receiving games, with a career-best 211 yards at Boise State in 2024. His 2024 season was cut short by an injury that limited him to just seven games, ending an opportunity to record a second 1,000 receiving yard season and likely another double-digit touchdown season. Most pre-draft projections said Royals would be

LOGAN — Saturday marked the conclusion spring camp for Utah State football and its first-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall. For the past five weeks, the team has practiced and scrimmaged out of the public eye, aiming for a return to prominence in the Mountain West and college football as a whole. Mendenhall spoke with Eric Frandsen from 106.9 The FAN’s Full Court Press following Saturday’s session and emphasized that “culture precedes performance” while giving his team high marks in that department. “My team is tough, they’re resilient, chemistry is great, they love each other,” Mendenhall said. “They work really hard. They’ve embraced the expectations. “They’re optimistic. They’re hopeful. “They already know the success the program will have. “And they’ve allowed me to coach them, which that is a choice. And so I’m appreciative to them. My staff are all my former players, and so that camaraderie between my staff and the team as well, that’s connected really well.” And I was able to visit with Coach Bronco Mendenhall about USU Spring Practice#AggiesAlltheWay pic.twitter.com/TMTk7Ice1x — Eric Frandsen (@efrandsen) April 19, 2025 When asked about how the team is in terms of installing new on-field concepts with the team, Mendenhall went back to

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State football had 10 players named as members of the 2025 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society, it was announced Wednesday. The 2025 class is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers. A total of 2,532 players from 339 schools qualified for membership in the society’s 19th year. Former Aggies Colby Bowman, Jacob Garcia, Cole Joyce, Stephen Kotsanlee, Elliott Nimrod, Spencer Petras and Kyrese White join current Aggies Bryson Barnes, Broc Lane and Josh Sterzer on the list. The 10 Aggies were among 80 student-athletes from the Mountain West to make the list. At the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, Utah State was one of 22 programs to have at least 10 players recognized. Barnes graduated from Utah State in the spring of 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in business integrated studies and is pursuing his master’s in business administration, while maintaining a 3.59 grade point average. He earned academic All-Mountain West honors in 2024. Bowman (3.30 GPA) earned his master’s degree in business administration from Utah State in the fall of 2024. He was