Utah State 2020 Timeline Analysis

On Thursday afternoon, Mountain West canceled the 2020 schedule for conference teams. This is what the Utah timeline would look like.

First week (24 October): Boise State

This is getting tough for the Aggies. Playing Boise State is never easy but starting the season against Broncos on the road even if there are no Boise fans will be a challenge. The Broncos are back by Hank Bashmeyer and George Hollani, and they both have had very impressive seasons. The Broncos lose their start in defense but bring back a lot of experience at full back and in high school. Utah may face quarterback problems to start the season against a group of talented and minor player. One area where Utah might succeed in this game is their rush of passing and running a defensive line. The Broncos lost most of the starting line-ups, so if Utah could put pressure on Bashmire and Hollani, they might be able to keep that match close.

Week Two (October 31): San Diego match

This should also be a tough match for Aggies, but maybe a little easier than Boise State because the Aggies break a new coach and don’t have the defensive mind of Rocky Long. There are a lot of unknowns about Utah crime and how they’ll be able to perform, so they’re not quite a good fit for a higher scoring game (which is what Boissy State can be). The game against the Aztecs feels more like a defensive defensive match and this suits Utah better since they have more experience. If the Aggies can do enough in attack and their defense is capable of taking on big feats, Utah State has a good chance of keeping that game close and maybe even winning it right away.

Week 3 (November 7): Nevada

After a 36-10 home defeat against Nevada in 2019, he’s predicted that this match will be much closer this year. These games tend to be a little closer as of recent times and Nevada midfielder Carson Strong should be better after a strong season (pun intended). Nevada finished 4-4 in team play last year, but brought back talent in a crime that was lacking experience last year. This game will definitely be closer than it has been in past years but the Utah offensive has to be improved enough for a near victory down the road. I also expect this result to be lower.

Week 4 (November 14): vs Fresno State

Fresno State … was really bad last year. After spending time ranked in the polls and going to a Mountain West title game two consecutive years, losing in 2017 and winning in 2018, the Bulldogs finished the 2019 season at 4-8 (2-6) and Team San lost. Jose State, Colorado, and two home losses to Utah and Nevada. This was surprising given that Fresno started the season with an eight-point loss to USC and a double-digit loss in overtime for a Minnesota side who turned out to be very good. Fresno State also has a new coach coming this year and he will need to find an alternate midfielder for Jorge Reina but they will bring back Rooney Rivers. Rivers led the team on the racing yards last season with 889 yards rushes and 13 drops. It was picked on many watchlists and should help Fresno State of Ovisney improve, but Utah may be too much with seasoned defense but 2020 has been an odd year.

Fifth week (November 21): In Wyoming

Besides Boise, this could be the third or even the second most difficult game in Agis’ schedule. The Cowboys are also returning to their new quarterback now in their sophomore year at Shawn Chambers. He led Aggies to a ball win over Georgia and also a big win over Missouri at the season opener before missing out for the rest of the season due to injury. At hit point, Wyoming was 6-2 (3-1) and was in a great position to fight the Boise State for the Mountain Division the following week. Utah will need to be on top of its game and fortunately for Aggies, this game comes later in the season so they will have time to solve the kinks. This is a very important game because it could be a game that marks one of the teams that will go to Mountain West on December 19.

Week 6 (November 28): Against New Mexico

This might be the easiest table game. With all due respect to Lobos, they haven’t been that good lately. In 2019, they finished 2–10 and did not win a single conference game and the results were similar in 2018. The last time Lobos played a ball game was in 2016, when they finished 9-4 and only lost twice in the conference. This also happens to be the best season New Mexico has seen in the past decade. Lobos brought in new coach Danny Gonzalez and Gonzalez brought in Rocky Long from San Diego as his defense coordinator. The year-long transformation at Lobos seems to take a lot. If this match was in New Mexico, I’d say the result is probably a little closer, however in Logan and Utah they are the better team and they have to prove it.

Week 7 (December 5): Opposite the Air Force

The fact that this is a home match for the Aggies makes a difference because like Boise State, Utah State fought to beat Falcon Stadium. The last time the Falcons won at Falcon Stadium was in 2013, seven years ago. But again this match is not at Falcon Stadium, it is at Maverick Stadium. The Aggies lost to the Falcons last year 7-31 and defeated the Falcons 42-32 in the Aggies 2018 campaign. Since 2014, the Aggies have been 2-1 against the Falcons at home and will lose the Air Force this year due to injury and the players who have withdrawn. It’s hard to tell what this version of the Falcons would look like without the supposed starting player Donald Hammond (who is a poorly placed schoolboy) and the Falcon’s first match on October 3 against the Navy might be a good indicator of how the Falcons will look. Either way, I would expect Gary Anderson to have his team ready for what appears to be an important home game.

Week 8 (December 12): In Colorado

Colorado State is another Mountain West team that will debut a new coach this season (there are six teams in Mountain West with new coaches) and the new Rams coach is Steve Adazio, who comes from Boston College. There was widespread speculation that Colorado was on its way to transformation after the successful 2017 season under Mike Bobo, but over the past two seasons, the Rams’ squad have missed the post-season period and have not performed well in team play. After defeating Aggies in 2017, Utah won two consecutive games against the Rams in 2018 and 2019. It would be interesting to see how Colorado responds under new leadership, but I think this game will be closer than some might think. If this match had been earlier in the season, the Aggies might have a more settled win. Similar to Colorado, New Mexico or UNLV, it will probably take more than a year to return the program to success, but that popularity could be closer due to the weather. The game takes place on December 12th in Fort Collins, so snow is likely a factor. Utah’s crime should just be enough offensive growth this year behind broad groups of more experienced futures and offensive lines.

What will the log look like?

Assuming all of the games have been played, I’d expect Utah to finish 5-3. There are a few matches where it can be a close call, like vs San Diego State, Nevada, Wyoming, and vs Air Force, so Aggies will also likely win or split three of those four games. The only competitor the Utah team does not face well is Boise State, especially since this will be the Aggies’ first game of the season and there are bound to be issues to work on both sides. If the offensive line can protect whoever starts in the middle and the racing full back can contribute more to attack, then the offensive team should improve from last year and keep themselves in more matches. Defensively, Aggies will need to hold on to his ground and deliver big matches, especially against Boise State, San Diego State, Wyoming and Air Force. It’s really hard to understand what the Aggies might look like, but that should become more apparent as Mountain West’s season begins.