College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Utah State Aggies season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Utah State Schedule Analysis
– Utah State Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 1-5 overall, 1-5 in Mountain West
Head Coach: Blake Anderson, 1st year (51-37 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 114
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 80
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 46
Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– It was a rough, rough run for a Utah State offense that’s been on a steady decline over the last few years. The Aggies had one of the nation’s least efficient passing games, the ground game was just okay, and overall the O managed to average just 276 yards and 15.5 points per game. New head coach Blake Anderson cranked up the offensive production at Arkansas State, and he’s bringing in former UCF offensive coordinator Anthony Tucker to get the passing game going again. Get ready for the offense to go fast, fast, fast.
– The first step is finding the right quarterback. Jason Shelley is gone, and former Arkansas State playmaker Logan Bonner is coming in. Bonner isn’t huge, but he knows how to do what Anderson wants. However, he’s got a broken foot, leaving the job open with Andrew Peasley and Cooper Legas each getting their shots. Peasley threw for 391 yards and four scores with three picks and finished as the second-leading runner, but this should be Bonner’s gig when he’s healthy.
– The Aggies caught a nice break when top receiver Deven Thompkins decided to stick around. He was initially in the transfer portal, but he’s back after catching 20 passes for 214 yards and a score. Thanks to the super-senior rule for this year, the top six pass archers are back, helped by 6-6 junior Justin McGriff adding more size along with Thompkins.
– The offensive line was a plus, and now it’s expected to get everyone back. It was a young line last year, and with 320-pound super-senior Demytrick Ali’fua returning at center, this should be a strength. Leading rusher Jaylen Warren is gone to Oklahoma State, but 5-8, 195-pound senior Devonta’e Henry-Cole, 220-pound junior Pilate Makakona and Oregon State transfer Calvin Tyler should be solid.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
NEXT: Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The Utah State defense didn’t get any help from the offense, but it also didn’t do its part, allowing 485 yards and 35 points per game. On the plus side, the pass rush was okay, and now defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda wants to ramp things up even more. All new coaching staffs want to attack. This one will.
– The top nine tacklers are back, starting with the linebacking corps loaded with veterans. AJ Vongphachanh is a big thumper inside coming up with a team-high 50 stops, and he’ll be flanked by super-seniors Nik Heninger and Kevin Meitzenheimer. The depth is there, too, with a ton of help from the transfer portal – Arkansas State leading tackler Justin Rice will play an instant role. Now the Aggies need more from the defensive front.
– Marcus Moore is a veteran tackle, and the pieces have to fill in around him. There are young options, but a pass rusher has to emerge from the pack.
The secondary gets back all-around playmaker Shaq Bond at one of the safety spots, and the rest of the secondary is full of veterans. Now they all need to make more big plays – there were only two picks in the six games.
NEXT: Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Utah State Offensive Player
QB Logan Bonner, Jr.
He doesn’t even have the starting quarterback job yet, and the new coaching staff won’t be above creating a rotation, but Bonner knows how to run when new head man Blake Anderson wants. the 6-1, 220-pound Arkansas State transfer has to be more accurate – hitting just 58% of his throws – but he threw 30 touchdown passes and nine picks. Don’t expect a lot of running, but he’ll push the passing game down the field.
2. C Demytrick Ali’fua, Sr.
3. OG Karter Shaw, Soph.
4. WR/KR Savon Scarver, Sr.
5. WR Deven Thompkins, Sr.
Best Utah State Defensive Player
S Shaq Bond, Sr.
The 5-10, 190-pound do-it-all veteran safety made 167 career tackles with five picks and 12.5 tackles for loss. He’s not a huge thumper, but he can get all over the field and isn’t a bad volume tackler.
2. LB Justin Rice, Sr.
3. LB Nick Heninger, Sr.
4. LB AJ Vongphachanh, Jr.
5. DT Marcus Moore, Sr.
Top Incoming Utah State Transfer
LB Justin Rice
Logan Bonner should be the biggest transfer deal, but a fellow Arkansas State transfer could be almost as important for the other side. The 6-2, 230-pounder started his career at Fresno State – making 112 tackles with three sacks in 2019 – and came up with 76 stops with seven Saks and 18.5 tackles for loss last year for the Red Wolves.
NEXT: Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Utah State College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Utah State Biggest Key: Offense
The passing game has to work again. It did next to nothing for long stretches last season – the Aggies hit just 52% of their passes and only got past 150 yards once in six games. The attack wasn’t consistent in 2019, but Jordan Love was able to crank up 300 yards games on a regular basis.
The new offense will get there from time to time, but there should still be a balance. At the very least, the Aggies have to create a downfield threat again after averaging a pathetic 4.8 yards per pass.
Utah State Biggest Key: Defense
The takeaways have to come. The Aggies need to come up with a pass rush from spots other than the linebacking corps – the line has to start doing its part – and they have to start creating more big plays from the pressure.
The 2019 defense came up with two or more takeaways in seven of the last ten games, and the 2018 D came up with multiple takeaways in ten of the 13 games. Last year’s defense got two against Fresno State, two in the win over New Mexico, and just one in the other four games.
Utah State Key Player To A Successful Season
WR Deven Thompkins, Sr.
The 5-8, 160-pound veteran is a smallish, shifty player who caught 69 passes for 815 yards and five scores, and ran for 111 yards – in his three years. He was about to leave after the new coaching staff came in, decided to stay, and now the 2020 leading receiver has to add more flash to an offense that should be receiver-friendly.
Utah State Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Air Force, Sept. 18
Even when Utah State was great over the years, it had a big problem with Air Force.
The Aggies have lost five of the last six in the series, closing out last season getting rolled 35-7 after giving up 335 rushing yards. This time around it’s the Mountain West opener, and it’s a big, big deal with Boise State up next and BYU to follow.
With a trip to Washington State to start the season – and with the North Dakota game hardly a layup – it’s going to be a rough start if the Aggies can’t reverse the trend.
– Utah State Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Utah State Fun Stats
– Passing Yards Per Attempt: Opponents 8.15 – Utah State 4.79
– Time of Possession: Opponents 34:04 – Opponents 25:56
– Red Zone Scores: Opponents 19-of-24 – Utah State 6-of-8
NEXT: Utah State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Utah State College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
It’s like the program took a year off.
It went from 11-2-amazing in 2018, to a disappointing 7-6 in 2019, to a stunning off-the-map 1-5 last year with absolutely nothing working.
Of course anything and everything can be blamed on the pandemic, but that wasn’t quite the issue as much as the team was just really, really bad with the lines struggling, the offense failing to find any sort of a groove, and the defense crashing in one of the more stunning drop-offs of the 2020 season.
Enter Blake Anderson from Arkansas State with an up-tempo offense, an attacking defense, and a style that should work, but …
Set The Utah State Regular Season Win Total At … 6
Arkansas State was just as stunning a fail last year. It was supposed to be a rebuild season, but even with a win over Kansas State the Red Wolves struggled.
It’s a reboot for Anderson – who seemed destined to get a bigger gig at some point – and for a Utah State team that should be more dangerous with a whole lot of experience and good parts returning.
It’ll be a rough start, but the back end should make up for it with at UNLV, Colorado State, Hawaii, at New Mexico State, Wyoming and at New Mexico all winnable games to go along with a don’t-take-it-for-granted date with North Dakota.
There will still be an adjustment period, but to not make a fourth bowl game in five years.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Utah State Schedule
