Utah State football is 1-4 to start the 2024 season.

After a season opening win over Robert Morris, there was the shutout loss to USC, the heartbreaking loss to Utah, the devastating loss to Temple and Saturday night in Boise against the No. 21-ranked Broncos there was the oh-so-familiar loss.

Utah State lost to Boise State 62-30. It was the ninth straight loss to BSU by USU, and much like the ones that came before it the Aggies weren’t especially close in the end.

A quick look at the Broncos’ final offensive statistics tell much of the story.

Boise State finished with nearly 600 yards of offense (599), rushed for 296 yards at an average clip of seven yards per carry and threw for 303 yards at a average clip of 11.7 yards per reception.

And that was with star running back Ashton Jeanty playing only the first half.

Jeanty, by the way, finished with 186 yards rushing and three touchdowns on just 13 carries.

When the game was on the line — the first half essentially — Boise State had its way with Utah State, enough times at least to score 49 points through two quarters while holding the Aggies to just 17.

If that sounds familiar it is because that is what has happened nearly every year the teams have met on the gridiron (Boise State now leads the all-time series 24-5, with USU’s last win coming in 2015).

Boise State has been in a different class than Utah State. It as simple as that, and narrowing that gap remains the ever-present goal that seems to be always out of reach.

Said USU interim head coach Nate Dreiling afterward: “We saw where we need to get to. From a physicality standpoint they set the tone on that and we have work to do, which is not good. We know where the bar is, especially moving to the Pac-12.”

That Utah State lost to Boise State wasn’t surprising, nor were the losses to USC and Utah. The loss to Temple remains the only real surprising result.

But has the slow start to the season — four losses in five games — doomed the Aggies? Or is their reason to hope that a turnaround is just around the corner?

After the loss to the Broncos there are essentially two ways to look at USU football right now.

The pessimist’s view of Utah State

In their four losses this season, the Aggies have been outscored 193-80. That is a point differential of 113. Interestingly enough, USU has scored a total of 116 points this year through five games.

More than anything else, that says — loudly — that USU’s defense has not taken a leap forward this season, or anything close to it.

Ranked No. 117 in total defense at the end of the 2023 season, USU currently ranks No. 123 this year.

The competition has been better than a year ago — much better — what with USU having played three ranked opponents already, but statistically the Aggies have regressed from last year.

As a reminder, Utah State gave up 45 points in a blowout loss to Georgia State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl last season. Oh, and the Aggies also gave 41 points to New Mexico, 45 points to Boise State and 42 points to San Jose State, to refresh some memories.

And yet, per the numbers, the defense this year has been worse.

Whether or not those numbers are fair, Dreiling knows his defense has to improve. By every objective measure right now, Utah State is losing games mostly because of its defense.

“Defensively we are just too far behind and our margin for error is so small,” Dreiling said. “We have some making up to do. We have played three ranked teams in the last four weeks, so when we get back to our ‘more normal’ competition I hope these games pay off.

“We played some really good teams. I think we are getting better from it, though it may not be showing on the scoreboard. But ultimately we have to get back to work.”

He added, specific to USU’s defensive showing against Boise State, “We are not performing like we need to. We need to execute better. This was a pretty embarrassing performance.”

The question now is do the Aggies have the time and personnel to get better?

Multiple key defensive linemen are injured. Dreiling noted that defensive tackles Miguel Jackson and Taz Williams are out for the season with shoulder injuries, and defensive end Blaine Spires — arguably USU’s best pass rusher — is expected to miss six weeks with a broken toe.

It is bad enough that Seni Tuiaki came out of medical retirement this week to give USU some needed depth along the defensive line for the Boise State game.

Dreiling noted that the Aggies’ defense played better in the second half against Boise State, and he was proud of the performance. It just didn’t matter because the game was already out of hand.

“I am proud of how they are working, we are just not executing like we practice,” Dreiling said. “I need to find a better way to get them to truly understand what we are doing.

“We are giving up way too many explosive plays and when you do, those are hard to overcome. They are playing hard, they want to win, we just aren’t doing all the little things right now and I have to figure out what those are.”

Can he? Can the Aggies figure things out?

Through five games things don’t look all that encouraging, and though the stiffness of competition is set to lower a little, USU still plays UNLV and Washington State, plus a bunch of other MW teams that are at or near the level of Utah State talent-wise.

There might be reason to hope that Utah State’s offense can bridge the gap, carry extra weight if you will, but thus far that hasn’t happened, nor anything really close to that.

And on a night when the Aggies put up 30 points, racked up 500 yards of offense and had multiple career outings from top players, they still lost by more than 30.

Quarterback Spencer Petras played well against Boise State, possibly the best game of his collegiate career. Jalen Royals had two touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards, the Aggies’ offensive line gave up a single sack against a Boise State defense known for getting to QBs and still Utah State was never got closer than 18 points after the nine minute mark in the second quarter.

It doesn’t seem like there is much chance of the offense carrying the defense’s slack, and for the Aggies, sitting at 1-4, there isn’t a lot of time to turn things around and not a whole lot of evidence that USU can.

The optimist’s view of Utah State

Against Boise State, the Aggies’ offense did something for only the sixth time ever and for the first time since the 2001 season.

Utah State finished the game with a 300-yard passer (Petras), a 200-yard receiver (Royals) and a 100-yard rusher (Rahsul Faison), and they did it against a Boise State team that is the favorite to win the Mountain West Conference and probably make the first 12-team College Football Playoff.

After some up-and-down play in earlier games, the Aggies’ offense played to its capabilities Saturday and it was something to watch.

Royals made history. He is now tied for fifth all-time in career touchdown receptions at Utah State, among other things. He looked as good as any player on the field, Jeanty included.

“I don’t want to offend any of my former teammates, but I don’t think (I’ve played with a player like Royals before),” Petras said. “He is pretty special. A special player. He is really talented, and the best thing about it is he is like the best dude in the world also.”

It wasn’t just Royals Saturday.

Faison rushed for 100 yards for the third straight game, and in the process put his name at the level of former Aggie standout Kerwynn Williams. Faison routinely made Boise State defenders miss tackles, and when they did hit him, he rarely went down easily.

Petras was accurate, poised and finally showed off the arm USU coaches have praised since he got to Logan. Short, intermediate, deep — it didn’t matter the type of pass or where on the field, he proved capable of making it.

Utah State’s offensive line may have had its best overall performance of the season. The unit gave up a single sack — on the first play of the game (Petras took the blame for it) — and after that was arguably the best unit on the field for either team.

“Our offensive line is so close. They continue to fight,” Dreiling said. “What are we, 1-4 or 1-5? I don’t even know and it doesn’t matter, if you walk into the O-line they are smiling and working their butts off and it is showing up on game day.

“Boise State had seven sacks last week versus (Washington State). To hold them to one tonight and have a tailback with over 100 yards rushing… they are playing their butts off.”

Was Utah State’s offense perfect against Boise State? Of course not, but the 30 points scored were the most by an Aggie team against the Broncos since 2015, when Utah State beat Boise State 52-26. It was the most point scored in a losing effort against Boise State since Utah State scored 38 in a 2002 loss in Boise.

The USU defense struggled mightily against Boise State, as detailed above, but those struggles were rather specific. Take away two long touchdown runs for Jeanty — he broke tackles on both runs as Aggie defenders were there to make the play and didn’t — and USU held him to 48 yards on 11 carries, and Utah State did that with a remade defensive line, playing many third string players in key moments.

The Aggies also gave up a lot of passing yards against Boise State and Maddux Madsen — 256 to be exact — but it was by design.

“We put as many bodies in the box to prevent Jeanty,” Dreiling said. “If this quarterback was going to be on he was going to be on. Our game plan was very simple, make sure (Jeanty) didn’t beat us. If they were going to throw for 400 yards that was a risk we were willing to take to take (Jeanty) out of the game.”

If you take away a 96-yard kick off return by Dylan Riley, a rare mistake by the Aggies’ coverage team, all of the sudden the 62 points scored by Boise State become 41. Still a lot of points to be sure, but much more manageable, and the Aggies’ defensive performance doesn’t look nearly as bad, considering the game was played on the Smurf Turf against the best team in the MW.

“At the end of the day, I think we will be fine,” safety Ike Larsen said. “If this group quits, I’ll be really surprised.”

Then there is the record. Yes, the Aggies are 1-4 on the year, but they’ll be the first to tell you that they are 0-1 in conference play and they probably just played the best team they’ll see the rest of the season.

They have time to turn things around, and don’t forget, they have made a habit out of rallying from poor starts to seasons and finishing bowl eligible.

Belief remains. Utah State believes it is getting better, even if the scoreboard and win-loss record doesn’t suggest it.

“We’ve gotten better at a lot of spots,” Larsen said. “We obviously aren’t where we want to be. We are 1-4 or whatever. I don’t care, but we are playing good.”

Added Petras: “We are going to be playing our best football in November, and it is a race to get there. Each week it is ‘How do we improve? And hopefully we continue to grow.”

The Colorado Avalanche lost to Utah in their sixth and final preseason game by a score of 2-1. Here are the game’s Studs & Duds.

Studs

Nikolai Kovalenko

The Tank rolls on as Kovalenko had another strong outing. His forechecking acumen is what is driving the majority of his success right now. There’s a little playmaking ability that is jumping off the ice and giving the Avs the hope that he could help in the top nine a bit to start the year.

I like all of those things, but it’s that physicality and tryhard that appeals the most to me at the moment. He once again played hard and made his bones by being a nuisance to Utah puck carriers.

Trying to predict what the Avs are up to on this roster is always tricky territory, but this guy has to be on the roster in my opinion. He has outplayed everyone in contention for jobs, from Cal Ritchie to Ivan Ivan to Chris Wagner and even Joel Kiviranta. He’s been better than all of them and should have a spot on the ice next week for opening night.

Ivan Ivan

This guy just will not quit. I’ve spent the last year heaping praise on the young Czech forward and he continues to justify the attached hope. He’s been nothing short of excellent this preseason.

His hockey IQ is awesome to watch. When he gets the puck, he already knows what he’s doing with it. He can play at NHL pace. I’m not sold on his skill level yet, but he’s always a step ahead of the game action and that allows him to max out his physical abilities.

He was given a look at center tonight and I thought he flourished. He scored Colorado’s only goal and had two other excellent scoring chances. Every time he’s on the ice, he’s causing headaches for the opposing team.

The only knock here is that he took another penalty, which has been an issue for him this preseason. We have seen that isn’t a disqualifying quality in previous years (remembering the four-penalty game by Sampo Ranta in the final preseason game).

The Avs are in a strange roster spot right now. They released Pierre-Edouard Bellemare from his PTO and placed T.J. Tynan and Chris Wagner on waivers, removing three options for the fourth-line center job. That pretty much has left Ivan and Parker Kelly battling for that job, but there is a feeling something is coming because the team’s claim of defenseman John Ludvig from the waiver wire leaves them with nine defenders right now.

Anyway, until the team actually makes a final decision on this roster battle, Ivan has to continue being considered. The only player battling for a job that he has not outplayed is Kovalenko.

Parker Kelly

Speaking of that fourth-line center job, Kelly continues to impress me quite a bit. I liked the signing when it happened, but the move of him to center is not something I’m fully sold on just yet.

That said, the qualities that define his game are showing up consistently. He’s a worker from start to finish. The puck skills aren’t there for him to be a big difference-maker on the offensive side of the game, but his willingness to put on his hard hat and go to work every single shift is an excellent quality to have for a bottom-of-the-lineup player.

We’ll see about this center thing, but if that experiment ends and he moves back to wing, Kelly is set to be a strong addition to this lineup.

Duds

Waiting for the regular season

The Avs open their season on Wednesday and then don’t play again until next Saturday. Tonight’s game got me fully ready for real Avalanche hockey again and I’m annoyed we have to sit around and keep talking about roster spots for the next few days.

That second pairing

Both Sam Girard and Josh Manson made great plays during this game, but I have to nitpick a ‘Dud’ somewhere, so I’ll take this pairing.

They weren’t consistently poor by any means, but each made mistakes on the penalty kill that were frustrating. Girard’s was especially onerous as his failure to clear a puck that 100% should have been out of the zone turned into the game-winning goal a few seconds later.

That’s just not something you want to see from Girard. Manson also got caught puck-watching a bit too much on the PK and instead of working over the guys in front of the net, was witness to the scene unfolding. Lackluster work from both on that unit.

Unsung Hero

Easily easily easily easily it this woman.

That is her prosthetic leg she is holding in the air just a few moments after chugging a beer from it. That absolutely rules.

Generations ago, pioneers arrived in the harsh yet beautiful terrain of the Utah desert, determined to make a home. They faced countless challenges, but through collaboration and respect for the land, they cultivated thriving communities. Those who called this place home before us understood the delicate balance between using the land for survival and preserving it for future generations. This principle of stewardship has guided Utahns ever since.

Unfortunately, this code has been eroded by a recent federal rule adopting a “look, but don’t touch” approach that has left outdoor enthusiasts feeling excluded. The federal government’s approach underscores a troubling trend that makes it clear that managing Utah’s public lands from Washington, D.C., is not the solution. That’s why Utah is asserting its right to manage our lands. We believe in local stewardship, proven through our track record of responsibly managing state lands for the benefit of all Utahns and future generations.

The new version of the Public Lands Rule released earlier this year redefines conservation. This fundamental change of course from the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), enacted without congressional approval, now includes “conservation” as a defined “use” and allows special interest groups to close down access to public lands across Utah. The federal government claims the Public Lands Rule will safeguard public lands. In reality, it restricts local Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees and their partners at the state and local levels from improving and restoring Utah’s landscapes and watersheds effectively. This new rule will shut down access to Utahns’ favorite spots and limit activities we’ve done for generations on public lands like camping, hiking, biking, fishing and driving off-highway vehicles.

Most people know me as a conservative, but I’m also a conservationist — the two are not mutually exclusive. Activist companies and organizations have hijacked the meaning of true conservation, pushing for strong environmental regulations that misuse the terms “preserving” and “protecting” the land, with the real goal being to restrict access from nearly every possible angle. The way I see it, the best kind of environmental conservation stems from being a wise and respectful steward of the land, working to make it better, and not keeping it closed from public access.

The federal government has not always had such a radical approach. Fifty years ago, they took a much more common sense approach with FLPMA, which “required lands to be carefully managed to balance uses such as livestock grazing, thinning woodlands, hiking, camping, horseback riding, and riding recreational vehicles.” We’ve strayed well off of that balance, and it’s time to get back on track.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent time working and playing on Utah’s land. I love Utah’s lands. Ranching, hunting, fishing and growing crops are in my blood. This deep-rooted connection has fostered respect and appreciation for our land. I feel the weight of wisely managing our resources, protecting wildlife and proudly preserving our natural heritage for the generations to come, just as well as those who came before me did.

Already, Utah’s state and local governments bear the brunt of the management burden, a nearly impossible task made even more daunting under the new, restrictive regulations. When a crisis strikes, like a raging wildfire or spring flooding, our hands are bound with red tape, forcing us to seek permission before deploying critical resources. The federal government’s failures in wildfire control, flood prevention and water management are both a burden on our state and proof that Utah can do it better.

That’s why Utah has filed a legal suit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can simply hold unappropriated lands within a state indefinitely. Federal lands dominate Utah’s landscape, with the federal government controlling two-thirds of the state’s entire land.

From their offices in Washington, D.C., the federal government insists it knows best while forcing policies that leave locals to pay the price. Conservation should involve both protecting the land and allowing for sustainable use. We have proven our public lands can remain accessible and productive for all. The short-term thinking of people who suggest that locking the gate and throwing away the key, restricting access, could only come from people who have never experienced a night under Utah’s stars.

It’s time for a different approach. By fostering collaboration and respecting multiple-use principles, we can conserve and actively manage our lands. The State of Utah can and will apply policies that benefit the environment and support Utahns’ tradition of spending time on our beloved public lands.

Rep. Mike Schultz is the Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives