Utah State
Utah State is 4-5 and No. 86 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 4.5 points below an average FBS team. Last game: won 17-10 vs Fresno State in Week 10.
Week 11: at San Diego State, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit
Why Utah State is No. 86
- Utah State's rating is −4.5: the machine's estimate that Utah State is 4.5 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 86 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
- It started the season at −6.7, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it up 2.2.
- The biggest weekly moves: +4.8 after Week 2 (L 14-16 at Washington) and −2.6 after Week 3 (L 0-33 at Utah).
- Its record is 4-5. The 5 losses were to No. 12 Utah, No. 34 Boise State, No. 47 Washington, No. 64 Texas State, Idaho State (FCS), by 13.8 points on average. The 4 wins came by 9.0 points on average; the best was over No. 72 Fresno State. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
- Its FBS opponents so far average No. 70 in the machine's ratings.
- Just above is No. 85 Army (−4.5); just below is No. 87 Rutgers (−4.6).
The rating, week by week
Strengths and weak spots
Head coach
Bronco Mendenhall is in his 2nd season at Utah State (since 2025). This season: 4-5. At Utah State overall: 10-12, counting this season.
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Team stats
Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.
Passing
| Completions-attempts | 144-255 |
|---|---|
| Passing yards | 1685 |
| Touchdowns-interceptions | 11-10 |
| Yards per attempt* | 6.4No. 121 of 138 |
| Explosive pass rate | 9.3%No. 97 of 138 |
| Sacks allowed (rate) | 8.6%No. 128 of 138 |
Rushing
| Carries-yards | 306-1193 |
|---|---|
| Yards per carry | 3.9No. 104 of 138 |
| 10-plus-yard runs (rate) | 13.6%No. 76 of 138 |
| Stuffed at or behind the line (rate) | 20.8%No. 120 of 138 |
Scoring
| Points per game | 16.9No. 134 of 138 |
|---|---|
| Yards per play | 5.15No. 120 of 138 |
| Third-down rate | 39.0%No. 83 of 138 |
| Red-zone TD rate | 50.0%No. 116 of 138 |
| Giveaways | 12No. 87 of 138 |
Defense
| Points allowed per game | 20.6No. 39 of 138 |
|---|---|
| Yards per play allowed | 4.84No. 24 of 138 |
| Yards per pass attempt allowed | 6.0No. 17 of 138 |
| Yards per carry allowed | 3.5No. 35 of 138 |
| Sack rate | 4.4%No. 104 of 138 |
| Takeaways | 9No. 109 of 138 |
| Third-down rate allowed | 41.3%No. 102 of 138 |
Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Player leaders
The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).
Passing
- Grady Brosterhous99-178, 1120 yds, 7 TD, 6 INT
- McCae Hillstead43-73, 515 yds, 3 TD, 4 INT
Rushing
- Javen Jacobs106 carries, 527 yds, 3 TD
- Grady Brosterhous99 carries, 270 yds, 0 TD
- McCae Hillstead38 carries, 188 yds, 2 TD
Receiving
- Eli Wood37 catches, 479 yds, 5 TD
- Anthony Garcia28 catches, 293 yds, 0 TD
- Javon Robinson19 catches, 267 yds, 2 TD
Tackles
- Asher Cunningham72
- Brevin Hamblin71
- David Kabongo45
Sacks
- Asher Cunningham3
- Jordan Pendleton2.5
- Carson Tujague2
Interceptions
- Brevin Hamblin1
- D'Angelo Mayes1
- David Kabongo1
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
Who's playing
Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.
Throwing
- Grady Brosterhous7 games178 attempts70%
- McCae HillsteadMost passes in the last game4 games73 attempts29%
Carrying
- Javen Jacobs9 games106 carries65%
- Noah White7 games18 carries11%
- Sesi Vailahi3 games16 carries10%
- Nehemiah Washington5 games13 carries8%
Catching
- Eli Wood7 games37 catches26%
- Anthony Garcia7 games28 catches19%
- Javen Jacobs8 games19 catches13%
- Javon Robinson6 games19 catches13%
Tackling
- Asher Cunningham9 games72 tackles11%
- Brevin Hamblin9 games71 tackles11%
- David Kabongo9 games45 tackles7%
- Bronson Olevao9 games40 tackles6%
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.
The season, week by week
- Week 1 L 17–29 vs Idaho State. Idaho State is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against. Lost the turnover battle by 4.
- Week 2 L 14–16 at Washington. The run game struggled: 2.6 yards a carry, 1.8 less than Washington usually allows. Lost the turnover battle by 3.
- Week 3 L 0–33 at Utah. The passing game struggled: 4.5 yards an attempt, 2.7 less than Utah usually allows. Its fewest yards an attempt of the season.
- Week 4 W 21–10 vs Troy. The run game was the strength: 5.5 yards a carry, 1.7 more than Troy usually allows. The most yards a carry it has allowed all season.
- Week 5 L 18–37 at Boise State. The pass defense gave ground: Boise State got 12.0 yards an attempt, 3.7 over what it usually gains. The offense gave up 6 sacks.
- Week 6 W 17–16 vs Washington State. The run game struggled: 2.9 yards a carry, 2.6 less than Washington State usually allows. The fewest yards an attempt it has allowed all season.
- Week 8 L 17–20 at Texas State. The pass defense was the strength: Texas State got 4.4 yards an attempt, 4.4 under what it usually gains.
- Week 9 W 31–14 vs Colorado State. The run defense was the strength: Colorado State got 3.0 yards a carry, 2.2 under what it usually gains. Won the turnover battle by 2.
- Week 10 W 17–10 vs Fresno State. The run defense was the strength: Fresno State got 0.6 yards a carry, 3.8 under what it usually gains. The machine had Fresno State by 1.3 (53%), so this was a win it did not see coming.