2018 Utah State Aggies football team

Last updated

2018 Utah State Aggies football
Utah State Aggies logo.svg
New Mexico Bowl champion
New Mexico Bowl, W 52–13 vs. North Texas
Conference Mountain West Conference
DivisionMountain Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
APNo. 22
Record11–2 (7–1 MW)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator David Yost (2nd season)
Offensive scheme Spread
Co-defensive coordinators
Base defense 3–3–5
Home stadium Maverik Stadium
Uniform
Utah aggies football unif.png
Seasons
  2017
2019  
2018 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
Mountain Division
No. 23 Boise State x  7 1   10 3  
No. 22 Utah State  7 1   11 2  
Wyoming  4 4   6 6  
Air Force  3 5   5 7  
Colorado State  2 6   3 9  
New Mexico  1 7   3 9  
West Division
No. 18 Fresno State x$  7 1   12 2  
Nevada  5 3   8 5  
Hawaii  5 3   8 6  
San Diego State  4 4   7 6  
UNLV  2 6   4 8  
San Jose State  1 7   1 11  
Championship: Fresno State 19, Boise State 16 (OT)
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by sixth-year head coach Matt Wells during the regular season [a] and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. They competed as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for first place in the division with Boise State. Despite the tie, the conference does not credit them as divisional co-champions as a result of the head-to-head loss. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated North Texas. The 11 wins tied a school record.

Contents

Head coach Matt Wells was hired by Texas Tech on November 29; the team was led in the New Mexico Bowl by interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator Frank Maile. [1] Wells finished with a 44–34 record in his six seasons at Utah State. On December 9, the school rehired Gary Andersen, six years after he left for Wisconsin. [2]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

AwardPlayerPositionYear
Rimington Trophy [3] Quin FicklinCSR
John Mackey Award [4] Dax RaymondTEJR
Lou Groza Award [5] Dominik Eberle KJR
Wuerffel Trophy [6] Jacoby WildmanDLJR

Mountain West media days

During the Mountain West media days held July 24–25 at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip, the Aggies were predicted to finish in fourth place in the Mountain Division. [7]

Preseason All-Mountain West Team

The Aggies had two players selected to the preseason all-Mountain West team. [8]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 315:00 p.m.at No. 11 Michigan State * BTN L 31–3873,114
September 86:00 p.m. New Mexico State * Stadium W 60–1318,223
September 136:00 p.m. Tennessee Tech *
  • Maverik Stadium
  • Logan, UT
StadiumW 73–1215,011
September 228:15 p.m. Air Force
  • Maverik Stadium
  • Logan, UT
ESPN2 W 42–3222,720
October 57:00 p.m.at BYU *ESPN2W 45–2058,087
October 132:00 p.m. UNLV Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Maverik Stadium
  • Logan, UT
Stadium on Facebook W 59–2821,212
October 2012:30 p.m.at Wyoming ATTSNRM W 24–1618,378
October 272:00 p.m. New Mexico
  • Maverik Stadium
  • Logan, UT
StadiumW 61–1916,119
November 310:00 p.m.at Hawaii SPEC HI W 56–1721,476
November 102:00 p.m. San Jose State
  • Maverik Stadium
  • Logan, UT
StadiumW 62–2419,017
November 1712:00 p.m.at Colorado State No. 23ATTSNRMW 29–2419,226
November 248:15 p.m.at No. 23 Boise State No. 21 ESPN L 24–3335,960
December 1512:00 p.m.vs. North Texas *ESPNW 52–1325,387

[9]

Game summaries

At Michigan State

1234Total
Aggies7710731
No. 11 Spartans61471138

New Mexico State

1234Total
NMSU Aggies733013
USU Aggies1617141360

Tennessee Tech

1234Total
Golden Eagles333312
Aggies172872173

Air Force

1234Total
Falcons01431532
Aggies71414742

At BYU

1234Total
Aggies147141045
Cougars076720

UNLV

1234Total
Rebels7071428
Aggies142871059

At Wyoming

1234Total
Aggies7314024
Cowboys3010316

New Mexico

1234Total
Lobos3214019
Aggies28249061

At Hawaii

1234Total
No. 18 Aggies28028056
Rainbow Warriors3014017

San Jose State

1234Total
Spartans737724
No. 14 Aggies102821362

At Colorado State

1234Total
No. 14 Aggies3710929
Rams0731424

At Boise State

1234Total
No. 14 Aggies7701024
No. 21 Broncos71031333

Vs. North Texas–New Mexico Bowl

1234Total
Mean Green706013
Aggies14247752

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP RVRVRV18141414RVRV22
Coaches RVRVRV20161315242321
CFP Not released2321Not released

Players drafted into the NFL

RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
6214 Darwin Thompson RB Kansas City Chiefs

References

  1. "Matt Wells named Texas Tech head football coach". KLBK/KAMC. November 29, 2018.
  2. Andersen will return as USU's head football coach
  3. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  4. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  5. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  6. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  7. "Boise State, Fresno State Picked to Win 2018 Mountain West Football Divisional Titles".
  8. "2018 Mountain West Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
  9. "2018 Utah State Aggies football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 31, 2018.