Magic, disaster or something in between coming for the Aggies?

Ike Larsen isn’t one to stifle his emotions. On the football field or off of it.

His celebrations after game-changing plays are well known in Logan now after a couple of seasons have come and gone with him roaming the Utah State secondary.

“It is pretty obvious that we have someone here who has the gift. Age, it has absolutely no bearing on this at all. He’s ready. Anyone that spends enough time with Nate, they will feel that too and know that we are in great hands.”

USU defensive analyst Dave Wiemers on interim coach Nate Dreiling

And Larsen hasn’t been too shy talking about how he feels about things in interviews or on social media. Football-related or otherwise.

So when the idea was raised that the Aggies could draw motivation from the fact that few believe in them this season — USU was picked to finish seventh in the MW this season and the Aggies are being led by an interim head coach in Nate Dreiling who hasn’t even been in the role for two months yet after the untimely firing of Blake Anderson — it wasn’t surprising that Larsen scoffed at the notion.

“Yeah, I didn’t even know that, to be honest,” Larsen said. “And I don’t care about all that. That is just a number on a piece of paper. People are going to have to see us.”

Beginning Saturday night against Robert Morris, people are going to see the Aggies. Weekend after weekend this fall.

The question is what kind of team will Utah State have this year? What kind of season is in store for the Aggies?

Will it be a miraculous one, similar to 2021 when the Aggies came out of nowhere to win the Mountain West Conference championship?

Or will it be a miserable one, not unlike the 2020 season that saw USU win only one game?

Or will it be something similar to the last couple of seasons, when the Aggies have battled for bowl eligibility and not much more?

There is reason to believe each of those scenarios could happen.

On the optimism front, Dreiling is, by most accounts, a rising star in the coaching industry.

“It is pretty obvious that we have someone here who has the gift,” USU defensive analyst Dave Wiemers said. “Age, it has absolutely no bearing on this at all. He’s ready. Anyone that spends enough time with Nate, they will feel that too and know that we are in great hands.”

With Dreiling leading the way, USU should be expected to improve defensively, after struggling mightily in 2023.

The majority of the players who helped USU be a top 20 overall offense in all of college football are back this season too, most notably star wide receiver Jalen Royals. The major losses on offense came at quarterback, with the departures of Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead, but Spencer Petras beat both in the spring camp battle for the starting job.

Of course, the Aggies lost their longtime head coach in Anderson less than two months before the start of the season, a decision by the university that has been met by both support and vitriol. Players have expressed disappointment and shock — coaches too.

The tragic death of defensive back Andre Seldon Jr. was a brutal and lasting blow too.

Then there is the fact that the team was basically remade — again — swapping out more than 50 players from last year’s team in total.

All things that could portend disaster.

Most likely, perhaps, is a middle-of-the-road campaign. Of the players who started for USU last year and are back this year, nine are back and atop their respective positions again. The more things change, the more they stay the same sort of thing.

Realistically, it will take weeks to learn what kind of football team Utah State has this year.

But here is what we know entering Week 1.

Will Utah State’s offense remain elite?

If there is one thing that worked during the Anderson era for Utah State football, it was offense.

From the moment Anderson arrived in Logan, the Aggies proved to have one of the more dynamic offenses. Most of the time, at least.

In 2021, USU finished the year ranked No. 22 in total offense.

In 2022, the Aggies took a step back, finishing No. 95 overall, but that dip proved short lived as the team bounced back up to No. 25 last season.

Most of the players the helped USU to offensive success last season are back too.

That includes practically every starting offensive lineman, plus many others who saw considerable playing time. There are also multiple experienced tight ends returned in Broc Lane, Josh Sterzer and Will Monney, also running backs Rahsul Faison and Robert Briggs, plus receivers like Colby Bowman and Otto Tia, in addition to the previously mentioned Royals.

All of it is much to the delight of offensive coordinator Kyle Cefalo, who is taking over play calling duties this season.

“The kids are still here,” he said. “Coaches are all still here. We are all eager and excited. ... We have a lot of seniors, a lot of kids who this could be their last year of playing football. I’ve told them, ‘Guys, lets make the most of this together.’”

Of course, the big change on offense comes at the quarterback position (wide receiver, too, after Terrell Vaughn graduated and Micah Davis left via the transfer portal). Petras is the clear No. 1 QB (Bryson Barnes the No. 2) and there is real belief that he can help the Aggies’ offense to even higher heights, despite what has been a fairly middling collegiate career for him thus far.

“He’s very talented and has a good presence about himself,” Cefalo said. “Physically, he can do the things that we need him to do. That obviously starts there. But then you go back to all the experience he has as a football player, playing in all the huge environments (in the Big Ten). And having to command an offense. That all was not new to him. What was new to him was the way we do things. Little bit different, little bit unique. But he’s done a great job. He treats this whole deal, I feel like I work with Spencer, I really do.”

USU will need Petras to take care of the football. That has been the offense’s biggest weakness the last few years, with the Aggies routinely giving away possession too much, quarterbacks specifically.

The other major weakness on offense for the Aggies last season was the play of the O-line, which was largely the result of poor health. USU couldn’t especially protect the QB and struggled to have a successful rushing attack against better opponents. Injuries really upended that position group, forcing multiple redshirt freshmen to play meaningful minutes last year.

USU believes it has more depth now, after adding Power 4 transfers in George Maile and Trey Andersen, plus junior college transfer Jared Pele.

“Last year we started 10 different offensive linemen,” O-line coach Cooper Bassett said. “A lot of those guys made their first career starters. We started one true sophomore and two redshirt freshmen at different times throughout the year. All of those guys are back. ... All of those guys are much better positioned, confidence-wise, technique-wise, because of those reps.”

There are other question marks, like who will step up alongside Royals at receiver and can the tight ends become an impactful part of the offense (and stay healthy)?

Plus there’s the question of what kind of play caller Cefalo will be.

Those questions aren’t significant to suggest any real steps back by the Aggies offense, though.

The talent is there for another excellent season.

“We have all the confidence in the world with them,” Dreiling said.

Can Utah State make the needed improvements on defense?

Nothing was more damaging for the Aggies last season than poor defensive play.

Put simply, USU was a bad defensive team in 2023, ranking No. 117 in all of FBS in total defense.

The Aggies were routinely punished by bigger and stronger teams — think losses to Boise State, San Jose State and Georgia State — and when that didn’t happen, it wasn’t like USU became a juggernaut defensively.

Dreiling and the rest of the defensive staff were brought aboard with the purpose of fixing the Aggies’ defense, hopefully in short order like Dreiling did at New Mexico State.

That is still the hope.

“One thing I knew for sure, if you have been that bad, you are going to soak up knowledge and information. You want to be a sponge. Because you get tired of people telling you how bad you are and you have a chip on your shoulder for the exact same reason,” Dreiling said. “As soon as I walked in the room they’ve been all ears, unbelievable. They had plenty of talent last year. We just have to give them the tools and confidence to be successful. There is no reason defensively that we shouldn’t be one of the best in the Mountain West Conference and that is our goal.”

On paper, the Aggies did a lot to improve on defense during the offseason.

In addition to keeping key returners in the secondary like safety Ike Larsen, cornerbacks Avante Dickerson and JD Drew, and nickel back Simeon Harris, USU brought in proven players like Jordan Vincent and Torren Union. The team also took a few flyers, like former Oklahoma wide receiver turned defensive back DJ Graham II.

USU basically rebuilt its defensive front too, adding multiple starters or potential starters in defensive tackles Gabriel Iniguez Jr., Miguel Jackson and Taz Williams, plus defensive ends Marlin Dean and Gabe Peterson. Depth is much improved up front, Dreiling said; all that is needed now is for a couple of players to make themselves invaluable.

“We will always be rotating,” Dreiling said. “We feel comfortable playing a lot of people.”

No group on defense improved as much during the offseason than the defensive line group.

“The thing that I appreciate about those guys, and how camp has been, is you have those days when you know you have to make a decision,” defensive line coach Cedric Douglas said. “Are you going to work today or not? And I like the fact that our group makes that decision every day. We’re going to come to work, and we’re going to try and get better.”

On paper, the biggest weakness for USU this season defensively is at linebacker, what with key losses to graduation and the transfer portal.

Newcomers make up the majority of players expected to get real playing time, guys like Jon Ross Maye, Utah transfer Jadon Pearson, Clyde Washington and John Miller.

Each of those players has played considerable amounts of football in their careers, just not at Utah State.

Ross Maye was a tackling machine at Lenoir-Rhyne, a Division II school. Pearson played somewhat sparingly at Utah, but before that he was a difference maker at Reedley College. Washington called Purdue home for years and proved himself a capable Big Ten linebacker. He simply wanted more opportunity at Utah State.

The hope is their experience translates to production as Aggies.

“The one thing our linebacker group has as a whole is physicality,” Bobby McMillen, linebackers coach, said. “Our ability to win the line of scrimmage from the second level has shown out throughout fall camp. The guys we brought in bring in a ton of experience and I think this room is ready to have a really good fall.”

The idea that USU will leap from being one of the worst defensive teams in the country to one of the best isn’t all that believable, but there is precedent. The year before Dreiling got to Las Cruces, NSMU ranked No. 127 in total defense. His first year there, the Aggies finished No. 29 in the country.

Are special teams a plus for Utah State?

The Aggies will look very similar on special teams in 2024 when compared to 2023.

Placekicker Elliott Nimrod is back after one of the better seasons by a kicker in Aggie history.

Nimrod kicked for the Aggies in 12 of 13 games last season and was 41 of 43 on extra points and 11 of 14 on field goals. His field goal percentage tied for the ninth best in a single season in school history.

And he looks to be even better this season.

“Elliott has gotten better and better every year he has been here,” Nick Paremski, special teams coordinator, said in a release. “He has always had the leg, and he has gotten more consistent every year. He really took a step forward last year with his field goals.”

Nimrod isn’t the most notably name back though.

Punter Stephen Kotsanlee returns as well, recovered from serious injury that cut his 2023 season short. Long snapper Jacob Garcia is back too, as a stabilizing force.

“We are very blessed to have Jacob. He is the best I have ever coached at that position,” Paremski said.

In the return game, Utah State will look to Briggs and Royals mostly, though JUCO transfer Robert Freeman is expected to play a key role as well.

All told, special teams might be the most proven aspect of USU football this fall. “This is a special group, and we are probably never going to get to coach a group like this again,” Paremski said. “The way we affect games is with blocked kicks and explosive returns, outside of doing our job of kicking and punting,” Paremski said. “It is big for us; it changes field position and the momentum in the game. We try to find guys that our really good at it and we put them in position to make plays, and luckily, they have come through for us.”

Utah State 2024 schedule

Robert Morris

Aug. 31, 6 p.m. MDT

At USC

Sept. 7, 9 p.m. MDT

Utah

Sept. 14, 2:30 p.m. MDT

At Temple

Sept. 21, TBA

At Boise State

Oct. 5, TBA

UNLV

Oct. 11, 7 p.m. MDT

New Mexico

Oct. 19, 2 p.m. MDT

At Wyoming

Oct. 26, 5 p.m. MDT

At Washington State

Nov. 9, TBA

Hawai’i

Nov 16, 1 p.m. MST

San Diego State

Nov. 23, 1:30 p.m. MST

At Colorado State

Nov. 29, TBA