There are two ways to look at Utah State right now after its loss to Boise State

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.”