3 takeaways from Utah State’s loss to Boise State

The losses continue for Utah State as conference play has begun.

The Aggies lost to No. 21 Boise State 62-30 on Saturday night, the fourth straight loss for USU this season.

It was an uncompetitive loss — USU trailed 14-3 after the first quarter and 49-17 at halftime — that had a lot of bad, but also some notable good.

Here are three takeaways from Utah State’s recent loss.

The defense overhaul could take years

It may have been unrealistic to believe that Nate Dreiling could turn Utah State’s defense around in a single offseason.

Last year – the only year of the Joe Cauthen era – the Aggies were one of the worst defensive teams in America. There’s no need to relive the Aggies’ ineptitude in every aspect. For simplicity’s sake, Utah State finished the year ranked 117th in total defense. The Aggies gave up nearly six yards per game and allowed their opponents an average of 433 yards of offense per game.

Things were bad. Really bad.

Dreiling was brought in to try and effect a quick turnaround, but it has become clear that isn’t going to happen.

The Aggies are better defensively this season – the tackling is better, the increased effort is visible – but it increasingly appears that the personnel to play good defense simply isn’t there.

Boise State has a Heisman Trophy candidate in Ashton Jeanty and few teams have proven capable of slowing him down, so it was no surprise that Utah State couldn’t, but at this point the defense appears to be the Aggies unable to stop FBS caliber offense.

USU made Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen look like he was back at American Fork High School playing against overmatched non-region opponents, and backup BSU running back Jambres Dunbar looked way too similar to Jeanty.

Utah State could get better on defense as the season progresses. Internal improvement is a real possibility and there is talent within the team. But right now, USU just isn’t competitive on defense, and that’s costing the Aggies chances to win.

Spencer Petras, the quarterback Utah State needs this year?

The offseason signing of Spencer Petras wasn’t unanimously hailed as a great move for the Aggies, and when Blake Anderson named Petras the starter after spring camp, it wasn’t an announcement that particularly pleased the majority of Aggie fans.

However, after the game against Boise State, it’s clear why Petras is the guy for the Aggies.

Petras isn’t a mobile quarterback — although USU inexplicably used him early in the game against the Broncos — and he wasn’t perfect against Boise State, but he showed off his prowess as a passer.

Petras finished the game with 372 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 66% of his passes.

When he came off the bench, he was precise and showed he could make shots at all levels of the field. He also appeared mostly able to make his strides, although he was understandably focused heavily on Jalen Royals.

Petras missed a few shots, but not too often. Accuracy was probably his most defining trait in the game. The Aggies’ offense has plenty of playmakers and Petras is a quarterback well-suited to getting the ball to them quickly. He is almost the ideal QB for the offense that Kyle Cefalo runs.

Petras won’t be the type to take over a game on his own. He won’t keep plays alive with his legs, and as such he won’t often make the Aggies get first downs they don’t deserve.

But he’s the type of quarterback that should give USU’s playmakers career games and even seasons. Look no further than what the Royals did against Boise State when Petras delivered the ball to him.

Is it time for a youth movement yet?

Currently 1-4 this season, the Aggies face quite the climb to become bowl eligible. We don’t need to list all of the upcoming opponents here, but with UNLV coming to Logan next weekend, a 1-5 start seems likely for Utah State.

With that in mind, perhaps it’s time to think about handing things over to the youngsters and trying to build the next group of Aggies.

Given how many veterans there are on the team – guys like Petras, Royals running back Rahsul Faison and many others – that will be hard to swallow, but as the season seems more and more lost, it will be more important to build a foundation for the future.

Utah State has always been a developmental program — Gary Andersen, Matt Wells, Anderson and Dreiling have all emphasized that (Anderson the least) — and has been at its best when it has developed talent over multiple seasons. The end result was the 10-win campaigns that are so fondly remembered.

This is more difficult than ever in the current era of college football given the transfer portal and NIL, but it is still the way USU builds teams.

Even the 2021 Mountain West Conference winning team had a core developed at Utah State University, with key newcomers proving the difference between a good team and a title team.

An additional advantage for using young players? They show recruits that when they come to Logan, they can and likely will see the field early and often.

It will be painful to work with development players. Victories will be rare. But they’ve already proven rare, so perhaps it’s time to join a youth movement.