Opponent Defensive Preview: Utah State Aggies
· Yahoo Sports
It’s week 2 and the Huskies look to build on week 1’s Apple Cup victory. While a win is a win at the end of the day, there is certainly a long list of items that the staff would like to see improved against Utah State. The Aggies, now members of the re-formed Pac-12, are off to a rough start to the season having lost their opener to FCS Idaho State. Utah State HC Bronco Mendenhall will be pushing his team to put the tough loss behind them with a big win on the road as massive underdogs to the Huskies, but that might be easier said than done.
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The Scheme & Personnel
Defensively, the Aggies haven’t proven themselves to be particularly stout during Mendenhall’s brief tenure. In year 1 under Mendenhall and DC Nick Howell, the Aggies finished #90 in points allowed per game and #130 in yards allowed per game. A key driver of those defensive struggles is the Aggies inability to consistently prevent explosive plays through the air, allowing 258+ yards passing per game last season. It’s hard to tell if those struggles have carried forward into 2026 given the limited sample size of one game. However, the Aggie defense did hold Idaho State to just 152 yards passing and 89 yards rushing. Although, that should be taken with a grain of salt given the comparative talent disparity between FBS and FCS teams.
Another thing to keep an eye on is how well Utah State’s revamped defensive roster gels. Like many G6 teams, annual roster turnover is just part of the gig, making year-over-year development and progress challenging. The Aggies brought in 19 defensive transfers look to replace 10 outbound defensive transfers plus a number of other departures. Lack of team chemistry and experience playing as a unit could contribute to missed assignments and blown coverages that contribute to their porous big play defense.
Keys to the Game
This will be a get right game for the UW offense. The offense was out of sync for long stretches of last week’s game, and a lot of it had to do with an inconsistent offensive line. Obviously we have talent up front, but with first time starters at LT, RG, and center, its not a surprise that there were missed assignments that bit us. Add in the fact that our RB room has been decimated by injuries, and there just wasn’t the rushing attack that we had all expected would buoy the offense as a whole this season. For us to have success, we need to see better cohesion and an overall sharper game. If we can just get steady execution of assignments and work fundamentals up front, our talent advantage should shine through and create opportunities for the new RBs were breaking in. A solid run game in turn should set things up for Demond and the passing attack.