Can Utah State overcome instability at QB — and elsewhere — and pull off the unexpected?
Through five games played this season, three quarterbacks have suited up for the Utah State Aggies: senior Cooper Legas, freshman McCae Hillstead and junior Levi Williams.
Of those, two have started games (Legas led the Aggies into three, while Hillstead has started two) and the Aggies are 2-3, with losses to Iowa, Air Force and James Madison and wins over Idaho State and UConn.
Aggies on the air
Utah State (2-3)
vs. Colorado State (2-2)
Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT
Maverik Stadium
TV: KJZZ
Radio: Aggies Sports Network
Legas is the starting quarterback for the time being, after relieving an injured Hillstead against UConn last Saturday, returning to the role he’d held the first three weeks of the season before being benched during Utah State’s loss to Air Force three games ago.
With Legas back under center, the Aggies rallied for a much-needed win over the Huskies, and the former Orem High standout was a major reason why, completing 11 of 13 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns.
“I think you guys saw the result of a good two weeks’ worth of prep, and him not hanging his head, not visibly coming in here frustrated every day,” Utah State coach Blake Anderson said. “He came in with a great attitude.”
Hillstead, meanwhile, is day-to-day after suffering a concussion against UConn, when violently sandwiched between two defenders after delivering a beautiful ball to wide receiver Jalen Royals. (Royals’ catch on the throw was lost in the shuffle of a high-scoring and thrilling 34-33 USU victory, but the one-handed snag may have been the single-most impressive feat in the game.)
One of those UConn defenders, defensive lineman Eric Watts, was called for roughing the passer, but Hillstead got the worst of it, incurring an injury that left him unable to brace his fall to the turf, nor be quite sure of what day it was afterward.
He is doing better now Anderson noted on Monday. Better than he was at the end of the game Saturday.
Quarterback isn’t the only position where Utah State is dealing with instability.
Against UConn, three offensive linemen (graduate senior Calvin Knapp, redshirt freshman Bryce Radford and redshirt freshman Oloali’i Maui) started their first games for Utah State this season due to injuries to other more established players on the O line.
A pair of defensive backs (cornerback Avante Dickerson and safety Devin Dye) also started their first games as Aggies, along with linebacker Gavin Barthiel.
There have been season-ending injuries to starters (linebacker Max Alford), plus key position changes on defense (Anthony Switzer from safety to linebacker), all of which have left the Aggies looking for answers, especially with the brunt of Mountain West Conference play on the horizon.
Related
Blake Anderson overwhelmed by response to ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ segment
Any win is a win right now for Utah State, even a thrilling yet ugly one over UConn
“It’s difficult, (but) it is what it is,” Anderson said. “We looked at the schedule early and kind of anticipated that this would be a concern.”
Nowhere is the uncertainty more concerning than at quarterback. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
This isn’t groundbreaking or anything, but quarterback is the most important position in football (followed closely by the offensive and defensive lines).
Moreover, Utah State has proven over the years to be much better when it has a consistent and regular quarterback. Sans that, the Aggies have struggled or at best been mediocre, with one major exception.
Since 2011, the year that best marks the start of the current era of Utah State football, the Aggies have won 10 or more games four times:
In 2012, when Chuckie Keeton led the Aggies to the WAC championship.
In 2014, when Darell Garretson, Kent Myers and Keaton, along with Craig Harrison, platooned their way — due to injuries to Keaton, Garretson and Harrison — to a 10-4 season.
In 2018, when Jordan Love became one of the best QBs in the Group of Five, if not all of college football.
In 2021, when Logan Bonner led the Aggies to their first-ever Mountain West Conference championship.
In three of those seasons, the three most successful, the Aggies had stability at QB with Keaton, Love or Bonner and won 11 games.
Has Utah State had stability at quarterback and not been great? Absolutely. Think 2019 with Love or 2016 with Myers, specifically.
But aside from those two seasons, the Aggies have been nothing short of great with stability at the quarterback position. And without it, USU has either failed to go bowling altogether — think 2020 — or more often than not managed to eke its way into the postseason shuffling through quarterbacks.
That would seem to be the direction things are going this season for USU, with Hillstead hurt for now, Legas up-and-down in terms of providing what the coaching staff wants, and Williams dabbling in special teams play.
After them, the Aggies are completely unproven too, with Zeke Payne and Ezra Harris the only other QBs listed on the roster.
Could Utah State pull off a version of 2014, overcome instability at quarterback and make a run in the Mountain West? Get to double-digit wins even?
The schedule lines up fairly well for USU from here on out, with the Aggies hosting Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State, while traveling to San Jose State, San Diego State and New Mexico.
It can be argued that Utah State has already played three of its four toughest opponents this season (Iowa, Air Force, James Madison and Fresno State), what with the Aztecs and Broncos both having down years.
And the Aggies get to host the undefeated Bulldogs, as well as the Broncos.
Related
How Cooper Legas responded to losing the Utah State starting QB job to McCae Hillstead
Utah State quarterback McCae Hillstead exits UConn game with injury
Win out and Utah State would finish the regular season 9-3 and all but certainly play in the Mountain West Conference championship for the second time in three seasons, with a bowl game waiting.
That would be somewhat similar in form to the 2014 season, when the Aggies lost a pair of nonconference games (versus Tennessee and Arkansas State) and one MW conference contest (Boise State), before winning their bowl game.
To do anything close to that, though, to pull off any real sort of turnaround with QB instability, the team will have to find answers to more questions than it can currently count.
Remember, this is a Utah State roster with 61 new players, including 40 new scholarship athletes, that is currently in the middle of an on-the-fly rebuild and trying to weather numerous injuries to key players, all while trying to remain competitive.
“I really don’t know where we’re going to be, but as you saw (against UConn) the next guy, they’ve got to go out and do the job. And I was proud of the guys that did,” Anderson said. “... We are just not at the point, in this stage of the process, with the inexperience and all that comes with it, we need technical work, we need to get better.
“So we are going to do the best we can to balance it and get a team to the field that is healthy on game day,” he continued. “Those that aren’t healthy won’t play and those that are will and we are going to find a way to be competitive with what we have that is physically capable.”
There may not be a bigger cliche in sports than “taking things one game at a time,” a line of thought safety Ike Larsen leaned into earlier this week when asked about the Aggies’ ambitions in the conference.
“We’re gonna do everything in our power to get a win this week,” Larsen said. “That starts today (Monday) with practice and meetings, all the above. We’re gonna do our best with those aspects and hopefully it can carry over to Saturday and we can take care of business.”
With the question mark of who will be quarterback from week to week, though, along with so many injury concerns, the Aggies will have to take things day-by-day, game-by-game if they hope to improve on their 2-3 start.
For now at least the possibility of a 2014-esque season remains possible. And perhaps the 2023 Aggies will pull off the unexpected amid so much uncertainty, with Legas, Hillstead or more likely both leading the way.
