Utah State vs. Colorado State: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

Utah State (2-3) at Colorado State (2-2)

Kickoff: Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT.
Venue: Maverik Stadium, Logan.
TV: KJZZ.
Livestream: UtahStateAggies.com.
Radio: Aggie Sports Network.
Series: Utah State is 37-39-2 all-time against Colorado State, including a 20-20-1 record at home. The Aggies have won the last four games in the series, including a 17-13 win in Fort Collins last season.
Weather: Sunny with little to no chance of precipitation, negligible winds out of northwest and temperatures in the low 70s at kickoff.

The trends

For Utah State: The Aggies are 2-3 after are a thrilling comeback victory on the road against UConn. The Aggies once again started poorly, trailing by 17 points, but rallied to defeat the Huskies, 34-33.

For Colorado State: The Rams have won back-to-back games against Middle Tennessee and Utah Tech, after dropping their first two games of the season against a ranked Washington State team and rival Colorado. CSU has looked much improved this season, compared to 2022, and boasts the best offense in the Mountain West Conference.

What to watch for

Offense, offense, offense.

More than any other game this season for Utah State, expect fireworks when the Aggies and Rams meet Saturday night.

The teams boast the top two offenses in the Mountain West this season, CSU ranking No. 32 in all of college football in total offense, No. 47 in scoring offense, while Utah State is ranked No. 44 in total offense, No. 20 in scoring offense.

The Rams are an Air Raid team, though not the first the Aggies have seen this season — Idaho State — but the best. QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has completed 73% of his passes en route to throwing for 1,358 yards and 11 touchdowns (with seven interceptions). His No. 1 target is Tory Horton, who has caught 45 passes for 540 yards with six touchdowns and has proven one of the best receivers in the conference.

The Aggies, of course, have not especially struggled offensively this season, outside of the season opener against Iowa. USU has scored at least three touchdowns in all but one game this season, and has scored 30 or more in three of its last four games, utilizing a balanced attack.

Much discussion can be had about which defense is better suited to stop or even slow down the other team, but Utah State coach Blake Anderson probably put it best.

“You don’t stop them completely, you understand that,” he said. “You try to get them on the ground, make them snap it again. Maybe bat a ball or pressure the quarterback. He has thrown a couple interceptions. We gotta move him off his point. But if you let them, the whole offense is built, if you let them get in rhythm where they can just pitch and catch, it will be a long day.”

Key player

Tory Horton, Colorado State, receiver: The Rams have arguably the best receiver in the MW in Horton, who could be considered one of the best receivers in all of college football. He is the kind of player the Aggies will have to keep an eye on at all times, Anderson said, and for good reason. Horton has caught 45 passes for 540 yards so far this season, and leads the country in receiving yards (135) and receptions (11.2) per game. He also ranks eighth in the country among receivers with six touchdown receptions.

Quotable

“We’ve got to find a way to get on the win board. And this is a much different Colorado State team than we’ve seen the last couple of years. They’ve got a lot of confidence coming in. We’re gonna have to play better, as we all know. And hopefully, that’s something we can do.” — Utah State coach Blake Anderson

“Now we go to Utah State. It is always a good trip to go there. They have good fan support, really well coached team under Blake Anderson, and a competitive team. They’ve played a lot of high-scoring games and they’ve had to come back in the second half to win. They won a really hard fought one last weekend at UConn. ... We are going to have to go play our best football. We are going to have to play four quarters. And we are going to have to play with detail.” — Colorado State coach Jay Norvell

Next up

Utah State: vs. Fresno State on Oct. 13.

Colorado State: vs. Boise State on Oct. 14.

Utah State schedule

• Sept. 2 — Iowa 24, Utah State 14.

• Sept. 9 — Utah State 78, Idaho State 28.

• Sept. 16 — Air Force 39, Utah State 21.

• Sept. 23 — James Madison 45, Utah State 38.

• Sept. 30 — Utah State 34, UConn 33.

• Oct. 7 — vs. Colorado State (6 p.m. MDT).

• Oct. 13 — vs. Fresno State (6 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network).

• Oct. 21 — at San Jose State (5 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network).

• Nov. 4 — at San Diego State (TBA).

• Nov. 11 — vs. Nevada (1 p.m. MST).

• Nov. 18 — vs. Boise State (5 p.m. MST, CBS Sports Network).

• Nov. 24 — at New Mexico (1:30 p.m. MST, CBS Sports Network).