By the numbers: BYU vs. USU


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LOGAN — Is there a better way to end the regular season than with an in-state rivalry?

The problem is that not all fans consider BYU-Utah State to be a legitimate rivalry, although more fans are admitting to the matchup becoming more of a rivalry the past five years.

BYU-Utah St is a one-sided rivalry. I don't mean Ws and Ls. I mean Utah St fans think it's a rivalry, BYU fans don't all that much, if any. — Joshua C. Cann (@BYUJazzman) November 23, 2015

> [@BYUJazzman](https://twitter.com/BYUJazzman) It's indeed a rivalry when you start losing to the team on a seemingly regular basis. > > — Jimmie Chesh Sports (@CheshSports) [November 23, 2015](https://twitter.com/CheshSports/status/668875439453028352)

> Hey BYU fans, 48% of your official roster (59/123) has never beaten USU. But by all means, keep bringing up the 1980s. [\#Irrelevant](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Irrelevant?src=hash) [\#BeatBYU](https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeatBYU?src=hash) > > — Brian Floyd (@bfloydz) [November 23, 2015](https://twitter.com/bfloydz/status/668886963798212608)

Although not all fans believe in the in-state rivalry, the players and coaches will treat it as such.

#poll

Bronco Mendenhall and Matt Wells have their work cut out for them as they prepare for each other's inconsistent offenses. Here are the key stats heading into Saturday's rivalry game:

Utah State and BYU have forced a combined 41 turnovers this season

The Aggies' 21 forced turnovers and the Cougars' 20 are both top 35 in the FBS. The Aggies have forced 12 fumbles whereas the Cougars have intercepted 15 passes.

Whoever the Aggies' quarterback will be Saturday, they will need to watch for Cougar safety Kai Nacua. His six interceptions are tied for fourth best in the FBS. Nacua has been playing extremely well all season and is looking to climb in the national ranks.

The Cougars' running backs and pass catchers will need to watch out for linebacker Kyler Fackrell. His five fumble recoveries are good for first in the FBS. Fackrell's ability to force fumbles has earned a lot of looks from NFL scouts. Fackrell will be looking to take advantage of a BYU running game that has lost six fumbles.

BYU has scored in the red zone 95.3% of the time

The Cougars' red zone efficiency is good for first in the FBS. Not all the Cougars' red zone scores are touchdowns, but they have scored on all but two red zone trips, a blocked and a missed field goal.

For the Aggie defense to have success, it needs to keep the Cougars out of the red zone. The Aggies' defense has not been particularly efficient in the red zone. It has allowed an offensive score 87.9 percent of the time, good for 99th in the FBS. The Aggies will need to neutralize Tanner Mangum and his receivers to have any chance of keeping the Cougars out of the red zone.

Utah State is only allowing 171.0 passing yards per game

The big question mark for the Aggies' defense coming into the 2015 season was the secondary. It has proven to be even better than the Aggies' run defense. The 171.0 passing yards per game is good for ninth in the FBS. The Aggies' defensive backs must be licking their chops to face a freshman quarterback this week.

Mangum is averaging 266.7 passing yards per game in his 10 starts this season. His 2,778 passing yards rank him No. 26 in the FBS. This is the second top 10 passing defense that Mangum will face this season, and the first one didn't go very well. Michigan, ranked fourth in pass defense, held Mangum to just 55 yards passing. The Aggies' secondary will be watching a lot of film from BYU vs. Michigan this week.

Bronson Kaufusi has 10.0 sacks this season

Kaufusi's draft stock has risen over the past month. His last four games versus FBS opponents have resulted in 7.5 sacks, 28 tackles and three forced fumbles. Kaufusi is becoming one of the elite pass rushers in the FBS. He will cause a lot of problems for Kent Myers or Chuckie Keeton and the Aggies' offensive line.

The good news for the Aggies is that they are one of the best teams at protecting the quarterback. The Aggies are only allowing 1.27 sacks per game, good for 20th in the FBS. The Aggies' offensive line will need to control the line of scrimmage against the Cougars.

With Myers leaving last week with a shoulder injury, Keeton came in and led the Aggies to rally for the win. It's still unclear which of the two will start Saturday.

Nathan Harker is a sports writing intern currently enrolled at Brigham Young University majoring in broadcast journalism. Nathan can be reached at nathan.harker32@gmail.com or via Twitter @nharker3207.

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsBYU CougarsUtah State Aggies
Nathan Harker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast