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LOGAN — How about an encore, Aggies?
Utah State football begins its 2022 season Saturday (2 p.m. MDT, FS1) against Connecticut, and they do so as the defending Mountain West champions.
The university isn't soon to forget it, either.
As defending champions, the university has 350 vouchers that will be dispersed under seats around Maverik Stadium to redeem a replica championship ring for its fans. The image of the ring is plastered on the season's schedule refrigerator magnets and promotional posters, and one of the songs the band is expected to perform during an on-field routine is "We Are The Champions" by Queen.
To be clear, the Aggies aren't receiving their championship rings on Saturday, similar to how defending NBA champions do on their first home game of the season; those came in the mail back in the spring semester. Utah State is just continuing to bask in the glory of last year's unanticipated accomplishment, which is totally acceptable.
But if you're going to flaunt the success of a prior team, the current team better be able to back it up.
Some are skeptical of their chances of doing so this season; several Vegas sportsbooks place Utah State's win total at 7.0 wins. The Aggies are 77th in ESPN's final SP+ preseason rankings, and David M. Hale of ESPN put the team on his list of "trending down in the group of 5 team."
"Everything just gets tougher," Aggies head coach Blake Anderson said. "The conference is gonna see you coming, there's going to be much higher expectations, a sense of awareness of what we bring to the table and how competitive we can be. It's a huge challenge."
Fortunately for the Aggies, the journey begins with a game against a team whose head coach last week was lamenting having to play the Aggies to open the season.
"I realized, you know what, we're their warmup game," former UCLA and first-year Huskies coach Jim Mora told the Hartford Courant. "So they're looking at us as just kind of fodder."
UConn is a 27-point underdog coming into Cache Valley on Saturday, which is a huge number, especially considering Utah State is a 38.5-point underdog in next week's game at Alabama.
The Huskies are 4-32 in their past three seasons and some advocated for the program to either disband or drop down to the FCS level last year. The hiring of a big name like Mora brings optimism; however, there has been more drama as UConn's defensive coordinator, Lou Spanos, is on a "leave of absence" as of eight days ago.
The only thing anyone knows for certain about the UConn team going into Saturday is that they're a mess — which, frankly, could be its only advantage against the Aggies. While there is a decent idea of what Utah State will look like as it returns 12 starters, including their quarterback and most of last year's coaching staff, UConn is a total wild card.
I realized, you know what, we're their warmup game. So they're looking at us as just kind of fodder.
–Jim Mora, UConn coach
The program replaced its entire staff and lost several players to the transfer portal — and they have yet to announce publicly its starting quarterback.
"New head coach, new coordinators, really no film to go off of, and that is a real problem," Anderson said. "We don't really know what to expect; we're going to have to adjust very quickly.
"(Mora) obviously stepped in a little bit of a strange situation. And it's gotten stranger with the absence of the defense coordinator, but he's a defensive guy, and I have to believe that he can step in and get things calmed down. They'll come in ready to play."
The Huskies quarterback competition appears to be a two-man race between Ta'Quan Roberson and Zion Turner. Roberson is a redshirt sophomore that transferred from Penn State who has experience; he appeared in three games for the Nittany Lions last year but was just 11-of-28 passing for 85 yards.
Threatening to nab the spot away from Roberson is Turner, a true freshman dual-threat quarterback who threw for 2,102 passing yards his senior year at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale.
Whoever wins the job has weapons to throw to, including sophomore Keelan Marion, who lead Huskies in receiving yards last season. But any chance at a comfortable pocket presence looks grim. The Huskies' offensive line ranked 129th in power success rate last reason and had limited success reloading in the portal.
Defensively, the Huskies lose five starters, including defensive lineman Travis Jones, who was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. Having a defensive-minded coach like Mora sure helps, but losing the team's defensive coordinator a week before the season start doesn't.
Sure, UConn may have an element of the unknown on its side, but taking a glance at their recent history and current personnel, Jim Mora's right: This is a warmup game for the Aggies.
A warmup for Logan Bonner, who spent much of the offseason recovering from an ACL tear.
A warmup for an offensive line that battled attrition throughout fall camp.
A warmup game for an Aggies defensive front seven breaking out four new starters.
"They're having a new coaching staff and what not, but I think at the end of the day, we've just been primarily focused on ourselves," linebacker AJ Vonghpachanh said.
The Aggies' quest to, once again, beat the odds and put together a memorable season starts Saturday. When the encore season begins with a warmup game, it may as well let the band play some Queen and have a little bit of fun.
