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LOGAN — Utah State debuts its season against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City Saturday (10 a.m. MDT, FS1) in Blake Anderson's third season as the team's head coach.
The Aggies hope to be in a bowl game at the end of the year, but Iowa presents a tough Week 1 challenge to the season.
Introducing the Hawkeyes
Iowa begins its season ranked as the 25th best team in college football. Their brand of football is known throughout the country as big, physical and hard-nosed. In the team's Monday press conference, Anderson and defensive back Michael Anyanwu both repeatedly mentioned Iowa's size and physicality.
In 2022, the Hawkeyes held opponents to an astonishing 13.3 points per game, enough to make themselves the second most efficient defense in the nation. Prior to this season, ESPN ranked the Hawkeyes as the sixth best defense in the country for 2023.
"It's not the most confusing defense I've ever seen," Aggies quarterback Cooper Legas said. "They really stick to base stuff. They just do it really well, which is what makes them so awesome every year."
The Aggies will look to follow suit by keeping things simple, Anderson said, in order to be able to cope with the tough environment they will be playing in Saturday. Some players have never played in a college football game before, and most have never played in a place like Iowa.
The Hawkeyes' stadium boasts a capacity of more than 70,000 and will be full of rowdy fans ready to cheer on their team. The stadium is also situated right next to a children's hospital that they include in their game day traditions; nearly the entire stadium turns at the end of the first quarter to wave to those watching from the windows of the hospital, a tradition that has been amplified on the national stage in the past few years.
The Aggies will also have to deal with the longest-tenured active head coach in college football in Kirk Ferentz, who has been the head coach of the program for 25 years.
McNamara, a name to remember
Both teams' depth charts were released Monday. No big surprises were to be found on Utah State's depth chart, but Iowa's listed Cade McNamara as its starting quarterback. McNamara transferred to Iowa in Dec. 2022 after several seasons at Michigan. While at Michigan, McNamara started 16 games and led his team to a Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance.
In recent years, Iowa's offense has been the laughing stock of the Big Ten. Last year, Iowa averaged 17.7 points per game, which was good enough for 123rd in the nation (out of 131 teams). Their 251.5 yards per game average was the second worst in the nation and was just higher than New Mexico, who finished the 2022 season with a 2-10 record.
The Hawkeyes will look to McNamara to give the team the spark it needs to get the offense going this year. Though he is questionable for Week 1 due to a non-football related injury, the depth chart shows he should be active and ready to face Utah State. Should McNamara turn the offense around, the Hawkeyes could have a chance to do something special this season.
"It all starts up front"
Anderson said the upcoming matchup "all starts up front," because the Hawkeyes dominate nearly every front they play against, specifically on defense. The key matchup in the game will be the offensive and defensive lines, but it will arguably be Utah State's defensive line against the Iowa offensive line more than anything else.
Though Iowa's offense did not excel last season, they are big and physical up front. The Aggies' defensive line is one of their biggest unknowns heading into this season. The Aggies will have to really step up and break through a lot of blocks if Utah State wants to win the game.
"There's very few matchups across the front that are going to be in our favor, if any at all," Anderson said.
Iowa runs a pro-style offense that is very rush heavy. A week ago, Aggies defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen alluded to his defensive line being unprepared for Week 1, saying they were inexperienced and would likely be more experienced and developed by Week 4. An unsure defensive line would negate anything said about a formerly weak Big Ten offense with a talented new quarterback.
Is an upset likely?
It's definitely not likely. Possible? Absolutely.
Disregarding last year's loss in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Aggies have fared relatively well against Power Five opponents in recent years. Most of the team's recent season openers have been against such teams, and most were away games. In 2018 and 2019, the Aggies lost their season opener by just one score in away games at Michigan State and Wake Forest.
In 2021, the Aggies opened the season with a narrow victory against Washington State in Pullman. They then beat Oregon State later that year in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.
Ultimately, anything could happen. The Aggies are relatively healthy and brought in a lot of talent in the offseason. As Anderson said earlier this year, nobody knows how good the Aggies will be, including the coaches, until they are tested against an opponent. And tested they will be.
