- Ike Larsen returns to Utah State football after a seven-week suspension.
- Coach Mendenhall hopes for Larsen's strong season finish on and off the field.
- USU faces Hawaii Saturday with potential player returns after a beneficial bye week.
LOGAN — One of the most recognizable players on Utah State's football team is back.
Safety Ike Larsen has returned from his suspension and has practiced with the team for the first time since fall camp.
The former Logan and Sky View high star practiced with the Aggies last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Last week was the first of two bye weeks for USU, which gave their players the rest of the week off following Thursday's practice.
"As Ike was in the team meeting, I addressed the team briefly," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said during Monday's press conference. "It was a seven-week suspension. He's worked hard to work through all of the requirements that I thought were appropriate, and the team has welcomed him.
"Again, it really has just been, seems like it has just been business as usual since then. And my hope is that Ike has a fantastic finish of the season, both on and off the field and academically and everything else I'd like to see really implemented not only for him, but our program."
Larsen's suspension "for a violation of team rules" was first announced by USU on Aug. 15. The second-team all-Mountain West honoree in 2022 and first-team honoree in 2023 could be eligible to play in Saturday's road game against Hawaii, although, as of Monday morning, he still didn't have a jersey number. The right to be selected to choose a number is part of Mendenhall's 'Earned Not Given' philosophy.
Larsen contributed with 216 tackles, including nine for a loss, nine interceptions — two of which he returned for touchdowns — a school record five blocked kicks, 17 passes broken up and one forced fumble during the past three seasons for Utah State. Larsen, a honorable mention All-American by College Football Network as a redshirt sophomore in '23, was USU's second-leading tackler a year ago with 80.
Larsen was one of only four returning full-time starters for the Aggies heading into the 2025 campaign. It's unclear if Larsen will travel with the team to Honolulu later this week, let alone play Saturday against the Warriors. He intercepted two passes and returned one of them for a touchdown in USU's 41-34 victory over Hawaii in '22 — the last time the Aggies embarked on this road trip.
The son of Bret and JoAnn Larsen is one of several Aggies that could potentially play this weekend that has missed time this season. USU was definitely banged up heading into its first bye week. For starters, standout quarterback Bryson Barnes was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter and missed the remainder of USU's 55-35 loss to then-No. 18 Vanderbilt on Sept. 27.
Additionally, two other USU starters were injured against the Commodores and didn't return in left tackle Jake Eichorn and linebacker Will Holmes. The Aggies were already missing injured starting right tackle Trey Andersen for the third straight game. USU was already without key defensive contributors and/or starters Enoka Migao (defensive end), linebacker Carl Nesmith and cornerbacks Courage Ugo and D'Angelo Mayes for its final non-conference game.
Mendenhall didn't say during Monday's press conference in any of these players would be available for USU's first Mountain West road game, although he did say in regard to Barnes, "I don't intend to keep it a secret. I'll announce as soon as I can get verification (from team doctors)."
The bye week was definitely beneficial for the Aggies (3-2, 1-0 MW) from an injury standpoint, though. That much is obvious.
"It looks like the rest will have helped our roster," Mendenhall said. "I'll notice and I'll see again later today what those three days (off) especially did and that will frame kind of my maybe more accurate answer. It should have helped, I think it will have helped and I'm looking forward to seeing a fresher and healthier roster."
Likewise, the Warriors are (4-2, 1-1) also coming off their first bye week. Hawaii's last outing was a 44-35 road victory over Air Force. The Warriors have already played two conference games as they were edged at home by Fresno State, 23-21, the previous week. Hawaii was unsuccessful on a two-point conversion attempt with 10 seconds remaining in the final quarter.
"I think any time it's possible to have both teams having a bye or neither having a bye (the same week), that makes it better," Mendenhall said.
The bye week not only gave the Aggies some much-needed rest, it allowed the coaching staff to focus more on recruiting. Mendenhall said his staff was able to watch a lot of high school games last week, "mostly in-state."
"However," Mendenhall continued, "we had players and coaches out of state as well for specific targets, specific commitments and players that we needed to see in relation to our needs or to hold onto their commitment, and that part was really beneficial. And it's always nice for routine breaks for not only players, but coaches also. … So, I've just kind of sensed a renewed energy from our whole organization as they've come back (from our three days off)."
Saturday's showdown will be a homecoming of sorts for a trio of Aggies in Hawaii natives Hale Motu'apuaka, the team's starting right guard, wide receiver Kahuna Davis and tight end Kache Kaio. Motu'apuaka, who addressed the media Monday, missed last year's 55-10 home victory over Hawaii with a season-ending injury, plus was a true freshman and didn't play in that aforementioned road win over the Warriors in '22.
"I'm just very grateful for this opportunity," said Motu'apuaka, who knows 20-30 players on Hawaii's roster "Actually, my family hasn't been able to come out to any of the games, being so far from Hawaii, so I have the opportunity to be able to play in front of my friends and family out there. And to us and our teammates, it's a big game to us, just being able to see all of our family and play for them and play for each other, so we're super grateful for the opportunity."
How heavily recruited was Motu'apuaka, who originally verbally committed to Utah before flipping to USU, by the Warriors?
"I think around my junior year of high school, back in 2021, they did offer me a scholarship, so they were a place I could have went to," Motu'apuaka said. "But my older brother played here, (defensive tackle) Hale Motu'apuaka, you guys probably know of him (and) he was a big reason that I came here."
