Utah State has plenty to figure out in bye week, pursuit of bowl opportunity

LOGAN — After eight games, Utah State has only three wins.

The Aggies' wins come against teams who all have losing records — one is an FCS school, and another is one of the lowest-ranked FBS schools that has only notched one win so far this season.

Just when things were looking up for the Aggies after a complete team win against Colorado State, and impressive, though losing, fight against Fresno State, the Aggies dropped an embarrassing road loss that cannot be blamed on a single player. Or better put, perhaps, it's a loss that should probably be blamed on every coach and player who participated in the game.

"Poor game, poor game," head coach Blake Anderson said. "(It) starts with me; I've got to do a better job at having them ready, and clearly we were not."

The offensive line, which has done well thus far in the season, collapsed; McCae Hillstead passed for just 160 yards and turned the ball over twice in his return from injury, crushing the very reason Anderson said he put him out there in the first place.

The Aggies defense gave up more points than usual, which is saying something; they currently rank 118th in the FBS and second-worst in the Mountain West in scoring defense, allowing an average of 34 points per game.

A bye week truly could not have come at a better time for the Aggies.

"(The bye) means everything. We've played a really tough schedule this season, and we're banged up pretty good," said Rahsul Faison, who leads all Aggies who have multiple carries in yards per carry with 7.1 on 52 carries. "We look exhausted, we didn't play as well (against San Jose State) as we wanted to, so we can use this week to … rest up and get our bodies back."

Anderson agreed on the importance of the bye week.

"We've got to take the open week to get guys healthy," Anderson said. "We've got to regroup and really dissect where we're at, and find a way to move forward in a positive way."

There is, at least, some good news: Utah State will reopen play against a struggling San Diego State team, who just got shut out 6-0 by a previously winless Nevada team, and then will return home for a contest against Nevada. If Utah State can take care of business (which is a big if given recent performance) the Aggies should be able to even their record to 5-5.

That leaves two winnable contests against an equally struggling Boise State and New Mexico. None of the remaining opponents on Utah State's schedule currently have records at or above .500. Despite having to win three of their final four games, ESPN's FPI still gives the Aggies a 54.3% chance of achieving the six-win threshold.

So not all hope is lost, but the Aggies have some work to do this week if they want to make it to a bowl game — or at least win another game or two.

"Right now we've just got to find a way to get a win," Anderson said.

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