Started again vs Colorado State, the first start since Idaho State, week 1.
W 31-14 vs Colorado State, Oct 31: 17 of 22 for 173 yards, a touchdown · 11 carries for 79 yards, a rushing touchdown.
Utah State’s next game: vs Fresno State, Sat Nov 7, 9:30 p.m. ET · USA Network
Washington · L 14-16
No pass attempts.
Utah · L 0-33
No pass attempts.
Troy · W 21-10
No pass attempts.
Washington State · W 17-16
No pass attempts.
Texas State · L 17-20
No pass attempts.
Hillstead has pass attempts in 3 of Utah State’s 8 games: none in the other 5.
Dashed line: 300 yards.
Utah State is 3-5.
3 stories this week, from 3 outlets.
McCae Hillstead Named America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week
Utah State University Athletics Nov 2
Played for three head coaches at two programs in three seasons: Blake Anderson, Kalani Sitake and Bronco Mendenhall. A game that shows it: 178 passing yards and 43 rushing yards against Idaho State — Week 1, 2026.
398 passing yards · 3 passing TD · 132 rushing yards
Play style
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
from 3 outlets
McCae Hillstead Named America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week
Utah State University Athletics Nov 2 · 1 outlet
CBS SportsMcCae Hillstead powers Utah State past Colorado State in 31-14 winOct 31from 6 outlets
KSL SportsUtah State quarterback depth chart: Who's behind McCae Hillstead?Aug 14CBS SportsMcCae Hillstead powers Utah State past Colorado State in 31-14 winOct 31Utah State University AthleticsKSL SportsEach week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories we tracked, by school.
BYU22 stories2024 to nowMost about: starting job and depth chart, performance and stat line, profile and feature.
Deseret News +1BYU transfer McCae Hillstead named Utah State starting QBApr 20
Locked OnAaron Roderick Might leave BYU for Utah | Is a Double Coordinator loss Looming for Cougars? | McCae Hillstead Transfer Portal-BoundDec 30Utah State University AthleticsUtah State Football Names McCae Hillstead Starting QuarterbackApr 20 Utah State2023not trackedStories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Utah State | 34 | 59 | 57.6% | 398 | 6.7 | 3 | 4 | 117.5 | 27 |
| 2025 | BYU | 4 | 5 | 80.0% | 33 | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 135.4 | -- |
| 2023 | Utah State | 94 | 158 | 59.5% | 1,062 | 6.7 | 11 | 8 | 128.8 | 37 |
| Career | 132 | 222 | 59.5% | 1,493 | 6.7 | 14 | 12 | 126.0 | 33 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Utah State | 26 | 132 | 5.1 | 1 | 19 |
| 2025 | BYU | 5 | 28 | 5.6 | 0 | 13 |
| 2023 | Utah State | 44 | 36 | 0.8 | 0 | 18 |
| Career | 75 | 196 | 2.6 | 1 | 19 |
Last game (Wk 9): 173 passing yards, 1 passing TD.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | Grade | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | SK | RUSH | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-29vs Idaho State | Rough | 15/30 | 178 | 2 | 3 | 5.9 | — | 1 | 43 | Season-high 178 yds · 3 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 5 | L 18-37@ No. 22 Boise State | 2/7 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| Wk 9 | W 31-14vs Colorado State | Shaky | 17/22 | 173 | 1 | 0 | 7.9 | 84.9 | 1 | 79 | |
| Total | 34/59 | 398 | 3 | 4 | 6.7 | — | 2 | 132 |
Oct. 31 · W 31-14 vs Colorado State, play by play
17 of 22 for 173 yards and a touchdown. He was 5 of 7 on third and fourth down.
27-yard completion to Anthony Garcia on 3rd and 4. First quarter, up 7-0. Converted.
2 of 7 for 47 yards and an interception. He was 1 of 5 on third and fourth down.
Intercepted. Second quarter, down 21-7. Picked off by Boise State’s Jake Ripp.
25-yard completion to Eli Wood on 4th and 3. Fourth quarter, down 31-10. Converted.
Incomplete to Eli Wood on 4th and 14. Fourth quarter, down 31-10. Turnover on downs.
Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
15 of 30 for 178 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.
Week 9 · 2026
W 31-14
The plays that mattered most
| Stat | His | Nation | Pac-12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing yards | 398 | 169th of 370 | 11th of 21 |
| Yards an attempt | 6.7 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Touchdown passes | 3 | T-151st of 370 | T-8th of 21 |
| Passer rating | 117.5 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Completion percentage | 57.6 | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Rushing yards | 132 | 90th of 370 | 8th of 21 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 1 | T-117th of 370 | T-7th of 21 |
Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game. He has 59 attempts of the 80 needed after 8 games, so the rates are not ranked.
| Rk | Quarterback | Yards | TD | INT | Att | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Jackson | 1,933 | 18 | 5 | 232 | 8.3 |
| 2 | Maddux Madsen | 1,681 | 15 | 1 | 222 | 7.6 |
| 3 | Jayden Mandal | 1,595 | 10 | 2 | 212 | 7.5 |
| 4 | Hauss Hejny | 1,138 | 14 | 2 | 134 | 8.5 |
| 5 | Grady Brosterhous | 1,120 | 7 | 6 | 178 | 6.3 |
| 6 | Caden Pinnick | 952 | 3 | 5 | 178 | 5.3 |
| 7 | Ksaan Farrar | 943 | 5 | 2 | 143 | 6.6 |
| 8 | Jayden Denegal | 896 | 7 | 5 | 150 | 6.0 |
| 9 | Owen Eshelman | 779 | 2 | 3 | 131 | 5.9 |
| 10 | Stone Saunders | 552 | 2 | 3 | 69 | 8.0 |
| 11 | McCae Hillstead | 398 | 3 | 4 | 59 | 6.7 |
| 12 | Max Cutforth | 131 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 10.1 |
| 13 | Gavin Parkhurst | 114 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 12.7 |
| 14 | Maalik Murphy | 81 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 6.8 |
| 15 | Khristian Martin | 71 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 17.8 |
| 16 | Darius Curry | 70 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 8.8 |
| 17 | Draiden Trudeau | 66 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4.7 |
| 18 | Anthony Garcia | 50 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25.0 |
| 19 | Bert Emanuel Jr. | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4.5 |
| 20 | Brady Jones | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1.7 |
| 21 | Julian Dugger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 |
Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Garcia and Wood saw 25 of the 60 charted throws.
| Receiver | Targets, caught | Targets | Catches | Yards | Throw depth | After catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Garcia | 15 | 12 | 129 | 11.6 | 1.6 | |
| Eli Wood | 10 | 6 | 102 | 12.7 | 4.4 | |
| Javen Jacobs | 9 | 4 | 25 | 6.7 | 4.2 | |
| Javon Robinson | 8 | 5 | 41 | 5.6 | 3.2 | |
| Rex Haynes | 4 | 1 | 23 | 25.8 | 17.0 | |
| 5 others | 8 | 5 | 64 | 10.0 | 2.2 | |
| No receiver charted | 6 | All four interceptions are among these | ||||
Play by play: 60 passes, 34 caught, 398 yards; the box score counts 59 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 60 passing plays (34 completions) against the box score's 59 attempts (34 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
4.35166 of 185 QBsSack rate
4.8%78 of 185 QBsRarely sacked (78 of 185), but Adjusted ANY/A hasn't followed (166 of 185).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 57.6% completion on 59 attempts · 47% of attempts thrown 0–9 air yds.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 176 | 1.5 | 6.9 | 1.5 |
| Road1g | 47.0 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-72g | 112 | 1.0 | 6.3 | 2.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 173 | 1.0 | 7.9 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bronco Mendenhall
Pass share
49.5%
260 pass / 265 run
Plays / game
65.6
8 games
Scheme: Balanced.
| McCae Hillstead | Threw in 3 of 8 games · 34 of 59, 398 yds, 3 TD, 4 INT · 6.7 yards an attempt on 59 attempts · ran for 132 yds, 1 TD |
| Grady Brosterhous | Threw in 7 of 8 games · 99 of 178, 1,120 yds, 7 TD, 6 INT · 6.3 yards an attempt on 178 attempts · ran for 270 yds, 0 TD |
| Anthony Garcia | Threw in 2 of 8 games · 2 of 2, 50 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · 25.0 yards an attempt on 2 attempts · ran for 8 yds, 0 TD |
Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.
Who threw in each quarter. Blue: McCae Hillstead. Gray: Grady Brosterhous, Anthony Garcia. From the play by play.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.
The No. 1,636 recruit in the country is starting at quarterback in the Pac-12.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Blake Anderson, Kalani Sitake and Bronco Mendenhall.
Next stop · Transfer
Transferred to Utah State
