Utah State
0-2Pac-12 · Bronco Mendenhall, year 2 (6-9) · Maverik Stadium · 25,513 · 20,723 avg in 2026
LastL 14–16 at Washington · Sat Sep 12 · James Jennette 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 2 tackles
Nextat Utah · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · Rice-Eccles Stadium · Utah by 28 · series 28-73-4, lost the last 3 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
All 86 stats
FBS rankings · 2026 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
| Player | # | G | Cmp/Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | INT | Rate | ZPR | QBR | Adj ANY/A | Sack% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.00 EPA/play | 9 | 2 | 22 / 41 | 53.7 | 263 | 6.4 | 2 | 4 | 104.1 | 36 | 64.1 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| +0.34 EPA/play | 2 | 1 | 15 / 30 | 50 | 178 | 5.9 | 2 | 3 | 101.8 | — | — | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| -0.54 EPA/play | 12 | — | 13 / 21 | 61.9 | 111 | 5.3 | 0 | 2 | 87.3 | — | — | — | — | |
| Player | # | G | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Stuff% | 10+% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.12 EPA/play | 8 | 2 | 26 | 77 | 3.0 | 0 | 11 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possession Receiver · +0.81 EPA/play | 7 | 2 | 12 | 143 | 11.9 | 2 #24 FBS | 21 | |
Yards by week → Possession ReceiverReliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive. The most common profile in its group this season — 37 of 58 classified this way. Played in 2 of 3 games this season · senior View Eli Wood's full player page | ||||||||
| +0.32 EPA/play | — | 2 | 6 | 131 | 21.8 | 1 | 78 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | TFL | Sack | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sack | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 2 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 41 | — | 13 | 6 | 7 | 3.5 #17 FBS | 2 #26 FBS | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 55 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | PD | INT | TFL | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | — | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Cover Corner | 5 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cover CornerSteady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play. 13 of 24 CBs we've classified this way this season. Season receipt PD rate0.0% bottom 18th percentile · FBS corners, min. 10 tackles Plays like View Markie Grant's full player page | |||||||
| 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | — | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Player | # | G | FG M/A | FG% | XP M/A | Pts | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | — | 3/4 | 75 | 14/14 | 23 | 50 | |
| 19 | 2 | 1/2 | 50 | 4/4 | 7 | 28 |
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | Long | In20 | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 2 | 7 | 318 | 45.4 | 54 | 5 | 0 |
Net average is unavailable — CFBD's punting feed carries gross yards only, with no return-yardage or touchback deduction.
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.12 EPA/play | 8 | 2 | 4 | 56 | 14 | 0 | 19 |
2026 stat leaders · Utah State
through 2 games
2026 stat leaders · Utah StateHarrison Taggart leads Utah State with 13 tackles through 2 games.
How They Play · 2025Utah State fields a strong explosive, big-play offense behind a porous defense.
Percentile vs all FBS, based on this season's per-game production. Bar = where this team ranks — right is better.
Utah State reads strongest in explosive plays (top 13%) and rushing epa (top 21%); the crux lives in rushing epa allowed, where Utah State sits at the 5th percentile.
offense · strengths lead
defense · higher bar = harder to play against
hidden math · special situations
Home-field advantage · Utah State · 2018–present · FBS opponents
Utah State is worth +4.5 points more at home than on the road.
Middle of FBS, 61st percentile of 133 programs
59% at home, 46% away against FBS opponents since 2018 (23–16 home, 21–25 away). Interval ±4.6.
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge — per-team modelling was tested and did not survive scrutiny (why) — and the books use about 3. Against the closing line, Utah State has beaten the number by +4.7 more at home than away over 72 games — inside the ±7.5 that many games can resolve. Results here cannot tell the flat number apart from the building, and that is the honest reading of nearly every FBS stadium.
Maverik Stadium seats 25,513 and has averaged 71% full (18,075, 23 games reported). Visitors cover a median 446 miles to get here since 2018 — 64th-longest of 135 FBS venues, inside the ordinary range. For the home side it is genuinely home ground: 33% of the 2026 roster (52 of 158 located players) grew up inside 100 miles of the stadium.
Edge = half the gap between average home margin and average road margin, FBS opponents only, non-neutral games since 2018; the interval is 95%. Market line: closing spread, seasons with lines on file. Trip length is straight-line miles from the visiting team's campus to the venue, measured across all 47 home games since 2018.
More in this tab
Scheme claims
Fourth-quarter reliability, corrected
Utah State's 4th-quarter offense, before and after garbage time
Raw Q4 EPA/play ranks 46th percentile in FBS. Strip out snaps taken with a blowout margin and it climbs to the 56th — the correction is the finding, not a footnote.
Standard downs vs. passing downs
Does Utah State hold up once the down-and-distance turns against them?
4th percentile success on standard downs, 93rd on passing downs — a 89-point gap between the two.
View all FBS teams as a table
| Team | Standard-downs percentile | Passing-downs percentile |
|---|---|---|
| App State | 44th | 90th |
| Arizona | 92nd | 86th |
| Arkansas | 60th | 80th |
| Auburn | 75th | 55th |
| Ball State | 12th | 24th |
| Baylor | 40th | 96th |
| Boise State | 58th | 46th |
| Boston College | 27th | 56th |
| Buffalo | 7th | 14th |
| California | 9th | 25th |
| Central Michigan | 16th | 6th |
| Charlotte | 73rd | 83rd |
| Clemson | 1st | 19th |
| Coastal Carolina | 61st | 52nd |
| Colorado | 35th | 77th |
| Colorado State | 82nd | 91st |
| Delaware | 70th | 31st |
| Duke | 20th | 29th |
| Eastern Michigan | 52nd | 10th |
| Florida Atlantic | 43rd | 87th |
| Florida International | 46th | 43rd |
| Florida State | 28th | 65th |
| Georgia Southern | 24th | 45th |
| Georgia Tech | 58th | 44th |
| Hawai'i | 18th | 41st |
| Iowa State | 4th | 23rd |
| Jacksonville State | 65th | 82nd |
| Kansas | 70th | 35th |
| LSU | 33rd | 98th |
| Liberty | 14th | 59th |
| Louisiana | 19th | 92nd |
| Louisville | 96th | 70th |
| Memphis | 69th | 65th |
| Michigan | 2nd | 62nd |
| Michigan State | 62nd | 29th |
| Middle Tennessee | 87th | 68th |
| Missouri | 36th | 85th |
| Navy | 98th | 59th |
| Nevada | 77th | 52nd |
| New Mexico State | 45th | 75th |
| Norfolk State | 16th | 9th |
| North Dakota State | 86th | 27th |
| North Texas | 49th | 68th |
| Ohio | 38th | 17th |
| Ohio State | 90th | 40th |
| Oklahoma State | 41st | 49th |
| Ole Miss | 94th | 50th |
| Oregon | 35th | 33rd |
| Oregon State | 10th | 38th |
| Pittsburgh | 30th | 76th |
| Purdue | 83rd | 88th |
| Rutgers | 30th | 71st |
| Sacramento State | 23rd | 14th |
| Sam Houston | 78th | 61st |
| San Diego State | 4th | 40th |
| San José State | 54th | 22nd |
| South Alabama | 50th | 73rd |
| South Florida | 91st | 52nd |
| Stanford | 76th | 15th |
| Syracuse | 48th | 64th |
| TCU | 93rd | 8th |
| Tennessee | 65th | 78th |
| Texas | 72nd | 94th |
| Texas A&M | 85th | 72nd |
| Texas Tech | 88th | 48th |
| Troy | 22nd | 59th |
| Tulane | 31st | 2nd |
| Tulsa | 56th | 1st |
| UAB | 65th | 81st |
| UNLV | 51st | 7th |
| USC | 97th | 99th |
| UTSA | 99th | 29th |
| Utah State | 4th | 93rd |
| Vanderbilt | 80th | 12th |
| Wake Forest | 56th | 97th |
| Washington | 81st | 4th |
| Washington State | 8th | 3rd |
| Western Kentucky | 25th | 34th |
| Western Michigan | 39th | 20th |
| Wisconsin | 13th | 18th |
| Wyoming | 65th | 36th |
Halftime identity
Utah State by half
1st-half offense ranks 5th percentile in FBS; 2nd-half, 30th — competitive snaps only, garbage time excluded from both halves.
Tendency drift
Season by season
How Utah State’s current staff calls plays, year over year
Ratings
Comparable teams
Most similar programs · Utah State
Most similar programs · Utah StateReads like
Matched on how the programs are built — tier, prestige band, kind of fanbase, conference, voice and roster size — not on this season's stats. A calibration, not a prediction.
Historical echo
Historical echo
Utah State’s slide has precedent — and 1 of the 4 closest kept falling.
Programs whose stature fell in the same shape. The grey line is their decline; the color is what came next for them.
An analogy on the shape of a program’s Zeitgeist stature arc — not a prediction. Interim calibration, medium confidence; matched among current FBS programs at a comparable level.
Conditions
58°F average kickoff temp; 3% of games had measurable precipitation; 5 mph average wind.
Based on 71 home games with weather data.