Utah St Aggies 2022 College Football Preview

Utah St Aggies 2022 College Football Preview

July 12, 2022

2021 Recap

Record – 11-3

ATS – 10-4

Yes, guy.

The Aggies were one of the best stories of the 2021 college football season as they won six of their final seven regular season games and then proceeded to CREMATE San Diego St in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game (W 46-13). They put a cheery on top of the cake with a victory over PAC 12 foe Oregon St in the LA Bowl and finished with an outstanding 11-win total.

Do they have the MINERALS to defend their crown?


Utah St Aggies 2022 Outlook

OFFENSE

Utah St rode the arm of Logan Bonner (3,628, 36-12 TD to INT) for all it was worth LY and did a great job of moving the ball via the THROW GAME (#22 FBS total offense, #15 passing offense). Bonner returns for his senior campaign but will be without ALL three members of the amazing 2021 WR trio that combined to catch 206 passes for 3,328 (!) yards and 31 TDs. The Aggies will particularly miss the great Deven Thompkins (102, 1,704) and hope that a pair of Power 5 transfers can step up in short order. Calvin Tyler is back to lead the RB room (884, 7 TD) but the depth behind him is unproven. We like the look of the OL as they return four upperclassmen starters and over 100 career starts overall. Things should be fine for Utah St as long as Bonner can develop a decent rapport with his new targets.

DEFENSE

The Aggies weren’t a brick wall by any means LY (#8 MW run D, #9 pass efficiency D) but they were exceptionally good on the MONEY DOWNS (#28 FBS 3rd down D, #1 4th down !). Things don’t look too rosy heading into 2022 as Utah St will be without four of LY’s top-five tacklers including their two best players in LB Justin Rice (124 tackles, 13.5 TFL) and DE Nick Heninger (21.5 TFL) (!). The DL should be fine with the addition of Nevada DE Daniel Grzesiak as HC Blake Anderson has done a good job shoring up the defensive front. The LB unit looks a bit sketchy unless former Washington Husky MJ Tafisi can emerge as a legit playmaker. Only two starters return on the back end and the Aggies were mediocre defending the pass in 2021. We anticipate a slide in most of the key defensive metrics.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The kicking game is in good shape with the return of punter Stephen Kotsanlee and PK Connor Coles (20-29 FG LY) but they’ll certainly miss one of the all-time great college football KR in Savon Scarver.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – The Aggies get a fantastic draw from the West by missing San Diego St and having UNLV and San Jose St on the schedule. The non-conference action features a pair of TOMATO CANS and two brutal road games including one with ROLL TIDE.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – November 26 – at Boise St

This will be Utah St’s fourth road game since October 15 and the Aggies are on a 2-18 run vs Boise St. This doesn’t look like a spot to take the road dog.

Season Win Total

per BetOnline July 12

Over 7 -105

Under 7 -125

MEGALOCKS says:

Lean: Under

It seems to us that Utah St will have a tough time winning more than seven games given all the talent they lost. The schedule does help, tho.

MEGAmazing Tidbit

Has your favorite team achieved double-digit wins in four of the last ten years? Well, Utah St has done just that, turning the trick in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2021.


MEGALOCKS Outlook:

HC Blake Anderson and friends engineered quite the turnaround in 2021. They’ll be a factor in the divisional race this season but they’ve got less talent on board and recall that Utah St were the CARDIAC KIDS last year winning a small handful of close games. We’ll almost certainly see these guys in a bowl game but forecast them falling short of a division crown. 


Want more Utah St Aggies Football ?

WEBSITE

https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/football

FORUM

http://www.usufans.com/Forums/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=4f34df0019e6d10abc7f1dbb86a4b9ac

NEWS

http://www.usufans.com/

http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/328/utah-state-aggies

http://www.deseretnews.com/sports/usu

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/usu/