Utah State looking to snap ugly trend against Top 25 opponents

LOGAN (KSL.com) – History hasn’t been kind to Utah State when it comes to AP Top 25 opponents.

The Aggies enter Saturday’s matchup with No. 19 Washington just 6-72 all-time against ranked teams. On the road, the numbers are even grimmer: 3-57 against AP Top 25 opponents away from home.

Already 0-3 all-time against Washington, Utah State is 1-31 against Big Ten teams.

And those numbers are about to be tested like never before.

The program’s move to the Pac-12 means ranked opponents are no longer a handful of nonconference curiosities scattered across the schedule — they’re conference mates.

As many as three of the Aggies’ next four opponents could carry a Top 25 ranking, with No. 20 Utah a potential matchup if the Utes win this weekend, and Boise State likely to crack the poll before traveling to Logan to open Pac-12 play for both teams on Oct. 3.

For a program that hasn’t beaten a ranked team since routing No. 19 San Diego State 46-13 in the 2021 Mountain West championship game, the road ahead looks like a proving ground — or a gauntlet.

Since that victory, the Aggies are 0-9 in such games, losing by an average of 26.3 points:

2022
55-0 loss at No. 1 Alabama
38-26 loss at No. 19 BYU

2023
24-14 loss at No. 25 Iowa

2024
48-0 loss at No. 13 USC
38-21 loss vs. No. 12 Utah
62-30 loss at No. 21 Boise State
49-28 loss at No. 20 Washington State

2025
44-22 loss at No. 19 Texas A&M
55-35 loss at No. 18 Vanderbilt

The nine-game skid spans three head coaches and features five losses by 20-plus points. Only the BYU and Iowa defeats were decided by fewer than two touchdowns.

If Bronco Mendenhall’s first Pac-12 season is going to signal a shift for Utah State, the evidence will have to come against exactly the kind of opponents who have owned the Aggies for the better part of a decade. Saturday in Seattle is the first exam.