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2021 Utah State

11–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Mountain West Conference), coached by Blake Anderson, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Utah State in 2021, game by game: won at Washington State 26–23; won vs. North Dakota 48–24; won at Air Force 49–45; lost vs. Boise State 3–27; lost vs. No. 13 BYU 20–34; won at UNLV 28–24; won vs. Colorado State 26–24; won vs. Hawai’i 51–31; won at New Mexico State 35–13; won at San José State 48–17; lost vs. Wyoming 17–44; won at New Mexico 35–10; won at No. 19 San Diego State 46–13; won vs. Oregon State 24–13+33−27Won 26–23 at Washington State+3Washington StateWon 48–24 vs. North Dakota+24North DakotaWon 49–45 at Air Force+4Air ForceLost 3–27 vs. Boise State-24Boise StateLost 20–34 vs. No. 13 BYU-14No. 13 BYUWon 28–24 at UNLV+4UNLVWon 26–24 vs. Colorado State+2Colorado StateWon 51–31 vs. Hawai’i+20Hawai’iWon 35–13 at New Mexico State+22New Mexico StateWon 48–17 at San José State+31San José StateLost 17–44 vs. Wyoming-27WyomingWon 35–10 at New Mexico+25New MexicoWon 46–13 at No. 19 San Diego State+33No. 19 San Diego StateWon 24–13 vs. Oregon State+11Oregon State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atWashington StateW 26–⁠2334%
Sep 10vsNorth DakotaW 48–⁠2466%
Sep 18atAir ForceW 49–⁠4528%
Sep 25vsBoise StateL 3–⁠2745%
Oct 1vs13BYUL 20–⁠3427%
Oct 16atUNLVW 28–⁠2462%
Oct 22vsColorado StateW 26–⁠2455%
Oct 30vsHawai’iW 51–⁠3157%
Nov 6atNew Mexico StateW 35–⁠1372%
Nov 13atSan José StateW 48–⁠1746%
Nov 20vsWyomingL 17–⁠4470%
Nov 26atNew MexicoW 35–⁠1069%
Dec 4at19San Diego StateMountain West Championship GameW 46–⁠1326%
Dec 18Bowls & playoffvsOregon StateLA BowlW 24–⁠1357%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oregon State 24–⁠13 in the LA Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; Mountain West Conference champions.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 24

Mountain West Conference champions6–⁠2 in the conference, won the Mountain West Championship Game

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Mountain West Conference
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 24
Points
456–⁠342
Coach
Blake Anderson
Elo
1607 +171 this season
SP+ rating
0.1 No. 80 of 130; offense No. 69, defense No. 78
SRS
4.4 No. 48 of 130 in FBS
Returning
91% of last season’s EPA, No. 25 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 135 roster talent No. 107 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Anthony Tucker
Defensive coordinator
Ephraim Banda
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense64th of 130
  • Defense32nd of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted65th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted42nd of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1440%1.4664th of 130
Defense0.0942%1.2332nd of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.15 off
0.11 def		40% off
43% def		—65th off
42nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.5own 2918% allowed
Defense3.3own 2920% caused

CORE rating 4.5, 54th of 130 (offense 2.2, defense -2.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsLogan Bonner QB3,628 yds
Passing touchdownsLogan Bonner QB36 TD
Rushing yardsCalvin Tyler Jr. RB884 yds
Rushing touchdownsCalvin Tyler Jr. RB7 TD
Receiving yardsDeven Thompkins WR1,704 yds
Receiving touchdownsDerek Wright WR11 TD
TacklesJustin Rice LB124 tkl
SacksNick Heninger DE8 sacks
InterceptionsAjani Carter DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Enoka Migao DE★★★No. 1031
Bo Maile DE★★★No. 1628
Ike Larsen CB★★★No. 2090
Parker Buchanan ATH★★★No. 2215
NyNy Davis ATH★★★No. 2315

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Defensive line23.00.845
Defensive backs13.00.817
Athletes and specialists32.70.795
Whole class62.80.815

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 101

The 2021 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 55 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 10

The 2021 portal
Quazzel White OL★★★from TCU
Logan Bonner QB★★★from Arkansas State
Byron Vaughns LB★★★from Texas
Calvin Tyler Jr. RB★★★from Oregon State
Jamie Nance WR★★★from Nebraska
Kyle Mayberry CB★★★from Kansas
Maisen Knight OT★★★from Liberty
Patrick Joyner Jr. LB★★★from Miami
Brandon Bowling WR★★from Arkansas State
Jahaziel Lee OT★★from Georgia Tech

Transfers out 14

Jaylen Warren RB★★★to Oklahoma State
Karter Shaw OG★★★to Minnesota
Heneli Bloomfield OG★★★to Oregon State
Jakob Robinson CB★★★to BYU
Jason Shelley QB★★★no new school on file
Troy Lefeged Jr. S★★★to Texas State
Elijah Shelton LB★★no new school on file
Jared Reed S★★to Boise State
Bryan Lumsden RBno new school on file
Christopher Bartolic Pno new school on file
Eric Munoz LBto Kansas State
Maika Magalei LBno new school on file

And 2 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2021 Mountain West Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
San Diego State7–⁠112–⁠225
Utah State6–⁠211–⁠324
Fresno State6–⁠210–⁠3
Air Force6–⁠210–⁠3
Nevada5–⁠38–⁠5
Boise State5–⁠37–⁠5
Hawai’i3–⁠56–⁠7
San José State3–⁠55–⁠7
Wyoming2–⁠67–⁠6
Colorado State2–⁠63–⁠9
UNLV2–⁠62–⁠10
New Mexico1–⁠73–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.