Cougar faithful sat in anticipation of the Tuesday night College Football Playoff rankings, hoping it could be a building block for the schedule’s final stretch. Ultimately, the AP No. 20 ranked Cougs (7-1) came in at No. 21 in the CFP rankings, and now have a chance to keep adding their resume, welcoming the Utah State Aggies (2-6) to Gesa Field Saturday.
The team is only focused on what it can control, and that is winning the game in front of it, head coach Jake Dickert said.
“There’s going to be a lot of things as we go through the finish line we cannot control, and it deserves zero of our attention. We need to go out there and execute better to win football games. The only thing we could control today was how we showed up for practice,” Dickert said. “Stay in the dark, don’t let the noise suffocate. Sometimes you get ranked and feel pressure to perform to the 20th-ranked team in the country. We just need our best… Pressure is a privilege.”
While USU is not a traditional resume builder, not being a conference foe nor having a winning record, WSU can only beat the next opponent on the schedule.
Additionally, the Cougs are coming off their second and final bye week of the season. They defeated Fresno State earlier this season coming off their first bye, marking the first such victory in Dickert’s tenure.
Following the break, the Cougs are healthier and more prepared, Dickert said.
“The biggest thing is just getting healthy and getting ready for this final stretch. That was the focus of the last ten days,” Dickert said. “We really changed from the last bye week to this one. We’re going to front-load the work this week, take it off the legs a little bit later in the week, and make sure we’re flying come Saturday night.”
Speaking of health, the Cougs will be getting multiple guys back healthy. Senior tight end Billy Riviere III will be back to 100% and there is a chance senior edge Quinn Roff returns for the game, Dickert said.
Most importantly, senior punter Nick Haberer is back and will play in his first game this season. He has missed the season up to now with a back injury and will utilize a medical redshirt, but is still allowed to play in four games. His return comes at a good time, with senior kicker Dean Janikowski, who was handling punting duties, out of the role with a broken hand. Haberer was named to the preseason Lou Groza Award watchlist for the nation’s top punter.
The Cougs match up nicely offensively against USU, which allows the third most yards per game in the nation (498), and the third most rushing yards per game (244).
Sophomore running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker, who played the bulk of the snaps against San Diego State, should be recovered from an illness he suffered over the bye week, Dickert said. The key to taking advantage of a struggling Aggie defense is establishing the line of scrimmage.
“There’ll be multiple fronts, multiple blitzes, lots of different packages which can create some opportunity, but also get you behind the chains sometimes. So we got to be physical at the line of scrimmage, we have to want to go out and establish it, because when we do, we’re a pretty dang good offense.”
The Cougar offensive line has dealt with turnovers this season, with senior right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe back in the fold, and left guards Christian Hilborn and Rod Tialavea battling for the position. They may still rotate this Saturday, depending upon who shows up, Dickert said.
One of the best stories on the line is junior right guard Brock Dieu, who allowed 12 pressures and three sacks a season ago but has allowed just four pressures and no sacks this year. The goal for the Cougar line over the bye week was finding a way to get better, Dieu said.
“Our big thing going into the bye week was how can we get 10% better. Whether that’s extra sleep, coming to the building earlier, extra treatment, maybe you need to get 10% better at film study. The emphasis as an offensive line group was can you be 10% more consistent to the standard,” Dieu said.
The offensive line has allowed 23 sacks this season through eight games after allowing 37 in 12 games a year ago.
On the other side of the ball, the Cougar defense will have its hands full with a USU offense that is 13th in the nation in yards per game (459) and 11th in passing yards per game (300.9). Meanwhile, WSU’s defense is allowing 270.3 passing yards per game, the 12th most in the nation.
The Aggies are led by senior quarterback Spencer Petras, who has thrown for 1,825 yards and 13 touchdowns this season after spending five seasons at the University of Iowa in the Big 10. Their passing attack, ultimately, runs through senior wide receiver Jalen Royals, who is 11th in the nation in receiving with 834 yards on 55 catches with six touchdowns. Royals, however, suffered a season-ending foot injury.
Instead, the Aggies will likely turn to senior running back Rahsul Faison, who has 797 rushing yards and six touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Faison has scored a touchdown in five straight games and now faces a Cougar defense allowing 154.1 rushing yards per game.
The key to the Aggies’ offensive success in Dickert’s eyes, however, is not a skill player.
“I think the catalyst of their offense is the O-line. Their center is super quick, they have a lot of pin-pull, counter and trap schemes. It’s really good offensive football, and they can score in bunches. They only go south on the scoreboard when they turn the ball over. So our hands will be full on defense,” Dickert said.
USU’s offense is operates with the fourth fastest pace in the country, Dickert said. The WSU defense will need to operate at the same speed.
“We have to make sure we’re always moving with urgency, not hesitating to get lined up. Even if a play goes bad, no complaining just get lined up. We don’t have too much time, we gotta win the pre-snap, get the call and go,” junior linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah said.
The two teams have played four times, splitting the meetings 2-2. It is another matchup for WSU against a future Pac-12 opponent, with the Aggies joining the league in 2026. With kick coming at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, it is another preview of Pac-12 after dark, and the sixth game this season the Cougs have kicked off at 6 p.m. or later.
WSU has a chance to continue to move closer to what seemed only to be a fairytale at the beginning of the season, that is, making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. All the Cougs can do is win the game in front of them, and maybe add some style points, and then hope to get help from around the nation, as well.
Despite what is at stake, the CFP is not the end all, be all for the Cougs, Dickert said.
“Everyone is aware of it in the building, but it’s not the destination of why we came here. Nobody is out here for CFP. They’re out here for their grandma, their mom, their dad, their brothers. We gotta keep that purpose in mind. It’s great for recruiting and our fans, but all we can control is Utah State,” Dickert said.
The biggest thing the CFP hype does for the program, Dickert said he hopes for, is that it will inspire people to want to invest in the program. It cannot all be done at once, but it begins with filling the stadium, Dickert said.
“Bottom line, our fans need to show up. They need to show up on third down. It has to be loud in here,” Dickert said. “It’s got to have a huge impact for what this team is doing. Because we are where we’re at, and we need them.”
