# 2018 Utah State Aggies football team

The 2018 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by sixth-year head coach Matt Wells during the regular season and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. They competed as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for first place in the division with Boise State. Despite the tie, the conference does not credit them as divisional co-champions as a result of the head-to-head loss. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated North Texas. The 11 wins tied a school record.
Head coach Matt Wells was hired by Texas Tech on November 29; the team was led in the New Mexico Bowl by interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator Frank Maile. Wells finished with a 44–34 record in his six seasons at Utah State. On December 9, the school rehired Gary Andersen, six years after he left for Wisconsin.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Quin Ficklin | C | SR |
| John Mackey Award | Dax Raymond | TE | JR |
| Lou Groza Award | Dominik Eberle | K | JR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Jacoby Wildman | DL | JR |

### Mountain West media days

During the Mountain West media days held July 24–25 at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip, the Aggies were predicted to finish in fourth place in the Mountain Division.

#### Media poll

Mountain Division :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Boise State | 132 (22) |
| 2 | Wyoming | 95 |
| 3 | Colorado State | 82 |
| 4 | Utah State | 78 |
| 5 | Air Force | 52 |
| 6 | New Mexico | 23 |

#### Preseason All-Mountain West Team

The Aggies had two players selected to the preseason all-Mountain West team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Michigan State* | | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | BTN | L 31–38 | 73,114 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | New Mexico State* | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | Stadium | W 60–13 | 18,223 |
| September 13 | 6:00 p.m. | Tennessee Tech* | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | Stadium | W 73–12 | 15,011 |
| September 22 | 8:15 p.m. | Air Force | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | ESPN2 | W 42–32 | 22,720 |
| October 5 | 7:00 p.m. | at BYU* | | LaVell Edwards StadiumProvo, UT (Beehive Boot, The Old Wagon Wheel) | ESPN2 | W 45–20 | 58,087 |
| October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | UNLV | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | Stadium on Facebook | W 59–28 | 21,212 |
| October 20 | 12:30 p.m. | at Wyoming | | War Memorial StadiumLaramie, WY (rivalry) | ATTSNRM | W 24–16 | 18,378 |
| October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | New Mexico | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | Stadium | W 61–19 | 16,119 |
| November 3 | 10:00 p.m. | at Hawaii | | Aloha StadiumHalawa, HI | SPEC HI | W 56–17 | 21,476 |
| November 10 | 2:00 p.m. | San Jose State | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | Stadium | W 62–24 | 19,017 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at Colorado State | No. 23 | Canvas StadiumFort Collins, CO | ATTSNRM | W 29–24 | 19,226 |
| November 24 | 8:15 p.m. | at No. 23 Boise State | No. 21 | Albertsons StadiumBoise, ID | ESPN | L 24–33 | 35,960 |
| December 15 | 12:00 p.m. | vs. North Texas* | | Dreamstyle StadiumAlbuquerque, NM (New Mexico Bowl) | ESPN | W 52–13 | 25,387 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after October 30 released prior to gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
| No. 11 Spartans | 6 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 38 |

### New Mexico State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| NMSU Aggies | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| USU Aggies | 16 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 60 |

### Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| Aggies | 17 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 73 |

### Air Force

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 32 |
| Aggies | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |

### At BYU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 14 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 45 |
| Cougars | 0 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |

### UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Aggies | 14 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 59 |

### At Wyoming

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 7 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Cowboys | 3 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 16 |

### New Mexico

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lobos | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| Aggies | 28 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 61 |

### At Hawaii

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Aggies | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 56 |
| Rainbow Warriors | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 |

### San Jose State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| No. 14 Aggies | 10 | 28 | 21 | 3 | 62 |

### At Colorado State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Aggies | 3 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 29 |
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |

### At Boise State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Aggies | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| No. 21 Broncos | 7 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 33 |

### Vs. North Texas–New Mexico Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mean Green | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Aggies | 14 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 52 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 14 | 14 | 14 | RV | RV | 22 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 20 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 24 | 23 | 21 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | 23 | 21 | — | — | Not released |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 6 | 214 | Darwin Thompson | RB | Kansas City Chiefs |