Utah State Aggies football The Utah State Aggies are a college football team that competes in the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) of the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) of NCAA Division I , representing Utah State University . The Utah State college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Romney Stadium since 1968 . They have won eleven conference championships in four different conferences during their history . Overall , the Aggies have a record of 487 – 501 – 31 ( . 493 ) . The Aggies are currently coached by Gary Andersen , who replaced Brent Guy following the unsuccessful 2008 season . Andersen was previously the defensive coordinator at the University of Utah , and a part of the 2008 Utes team that went undefeated and won a BCS bowl victory in the 2009 Sugar Bowl . The Aggies have played in six bowl games in their history , in which they have won one : the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl , where they defeated Ball State . More recently , in 1997 , the team lost to Cincinnati in the Humanitarian Bowl . The Aggies played their seventh bowl game on December 17 , 2011 , in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ( formerly the Humanitarian Bowl ) , losing 24 – 23 to Ohio . History . The first intercollegiate athletic event in Utah State University ' s history took place on November 25 , 1892 , when the Agriculturalists defeated the football team from the University of Utah , 12 – 0 . The game was played on what is now the quad , and it was the only game until 1896 . The Aggies enjoyed early regional dominance , notching their first perfect season ( 7 – 0 ) in 1907 . In 1911 , under head coach Clayton Teetzel , the team again finished undefeated , even shutting out each of its five opponents by a collective score of 164 to 0 . Hall of Fame . The makeshift field on the quad continued to serve the team until 1913 , when football was moved to Adams Field , two blocks west of campus , where Adams Park now sits . The new field represented an improvement , but the facilities remained meager , which fact became more apparent with the success of Coach E . L . " Dick " Romney , who came to Logan in 1918 . Romney , for whom the current football stadium is named , earned the team ' s first - ever conference championship in 1921 , and compiled a 128 – 91 – 16 record in 29 seasons . The program continued a rich legacy throughout the early - and mid - 20th century , when the program produced a large number of athletes who went on to play in the NFL , including the legendary brothers and consensus All - Americans Merlin Olsen and Phil Olsen , who played for the Aggies . It was during this time that Utah State finished their only two seasons with year - end Top 25 rankings : No . 10 in 1961 and No . 19 in 1972 . Following the great heights of the 1960s and 70 ' s , Aggie football fell upon hard times . Many of the Aggie faithful attribute the decline to administrators at both Utah and BYU freezing then - superior USU out of the newly - forming WAC . However , other factors cited as leading to the decline include a failure to upgrade facilities until recently , a lack of donors to athletics , complacency of past athletics directors , and instability in conferences . The decline of the football program has had a negative effect on the perception of the university as a whole , and it is something that the Aggies are only now recovering from . After continual failed attempts to join the WAC , the program played as an independent program from 1962 through 1976 , and again from 2002 through 2004 , before joining the geographically distant Sun Belt Conference , after the Big West Conference , which had housed the Aggies since 1978 , elected to stop sponsoring football in 2001 . USU ' s other teams remained in that conference until the school was finally invited to join the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) in 2005 . Despite having lobbied to join its in - state rivals Utah and BYU in the WAC for many decades prior to 2005 , the Aggies gained membership after the two other schools had left with six other schools to form the Mountain West Conference . USU fans hold out great hope for current coach Andersen , who finished his first two years with unimpressive 4 – 8 records ( 5 – 11 WAC ) . Aggie fans , however , note that three of the conference losses came at margins of either 3 or 4 points , and after the Aggies had been leading a significant portion of each game . This is a stark contrast to years past , in which the majority of games were often lost by several touchdowns . Stadium . Utah State ' s home games are played at Romney Stadium . Named for E . L . “ Dick ” Romney , Utah State ’ s all - time winningest football coach and former athletics director , Romney Stadium was officially dedicated on September 27 , 1969 . The first game in Romney Stadium history came a season earlier in 1968 , when Utah State defeated New Mexico State , 28 – 12 on September 14 . Previous to the current stadium , the Aggies played at another , smaller venue also called " Romney Stadium , " which was situated on the site where the HPER building now stands . On December 5 , 2009 , Utah State University announced that the playing field at Romney Stadium would be named Merlin Olsen Field , in honor of the Pro and College Football Hall of Fame member and former Aggie . A statue of Olsen in a plaza south of the stadium was dedicated to his memory in Fall 2010 . Utah State ' s student section is known as " the HURD . " Achievements . Conference championships . The Aggies have won eleven conference championships in their history , most recently the Big West Conference championships in 1996 and 1997 . They have not won a conference championship since joining the WAC in 2005 . Bowl games . The Utah State Aggies have played in seven officially NCAA sanctioned bowl game s . Aggies are 1 – 6 in bowl games . ( Dec . 2011 ) Tradition . The Old Wagon Wheel . BYU and Utah State have met for the Old Wagon Wheel 81 times , dating back to 1922 , with BYU holding a 44 – 34 – 3 lead . BYU had beaten Utah State ten straight times before Utah State defeated BYU by the score of 31 – 16 on October 1 , 2010 . With the victory , Utah State reclaimed the Old Wagon Wheel for the first time since 1993 . The Old Wagon Wheel returned to BYU on September 30 , 2011 , when the Cougars defeated Utah State 27 – 24 . Battle of the Brothers . The Battle of the Brothers refers to the rivalry between Utah State and Utah . The two teams have a long - running football series , which , at 109 games , is the twelfth most played rivalry in the nation . USU trails in the series , 77 – 28 – 4 . Both programs played the first game in their respective histories against each other in Logan on November 25 , 1892 , which game the Aggies won 12 – 0 . The two teams played every year from 1944 to 2009 , but the series took a two - year hiatus for the 2010 and 2011 seasons . Utah State has lost the last 12 games and 20 of the last 22 in the rivalry . Schedules . Future schedules . The Aggies have the following non - conference opponents contracted to play in future seasons :