Mountain West releases conference record, completing Utah State’s season outlook
The Utah State Football schedule for 2017 is now set in stone after the Mountain West Conference released their conference schedule on Thursday.
Utah State’s non-conference schedule takes up the first three weeks of the season, as the Aggies open the 2017 campaign at Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 1, followed by a home game against Idaho State on Thursday, Sept. 7, and a road game at Wake Forest on Saturday, Sept. 16. USU’s other non-conference game is on Friday, Sept. 29, as it hosts in-state rival BYU, who beat the Aggies, 28-10, last year in Provo.
As for its Mountain West slate, Utah State will host Colorado State (10/7), Wyoming (10/14), Boise State (10/28) and Hawai’i (11/28) in its fifth season in the league, and will play at San José State (9/23), at UNLV (10/21), at New Mexico (11/4) and at Air Force (11/25).
USU’s bye week will occur during the second Saturday in November, prior to its final two games of the regular season.
In total, Utah State will face nine teams who played in bowl games in 2017, as five of the Aggies’ upcoming opponents recorded at least nine wins a year ago and nine had at least seven victories.
“As is the case every year in the Mountain West, we have a very challenging task with six bowl teams from our conference on our schedule for the third year in a row,” said Aggies head coach Matt Wells in a statement.
The fifth-year head coach, however, is excited both for his team and for fans.
“Once again, our fans will have the opportunity to see some high-caliber football in Maverik Stadium as we host five bowl teams from last season and play a total of nine bowl teams overall.” Wells said.
Kickoff times and TV coverage will be announced at a later date as the season approaches.
The Aggies finished 2016 with an overall record of 3-9 and a 1-7 in-conference record, which marked the first back-to-back sub-.500 record seasons since 2010. Utah State also missed out on a bowl game for the first time in six years due to its poor record.