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As badly as Utah State needs a win, the Aggies clearly have their work cut out for them when they visit the revitalized No. 21 Boise State Broncos on Saturday to open Mountain West Conference play.

Not only have the Aggies (1-3) lost three straight games, two of them against ranked opponents, but they’re giving up 36.3 points per game and 196.8 yards per game on the ground.

Lying in wait are the high-scoring Broncos (3-1) and hard-charging running back Ashton Jeanty, who is coming off a 259-yard, four-touchdown game in a 45-24 rout of visiting Washington State.

“He plays this game only one way, and that’s violent and explosive,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said, according to CBS Sports. “Defenders are constantly in conflict when they are trying to tackle (him).

“If you don’t come in with low pads to brace, he’ll run you over. If you come in too high, he’s going to make a move and he’s gone; you won’t catch him.”

Jeanty, who led the conference with 1,347 yards rushing last season while averaging 6.1 yards per attempt, has amassed 845 yards this season and is averaging 10.3 yards per carry — both figures ranking at the top of the Football Bowl Subdivision. He also leads the nation with 13 rushing touchdowns.

Boise State is enjoying its return to national prominence. The Broncos’ ranking is their highest 2020, and also the first time since that season that they have cracked the Top 25 in consecutive weeks. They are averaging 47.8 points per game, sixth best in the FBS.

Then there is Utah State, which has lost to the Broncos eight straight times and hasn’t won in Boise since 1996.

After dropping back-to-back games to ranked teams Southern California and Utah, the Aggies took a less-expected 45-29 loss to Temple in Philadelphia on Sept. 21. Utah State led 21-14 late in the first half before the Owls outscored them 31-8 the rest of the way.

A bye week followed, and interim head coach Nate Dreiling acknowledged the challenge of keeping his team’s confidence up despite the run of high-powered opponents.

“At the end of the day, it is still about us,” Dreiling said. “Every single one of our games, other than SC, we’ve been up, we’ve been moving and we’ve been looking really good. Now it’s about finishing. And that needs us to instill that mindset in our players, to have the confidence to win.

Petras, who threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns against Temple, said, “The good thing is the majority of the season is still in front of us, all of Mountain West play, and we are excited to get back out there.

“The bye week came at a nice time, a good time to recover physically and also get away a little bit mentally.”

Utah State is in the bottom third of the FBS with an average of 21.5 points per game, but Boise State is also in the bottom third in points allowed at 30 per game.

–Field Level Media