5 storylines entering Utah State spring camp

College football is back. For a time, at least.

Tuesday, Utah State began a five-week spring camp period, during which time the Aggies will participate in 15 practice sessions, culminating in the annual Blue vs. White Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20.

Young unknown players will attempt to earn themselves minutes in the fall. Vets will look to refine their games while learning under new coaches — particularly on the defensive side.

On the whole, the Aggies will attempt to get better, in preparation for arguably the most difficult regular season slate in program history. The 2024 season is highlighted by trips to USC and Washington State, plus the coming of the Utah Utes to Logan and with them the return of the Battle of the Brothers.

There will be plenty to watch for and pay attention to during spring ball, but here are five storylines to keep apprised of as the Aggies get underway.

Who will be the Aggies’ starting quarterback?

It has been talked about since the signings of former Iowa starting quarterback Spencer Petras and former Utah starting quarterback Bryson Barnes, but it remains the story of spring camp (and possibly fall camp too). Who will be the Aggies’ starting quarterback next season?

Will it be incumbent Cooper Legas, a fifth-year senior who sneakily had one of the most productive seasons by a Utah State quarterback in history last year?

Will it be Petras, a seasoned vet from the Power conference ranks who was at one time a highly touted QB out of California?

Will it be Barnes, a record-breaking high school quarterback turned Utah Utes starter (who has two years of eligibility remaining)?

Or will be it rising sophomore McCae Hillstead, who showed flashes of dynamic throwing potential last season, before multiple injuries sapped him of his confidence?

Barnes and Petras have done nothing but impress since arriving on campus this winter, with Utah State head coach (and quarterback coach) Blake Anderson singing their praises.

“They are in the building all day, every day,” Anderson said in early February. “Both Bryson and Spence are here every day watching tape, going on the board, signals. They are already throwing a bit with the guys.”

Legas, though, has taken on nearly every challenge possible during his Aggie career, including multiple benchings last season in favor of then-true freshman Hillstead, only to come out as the Aggies’ starting QB.

And Anderson has had nothing but positive things to say of Hillstead since he signed with Utah State as the prized commit in the Aggies’ 2023 class. The former Skyridge High standout has Anderson’s faith.

All of which to say, it is anyone’s best guess as to which of the four QBs will ultimately win the starting job.

It is a competition that Anderson is looking forward too.

“It is going to be an extremely competitive room,” he said. “We told them all the same thing and they’ve all acted exactly how I expected. They’ve come and worked hard every day, already preparing at a high level. I cannot wait to get in there (the QB room) with them this spring, and on the field with them, and really have what I think is going to be a heavyweight battle in terms of quarterback room. ... It is going to be a lot of fun.”

Will newcomers bolster USU’s defensive line enough?

Of all the weaknesses that the 2023 Aggies had — an honest review of Utah State last season would say that the Aggies were highly flawed, hence a second consecutive 6-7 campaign — arguably none was more more glaring than the poor play of USU’s defensive front.

Nearly all season long, the Aggies were outmatched up front defensively, with Anderson noting after multiple games that his team was slower and weaker than the opposition. After losses to Boise State, James Madison and San Jose State, especially.

The Aggies attempted to shore up that weakness in a big way with recruiting, and added an impressive amount of D-linemen, three from the junior college ranks and another five via FBS transfers.

Some of those were among the highest rated signings in program history, namely pass rusher Marlin Dean, a former University of Georgia signee and four-star recruit.

Was it enough? Have the Aggies added enough talent on the defensive line to shore up the area of the defensive that struggled immensely last season and lost standouts in Hale Motu’apuaka to graduation and more recently Poukesi Vakauta to the transfer portal?

Anderson believes so.

“I feel much better than I did this time last year and going into the season,” Anderson said. “We knew it was going to be a concern (last) fall. We were thin and we weren’t as big or powerful as we needed to be. It was a place, an area that we had to make some impact so we put a ton of time and energy in recruiting. As I said earlier, I think our recruiting staff did a great job of helping us find and identify guys.

“... There is a lot of work to be done and we have to see these guys on the field. They have to learn. But I feel like we’ve added bodies to that room, both at D-tackle and D-end, to upgrade that area in huge ways and we desperately need to to be able to improve defensively and keep people out of the end zone.”

Whether any of the newcomers come in and start immediately will likely be determined this spring, though it seems inevitable that players like Dean, and defensive tackles Miguel Jackson and Mayco Williams — to name a few — will see playing time next fall.

Will the influx of Utah-based O-linemen make a difference?

Similarly to the defensive line, Utah State’s offensive line struggled considerably last season. Yes, there were bright spots, namely rising sophomore Teague Andersen and rising junior Bo Maile, but on the whole the Aggies’ O-line struggled to protect the quarterback all season long. And against the better defenses USU faced, the run game had a difficult go, despite the Aggies boasting an impressive trio of backs in Robert Briggs, Davon Booth and Rahsul Faison, who may be the best collective of running backs the program has ever had at the same time.

In an attempt to strengthen the offensive line, the Aggies turned to the transfer portal and did well, landing Baylor transfer George Maile and Pitt transfer Trey Andersen. Both Utah natives, both formerly considered high level prospects — Maile was a four-star recruit out of Bingham High, Andersen a three-star recruit out of Lehi High — their additions could dramatically alter the nature of the Aggies’ offensive front.

A clear and stated goal for the Aggies during the offseason.

“It definitely was something we kept in mind as we recruited,” Anderson said. “If you look at some of the sheer size of some of the frames that we brought in, we tried to get bigger. We definitely wanted, while we were watching tape and recruiting guys, we were looking for physicality. People who could hold up against double teams, guys that could move bodies, guys that could take on blocks.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want to compromise athletic ability in space, we still want to run and change direction, but we wanted to bring bodies in here so that over the spring and summer we could become a bigger football team. A more powerful football team. And not just with this signing class, but with our roster as well. It is a huge point of emphasis and we are doing everything we can in terms of nutrition, trying to beef that up. The amount of value and calories and the type of value and calories. And we did our best to bring in guys who would make us bigger and more powerful. I don’t know that we can bridge (the physicality gap) entirely, but we’d like to close it as much as possible and given ourselves a chance to be a more powerful and physical football team.”

The Aggies also added junior college transfer Jared Pele during the offseason, and his role with the team will be determined during the spring. And then there is the development of a pair of freshmen in Camden Jury and Kimo Lopati, players Anderson doesn’t expect to contribute much this upcoming season but who could become stalwarts up front for the Aggies down the line.

Who replaces Terrell Vaughn?

Offensively, outside of who is going to start at quarterback, Utah State doesn’t have a lot of questions entering spring ball. The Aggies retuned the majority of their two-deep on offense from last season and it was a group that was dynamic most of the year.

The one major loss was wide receiver Terrell Vaughn, a top 2 receiver for the Aggies in each of the previous two seasons.

He was the safety valve often for Legas, and as sure-handed a pass catcher as the Aggies had, while controlling the slot receiver position.

Who will replace him is a major question entering spring ball, only because of the value of the slot receiver in Anderson’s offense.

And though there are multiple players that will vie for the role, junior college transfer Robert Freeman IV has a chance to lock down the position this spring.

Anderson noted that Freeman, a juco All-American wide receiver and kick returner, has the potential to be the next diminutive Aggie great (he is listed at 5-foot-8, 165 pounds).

“He fits the mold of what we’ve seen with DT (Deven Thompkins) and Terrell,” Anderson said. “... The guy literally did not come off the field (for American River College) except for defense. He played on basically every special teams and offensive snap. He was the most dynamic player in person, but also one of the most dynamic players on tape and a great dude.

“We absolutely loved his personality when he came in on his visit. And those guys (former American River College standouts turned Aggies Cian and Teeg Slone) just raved about how hard he worked, what kind of teammate he was and how much he loved the ball. It made a lot of sense to us.”

Spring practice will tell a lot about the role Freeman will play for Utah State, but Anderson has high expectations already.

“We’ve seen a lot of success with those really dynamic, maybe smaller guys and he fits the mold and can be just as good as the ones we’ve had,” he said.

A new era on defense

Utah State will be on its third defensive coordinator in as many years when the 2024 season kicks off on Aug. 31, as Nate Dreiling has taken over for Joe Cauthen (who took over for Ephraim Banda).

There was a clear need for a new voice defensively, as the Aggies struggled mightily on defense under Cauthen (in fairness, he was hired late in the cycle after the unexpected departure of Banda to the Cleveland Browns).

Dreiling comes to Utah State as a rising star in the business, his work at New Mexico State standing out. Under his direction, the other Aggies went from having one of the worst defenses in all of college football to one of the better ones in the Group of Five ranks, good enough for NMSU to play for the Conference USA title last season and upset Auburn.

In addition to players that came with him — NMSU transfers Gabriel Iniguez Jr and Jordan Vincent — Dreiling brings a defensive scheme that Anderson believes will help the Aggies be much more competitive.

“There is variety there,” Anderson said. “... As you watch (his defenses) you saw variety and some multiple things, but there is simplicity there too. The more I talked to him, the more I listened to how he teaches and packages things, I think (with his defense) you get the look of a multiple style pressure defense, but the simplicity we need. I wanted to simplify. It was definitely a huge piece.”

The fact that Dreiling had success at New Mexico State, historically one of the least funded/supported FBS programs, was a major plus for Anderson.

“I think if you look at where he was at, in terms of what you can recruit at New Mexico State and who they are playing against, I felt like he did more with less than maybe anybody else in the country. I know that program and what they have and what they don’t have very, very well. Probably played against them maybe more than anyone else, if you look at my history. I know the deficiencies there and to be able to put together the defense they did and play as effectively as they did in a short period of time, tells you everything you need to know.

“We need that same sort of turnaround here. We’ve got to get better on defense. Immediately, to be able to win championships. If he can have that kind of impact here, I think we can recruit at a higher level and we have better resources, so if we can take that model and plug it in here and I’m hoping we have even better results.”

Spring practice will be about installing Dreiling’s defense more than anything else. If that goes well, the Aggies could be one of the most improved teams in the country. Maybe not 2021 improved, but close to it.