Utah State Football In Heyday Of Unflattering Bowl History
Dec 3, 2022, 3:31 PM | Updated: 4:22 pm
BOISE, ID - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Blake Anderson of the Utah State Aggies coaches up his team during second half action against the Boise State Broncos at Albertsons Stadium on November 25, 2022 in Boise, Idaho. Boise State won the game 42-23.
LOGAN, Utah – On the verge of their 10th bowl appearance in 12 seasons, the Utah State Aggies have enjoyed unprecedented program success in recent years.
The Aggies became bowl-eligible with a 35-31 win over San Jose State in the final home game of 2022.
THE COMEBACK KIDS 🗣@USUFootball completes their 5th comeback in 6 wins this year 🤩 pic.twitter.com/OnBzIeX2Ep
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 20, 2022
Bowl-eligible for the second consecutive season, USU will play in the postseason for the 10th time in the past 12 years.
The Aggies played in five-straight bowls, winning three, from 2011-2015. After missing out on bowl season in 2016, the Aggies played in three straight bowls from 2017-2019. Utah State played in just six bowl games in their first 119 years of play.
.@USUFootball is 𝘽𝙊𝙒𝙇 𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙄𝘽𝙇𝙀 🐮
Give us your bowl predictions for the Aggies ⤵️
#AtThePEAK | #MWFB | #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/qkP753USg3— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 20, 2022
USU Bowl History
This is the second straight season of bowling for USU after an inspired run in 2021 saw them claim the programs first Mountain West conference championship. They followed that win with a 24-13 win over Oregon State in the inaugural Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.
FIRST CAREER THROW FOR @cooperlegas‼️‼️‼️‼️@USUFootball ties up the @LABowlGame — tune in on ABC#AtThePeak | #AggiesAllTheWay | #JimmyKimmelLABowl pic.twitter.com/Ot0OBSUVrk
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) December 19, 2021
RELATED: Cooper Legas Leads Utah State To LA Bowl Win Over Oregon State
Prior to 2021, Utah State had a checkered bowl history.
The program played in their first two bowl games under legendary Aggie head coach Dick Romney. Romney piloted USU to back-to-back bowl losses in 1946 & 1947.
USU was shutout 20-0 against San Jose State in the 1946 Raisin Bowl. The following season, Utah State appeared in the Grape Bowl, losing 35-21 to Pacific.
It took 13 years for another Aggie team to reach a bowl game.
In 1960 and 1961, John Ralston led USU to Sun Bowl and Gotham Bowl appearances. The Aggies would lose both games, falling 20-13 to New Mexico State in the Sun Bowl before a 24-9 loss to Baylor in the Gotham Bowl.
RELATED: Offensive Trio Providing Stability For Bowl-Bound Utah State
33 years later, Utah State picked up the first bowl win in program history. Charlie Weatherbie led the Aggies to a 42-33 Las Vegas Bowl win over Ball State.
Four seasons later, in 1997, John L. Smith led USU to the Humanitarian Bowl. Utah State would lose to Cincinnati 35-19.
It wasn’t until 2011 that the Aggies would regularly find themselves bowl-eligible.
RELATED STORIES
Gary Anderson’s first stint at the helm saw USU play in two straight Famous Idaho Potato Bowls.
In 2011, USU fell 24-23 to Ohio. the following year, the Aggies avenged that loss when they dominated Toledo 41-15 on the blue turf. USU finished the 2012 season ranked No. 16 in the country.
After Anderson left for Wisconsin, Matt Wells took over, but the winning continued.
USU won the second of what would end up being three straight bowl wins when they beat Northern Illinois 21-14 in the 2013 Poinsettia Bowl. The following year, Utah State defeated UTEP 21-6 in the New Mexico Bowl.
In 2015, the Aggies played in their fifth consecutive bowl, the longest stretch in program history. A 23-21 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl loss to Akron ended the streak as USU went just 3-9 in 2016.
RELATED: Calvin Tyler Jr. Helps Utah State Earn Bowl Eligibility With Career Day
Utah State bounced back the following season as they would appear in three straight bowl games under three different head coaches from 2017 to 2019.
In the last of his four bowl appearances as head coach, Wells saw USU fall 26-20 against New Mexico State in the Arizona Bowl. Frank Maile, on an interim basis after Wells left for Texas Tech, led Utah State to a 52-13 win over North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl. The Aggies ranked as the No. 22 team in the nation in the final polls.
Gary Anderson made his return to Logan, after a brief stop at Oregon State, leading the team to the Frisco Bowl in 2019. USU lost 51-41 to Kent State.
Overall, Utah State is 5-9 in bowl games.
