The 2022 Utah State football season is approaching as fall camp is now less than two months away and each article in this series will preview Utah State’s opponents. Game 1: UCONN.

Game Information

Date: Saturday, August 27th (Week 0)

Location: Logan, Utah

Line: Utah State (-27.5)

Series: Utah State and Connecticut have met once in 2001 and Utah State won that game 38-31 at Connecticut.

Players to watch

Redshirt junior quarterback Steven Krajewski

Last season Krajewski threw for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns. He also threw 10 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 32.4, which was 115th in the nation. Krajewski should be more experienced next season and Utah State will need to be ready in the secondary.

Sophomore running back Nathan Carter

On 125 attempts, Nathan Carter rushed for 578 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Carter is going to be a significant factor going into this game. If Carter gets going early the Aggies could be in for a scare.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kevens Clercius

This past season, Cercius finished last season with 20 receptions, 260 yards, and three touchdowns. He is a developing playmaker for the Huskies and should be a stronger athlete this season.

Redshirt Sophomore wide receiver Matt Drayton

Drayton had 278 yards on 21 receptions during the 2019 season and had two touchdowns.

Sophomore wide receiver Keelan Marion

This is the play maker receiver for the Huskies. During the 2021 season, Marion had 474 receiving yards off of 28 receptions and had five touchdowns. The Aggies must stop Marion in order to stop a big receiving day from UCONN.

Sophomore defensive back Reyan Blake

As a freshman last season, Blake saw six games. In high school, Blake earned a Palm Beach County player of the week nod and had 38 tackles. He was also honored as an All-Conference selection and will be looking to have a bigger role this coming up season.

Senior linebacker Ian Swenson

In 2021, Swenson played in 11 games and had 73 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack, and two pass breakups.

Senior defensive back Tre Wortham

Wortham played in 12 games and had 36 total tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and four pass breakups. He previously played for Delta College and was a three time first team all league/conference player.

Junior defensive back Stan Cross

Cross played in nine game for the Huskies last season and made 18 tackles, and had one interception and one pass breakup.

Sophomore defensive back Durante Jones

Jones played in ten games for Uconn last season and finished with 59 tackles and 2.5 tackles, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Analysis

While UConn does have playmakers on the field they may not have enough fire power or communication to take down the Aggies in the season opener. Utah State was a major surprise last season winning the Mountain West and beating Oregon State in the Los Angeles bowl. It is not clear how good Utah State will be this season. What is clear is that the Aggies will want to pick up where they left off, but that remains to be seen.