(RV) UTAH STATE (10-3, 6-2 MW) vs. OREGON STATE (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12)
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 • 5:30 p.m. (MT) • Inglewood, California • SoFi Stadium (40,000)
UTAH STATE AGGIES NOTES
/// KICKOFF COVERAGE ///
• Utah State is playing in its 15th bowl game, including its ninth in the last 11 years, after playing in six bowl games in its first 119 seasons. USU played in five-straight bowls from 2011-15 and won three straight from 2012-14, both of which are school records. USU is 5-9 all-time in bowl games.
• Utah State has now won 10-plus games four times in the last 10 years after not reaching double digits in victories in each of its first 120 seasons. The 2012 and 2018 teams hold the school record with 11 wins, while the 2014 team won 10 games. Over the last 10 years, USU has averaged 7.4 wins.
• Utah State’s nine-game improvement this year is tied with Baylor (2-7 in ‘20 to 11-2 in ‘21) and Northern Illinois (0-6 in ‘20 to 9-4 in ‘21), and trailing Michigan (2-4 in ‘20 to 12-1 in ‘21), for the second-best turnaround in the nation as the Aggies were 1-5 last season and are 10-3 this year.
• Utah State went 7-0 on the road for the first time in school history and those seven road wins are a school record. In fact, USU is the first FBS team in eight years to post a 7-0 road record.
• Utah State has set three school records thus far during the 2021 campaign with its 39 touchdown passes, 3,975 passing yards and seven road wins.
• Senior WR Deven Thompkins set the school record for receiving yards in a season (1,589) and tied the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games (6) this season. Graduate junior QB Logan Bonner set the school record for passing touchdowns in a season (36) and tied the school record for passing touchdowns in a game (5) this year. Bonner is also the first player in school history to throw at least four touchdown passes in three straight games.
• Bonner has thrown for 3,560 yards this year and needs eight yards to set the school record, which was set by Jordan Love (3,567) in 2018. Thompkins has caught 96 passes this year and needs five receptions to set the school record, which was set in 2001 by Kevin Curtis (100).
• Utah State ranks 15th in the nation in passing offense (305.8 ypg), 20th in the nation in total offense (450.4 ypg) and 30th in the nation in scoring offense (33.2 ppg). Defensively, USU is fourth in the nation in tackles for loss (7.9 pg) and 10th in the nation in touchdowns allowed in the red zone (.458).
/// UTAH STATE TEAM NOTABLES ///
UTAH STATE FACES OREGON STATE IN INAUGURAL JIMMY KIMMEL LA BOWL
• Utah State (10-3, 6-2 MW) will face Oregon State (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) in the inaugural Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 5:30 p.m. (MT). The game will be televised nationally on ABC (Xfinity Ch. 4/HD652) with Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Jesse Palmer (analyst) and Laura Rutledge (reporter) on the call.
• Utah State is playing a school-record-tying 14th game for the third time (2013, 2014, 2021).
UTAH STATE IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
• Utah State received 109 votes in the latest Associated Press poll to rank 26th in the nation and garnered 85 votes in the latest Coaches’ poll to rank 27th in the nation. It is the fourth time this season that USU has garnered top-25 votes, including the second time in as many weeks as USU received eight votes in the previous week’s coaches poll to rank tied for 32nd.
SCOUTING UTAH STATE
• Utah State is 10-3 on the season following its 46-13 win at No. 19 San Diego State two weekends ago to win the 2021 Mountain West Championship. USU, which won the Mountain Division of the conference with a 6-2 league record, enters its bowl game having won seven of its last eight games. USU is led by graduate junior QB Logan Bonner, who is 257-of-419 (.613) passing for 3,560 yards (273.6 ypg) with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Graduate junior RB Calvin Tyler Jr. has rushed for 764 yards on 170 carries (4.5 ypc/69.5 ypg) with six touchdowns. And, senior WR Deven Thompkins has caught 96 passes for 1,589 yards (16.6 ypr/122.2 ypg) and nine touchdowns. Defensively, graduate senior ILB Justin Rice has 115 tackles, which includes 13.5 tackles for loss, to go along with three interceptions and one forced fumble. USU is averaging 33.2 points and 451.5 yards of total offense (145.7 rushing, 305.8 passing) and allowing 25.3 points and 391.0 yards of total offense (162.5 rushing, 228.5 passing).
UTAH STATE WINS 13TH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
• With its 46-13 victory at No.19 San Diego State in the Mountain West Championship Game, Utah State claimed its 13 conference championship in school history and first since it won the Western Athletic Conference in 2012. USU also won five Big West Conference titles (1978, 1979, 1993, 1996, 1997), three Skyline Conference titles (1946, 1960, 1961), and two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles (1921, 1936).
UTAH STATE FOURTH TEAM EVER TO GO FROM ONE WIN TO 10 WINS
• Utah State is just the fourth team in FBS history to go from zero or one win to 10 wins the following season, joining Stanford, Miami (Ohio) and Fresno State. USU is currently 10-3 this season after posting a 1-5 record last year. Stanford was 1-7-1 in 1939 and went 10-0 in 1940. Miami (Ohio) was 1-11 in 2009 and posted a 10-4 record in 2010. And, Fresno State was 1-11 in 2016 and went 10-4 in 2017.
• Furthermore, Utah State is one of just 11 FBS teams to win a conference championship the year after winning one or zero games, joining Colorado State in 1919, Arkansas in 1933, Stanford in 1940, Purdue in 1943, California in 1958, Indiana in 1967, North Texas in 1973, Hawai’i in 1999, Miami (Ohio) in 2010, Central Michigan in 2019 and Northern Illinois in 2021.
UTAH STATE’S 10 WINS AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
• Utah State is one of 24 teams in the nation that has won at least 10 games this season, including one of two Mountain West teams, and one of three teams from the state of Utah. In fact, Utah and Texas are the only states that have three football teams with at least 10 wins as BYU (10), Utah (10) and Utah State (10) all represent the Beehive State, while Baylor (11), Houston (11) and UTSA (12) represent the Lone Star State.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS IN UTAH STATE’S ROAD GAMES
• Utah State went 7-0 on the road for the first time ever and rallied from double-digit deficits in each of its first five road wins. It is the first time USU has won seven road games in a season.
• Utah State averaged 38.1 points and 457.0 yards of total offense (138.6 rushing, 318.4 passing) on the road this season, while c onverting 53-of-106 (.500) third downs, and had a 78-24scoring advantage in the final 15 minutes of its seven road wins.
ANDERSON ONLY FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH IN THE NATION WITH 10 WINS
• Utah State’s Blake Anderson is one of 19 first-year head coaches at the FBS level in 2021 and is the only head coach to have at least 10 wins this season.
• Anderson is the only first-year head coach in school history to win 10 games. The previous record was nine wins set by Matt Wells in 2013.
• Anderson was just the third coach in school history, and first since E. Lowell Romney in 1919, to win his first three games at USU. The other was Fred M. Walker, who went 7-0 in 1907.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Utah State head coach Blake Anderson has now won three conference championships with two Sun Belt titles at Arkansas State (2015, 2016), along with one Mountain West title (2021). Anderson will be coaching his seventh bowl game in eight seasons as a head coach.
UTAH STATE BOWL HISTORY
• Utah State has a 5-9 bowl record all-time as it lost to San José State, 20-0, in the 1946 Raisin Bowl; lost to Pacific, 35-21, in the 1947 Grape Bowl; lost to New Mexico State, 20-13, in the 1960 Sun Bowl; lost to Baylor, 24-9, in the 1961 Gotham Bowl; defeated Ball State, 42-33, in the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl II; lost to Cincinnati, 35-19, in the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl; lost to Ohio, 24-23, in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; defeated Toledo, 41-15, in the 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; defeated No. 24 Northern Illinois, 21-14, in the 2013 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl; defeated UTEP, 21-6, in the 2014 Gildan New Mexico Bowl; lost to Akron, 23-21, in the 2015 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; lost to New Mexico State, 26-20 in overtime, in the 2017 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl; defeated North Texas, 52-13, in the 2018 New Mexico Bowl; and lost to Kent State, 51-41, in the 2019 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl.
UTAH STATE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN 2021
• Utah State is 2-0 this season in games played in the state of California with a 48-17 road win at defending Mountain West Champion San José State (11/13) and a 46-13 road win at No. 19 San Diego State (12/4) in the Mountain West Championship Game. In fact, USU has won each of its last five games played in the Golden State with its last loss coming at USC in 2016.
UTAH STATE AGAINST THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE
• Utah State is 41-125-5 (.254) all-time against current members of the Pac-12 Conference as it is 29-79-4 vs. Utah, 6-11-1 vs. Colorado, 2-11-0 vs. Arizona State, 2-4 vs. Arizona, 2-2 vs. Washington State, 0-6 vs. USC, 0-4 vs. Oregon, 0-3 vs. Oregon State, 0-3 vs. Washington, and 0-1 vs. both Stanford and UCLA. The only current Pac-12 team that USU has not played is California. • Utah State is facing a Pac-12 team in a bowl game for the first time ever. In fact, USU has only played one Power 5 opponent in a bowl game as it lost to Baylor (24-9) in the 1961 Gotham Bowl, held in Upper Manhattan, New York.
THE MOUNTAIN WEST vs. THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE IN BOWL GAMES
• The Mountain West is 13-12 all-time against the Pac-12 Conference in bowl games as it is 1-3 vs. Arizona, 2-0 vs. Arizona State, 1-3 vs. California, 2-0 vs. Oregon, 1-2 vs. Oregon State, 1-1 vs. USC, 2-1 vs. UCLA, 0-1 vs. Utah, 1-1 vs. Washington and 2-0 vs. Washington State. The last time the MW and Pac-12 played one another in a bowl game was in 2019 when Air Force defeated Washington State (31-21) and Washington defeated Boise State (38-7).
FIRST COLLEGE GAME IN SOFI STADIUM
• Utah State and Oregon State are the first college football teams to play in SoFi Stadium. It will be the second time this year that USU has played in an NFL stadium as it played in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Oct. 16 in a 28-24 win against UNLV.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Utah State has four players in its program that previously played in the Pac-12 in graduate senior RB Devonta’e Henry-Cole (Utah), graduate senior DE Nick Heninger (Utah), graduate senior DT Marcus Moore (UCLA) and graduate junior RB Calvin Tyler Jr. (Oregon State).
• Henry-Cole appeared in two games against Oregon State during his time at Utah as he played at OSU in 2016 and 2019, and had three combined carries for one yard.
/// OPPONENT INFORMATION ///
SCOUTING OREGON STATE
• Oregon State is 7-5 overall and finished third in the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference with a 5-4 record. OSU concluded its regular season with a 38-29 loss at No. 11 Oregon on Nov. 27. The Beavers are led by sophomore QB Chance Nolan, who is 183-of-288 (.635) passing for 2,414 yards (201.2 ypg) with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Junior RB B.J. Baylor leads the team in rushing with 1,259 yards on 209 carries (6.0 ypc/104.9 ypg) with 13 touchdowns, and senior WR Trevon Bradford has caught 40 passes for 606 yards (15.2 ypr/50.1 ypg) with five touchdowns. Defensively, junior ILB Avery Roberts leads the team with 128 tackles, which includes 9.5 tackles for loss. As a team, OSU is averaging 32.8 points and 430.5 yards of total offense (217.4 rushing, 213.1 passing), and allowing 25.9 points and 387.8 yards of total offense (146.7 rushing, 241.1 passing). OSU returns 18 starters (O-10, D-8) from last year’s team that finished in fourth place in the Pac-12 North Division with a 2-5 league and overall record. Jonathan Smith has a 16-27 record in his four years as a collegiate head coach at OSU.
AGGIES AND BEAVERS SERIES HISTORY
• Utah State trails 3-0 in the all-time series against Oregon State. The first game in the series was in 1904 with OSU winning at home 45-0. The two teams then played a home-and-home series with the Beavers notching a 24-16 home win in 1997 and a 20-16 road win in 1998.
/// SERIES NOTABLES BETWEEN UTAH STATE AND OREGON STATE ///
The following are series notables between Utah State and Oregon State dating back to 1997.
• The team that scores first and leads at the half is 1-1 in the series, as USU is 0-1 in both scenarios and OSU is 1-0.
• Utah State has lost the last two games in the series despite having more rushing yards in both contests.
• Oregon State has had more passing yards in each of the last two games, winning both.
• Utah State has had one 100-yard rusher and one 100-yard receiver in the last two meetings, while Oregon State has not had a 100-yard rusher or receiver.
OREGON STATE BEAVERS NOTES
Game Notes
Oregon State heads to Inglewood, Calif., Saturday to play in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel at SoFi Stadium. Kickoff against Utah State is slated for 4:30 p.m. PT.
The game will air live on ABC. Joe Tessitore (play-byplay), Jesse Palmer (analyst) and Laura Rutledge (sideline) will call the action.
Oregon State leads the all-time series 3-0, defeating the Aggies in 1904, 1997 and 1998. The 1904 and 1998 games were played in Logan, Utah.
The game will air live on the Beaver Sports Radio Network. For a list of affiliates, turn to page two of these notes.
ESPN Radio will also have coverage of the game. Jorge Sedano (play-by-play), Tom Ramsey (analyst) and Kelsey Riggs (sideline) will call the contest.
Oregon State Notables
Oregon State is playing in its 18th bowl all-time and first since the 2013 season when defeating Boise State at the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. Oregon State is 11-6 in its previous 17 bowl appearances. The Beavers won five consecutive bowl games from 2003-08.
The bowl marks the ninth for head coach Jonathan Smith on the sideline, with the first eight coming as an assistant coach. He led OSU to two bowl games, including the 2001 Fiesta, as a quarterback.
Seventeen Beavers have been named All-Pac-12 by the conference’s coaches, including back-to-back first-team selections Avery Roberts and Nathan Eldridge. B.J. Baylor was been named first team as well.
Last Meeting
Oregon State defeated Utah State, 20-16, in Logan in 1998. Ken Simonton ran for 99 yards and Terrance Bryant passed for 258 yards and a touchdown.
Bowl Game History
Oregon State is making its 18th all-time appearance in a bowl game, and 12th since the 1999 season.
The Beavers won five consecutive bowl games from 2003-08.
\ Head coach Jonathan Smith was the Offensive Most Valuable Player at the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. He passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns in Oregon State’s 41-9 win over Notre Dame.
The bowl appearance marks the 16th in the coaching career of Jim Michalczik, the Beavers’ run game coordinator/offensive line coach/associate head coach. He was on OSU’s staff for the 1999 O’ahu and 2001 Fiesta Bowls.
Current OSU Director of Recruiting Michael Doctor totaled 11 tackles in the 2012 Alamo Bowl against Texas, which ties him for second-most by a Beaver in a bowl game.
Against Utah State
The game marks just the third all-time between the teams and first since Oregon State won, 20-16, at Logan in 1998.
OSU also won, 24-16, in Corvallis in 1997 and 45-0 in 1904 in Logan.
Head coach Jonathan Smith was on the roster for the 1998 win but did not play in the game.
Oregon State offensive lineman Heneli Bloomfield played in 16 games for Utah State from 2018-19. He has not played this season.
Calvin Tyler Jr. transferred from Oregon State after the 2020 season and leads Utah State with 764 rushing yards.
Utah State passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Kyle Cefalo originally attended Oregon State as a baseball player, but later transferred to Colorado to play football.
USU running backs coach Chuckie Keeton (2016-17) and defensive line coach Al Lapuaho (2016-17) have both been on Oregon State’s staff. Keeton as an offensive quality control assistant and graduate assistant with Lapuaho as a defensive graduate assistant.
SoFi Stadium Note
The game marks Oregon State’s first at SoFi Stadium, which opened in September 2020.
It will mark the fourth time OSU will play a bowl game in an enclosed or retractable roof stadium. The Beavers also did so in 2012 in San Antonio (Alamodome), as well as 2002 and 2004 at Insight Bowl appearances (Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix).
It marks the Beavers’ first game at an active NFL stadium since 2010 when playing TCU at Cowboys’ Stadium.
Versus The Mountain West
Oregon State is 37-26 all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference.
The Beavers last MWC opponent was Hawai’i, whom Oregon State defeated, 45-27, on Sept. 11 this season at Reser Stadium.
OSU has played current MWC teams in bowl games four times, going 3-1. The Beavers defeated Hawai’i in 1940 (39-6 at Pineapple Bowl) and 1949 (47-27 at Pineapple Bowl). OSU lost to Hawai’i, 23-17, at the 1999 O’ahu Bowl, then defeated New Mexico, 55-
14 at the 2003 Las Vegas Bowl.
Red Zone
Oregon State has an 83.3 percent red zone conversion rate this season, having scored on 45 of its 54 trips in this season.
The Beavers have scored touchdowns on 39 of those 54 red zone trips for a 72.2 percent rate. Those 39 red zone touchdowns rank second in the Pac-12, behind only Utah’s 48.
Oregon State has scored on 106 of its last 121 (87.6 percent) entries into the red zone dating back to the 2019 season. OSU has scored touchdowns on 93 of those 121 instances (76.8 percent).
Per Rush
Oregon State is averaging 5.38 yards per rush this season, which is second in the Pac12. That’s helped OSU to 6.44 yards per play this year, which is first in the conference and 23rd nationally.
That 5.38 yards per rush average would mark the program’s single-season record, surpassing OSU’s 5.2 average in 2016.
The 6.44 yards per play overall would also set a program standard. The 2019 Beavers currently hold that mark at 6.0.
Time Of Possession
Oregon State is averaging 30:29 in time of possession this season, which ranks third among Pac-12 teams (and is just 31 seconds shy of No. 1 Washington State). OSU has held the ball for 30 or more minutes in seven of 12 games this season, and for 32 or more in six contests.
Oregon State held the ball for 36:47 in the win over Stanford, the Beavers’ best time of possession under head coach Jonathan Smith.
OSU is 6-1 this season when controlling the time of possession and 10-9 during Smith’s four seasons.
