On Saturday, Gary Andersen was fired as the head football coach at Utah State. Currently Utah State is 0-3 for the 2020 NCAA FBS season. This was Andersen's second stint as head football coach with the Aggies, and he finished 7-9 in the one plus partial season at the helm of the program for 2019-2020. Andersen was 26-24 in his first stint as the Aggies head football coach.
Here is a
look at the Utah State Aggies football team since 2008 (the year
in which the data I use to model FBS production starts). As you will
notice, Utah State had some great seasons, but the
teams productivity has been consistently inconsistent.
Below is the Utah State Aggies production rank (total,
offense, defense, and the average and worst teams) since 2008 using the
Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
This time period covers Brent Guys last season only (2008), Gary Andersen (2009-2012), Matt Wells (2013-2018) and Gary Andersen (2019-2020*). More details
about the program under each head coach is provided below.
Brent Guy [2005-2008]
2008
Utah State finished the regular season at 3-9, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning the Aggies' SOS was plus or minus one
standard deviation of the "league" SOS. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #95 ranked Hawai'i by a score of (30-14) and their worst
loss was to #94 ranked UNLV by a score of (17-27). Utah State was the #103 ranked team overall, with the #83 ranked
offense and the #93 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com. Given the poor performance of the program, head coach Guy was fired and Gary Andersen was hired to replace him.
Gary Andersen [2009-2012]
2009
Utah State finished the regular season at 4-8, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #59 ranked Louisiana Tech by a score of (23-21) and their
worst
loss was to #123 ranked New Mexico State by a score of (17-20). Utah State was the #78 ranked team overall, with the #39 ranked
offense and the #112 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2010
Utah State finished the regular season at 4-8, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #67 ranked BYU by a score of (31-16) and their worst
loss was to #97 ranked Louisiana Tech by a score of (6-24). Utah State was the #107 ranked team overall, with the #97 ranked
offense and the #105 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2011
Utah State finished the regular season at 7-5, while playing against an
“easier” strength
of schedule, meaning the Aggie's SOS was between one
and two standard deviation's greater than the "league" SOS. The Aggie's were bowl eligible and played #32 ranked Ohio where they were defeated by a score of (23-24) to finish the season 7-6 overall. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #34 ranked Nevada by a score of (21-17) and their worst
loss was to #106 ranked Colorado State by a score of (34-35). Utah State was the #45 ranked team overall, with the #21 ranked
offense and the #70 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2012
Utah State finished the regular season at 10-2, while playing against an
“easier” strength
of schedule. The Aggie's
were bowl eligible and played #71 ranked Toledo where they were victorious
by a score of (41-15) to finish the season 11-2 overall. Utah State's
best regular
season victory
was against #12 ranked San Jose State by a score of (49-27) and their worst
loss was to #33 ranked Wisconsin by a score of (14-16). Utah State was the #5 ranked team overall, with the #22 ranked
offense and the #6 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Matt Wells [2013-2018] [Original Contract] [contract extension]
2013 [Mountain West Runners-Up]
Utah State finished the regular season at 8-4, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule. Utah State played in the Mountain West Conference Championship game losing to #19 ranked Fresno State by a score of (17-24). The Aggies played #16 ranked Northern Illinois in their bowl game and were victorious by a score of (21-14) to finish off the season at 9-5. The Aggies best regular
season victory
was against #37 ranked Colorado State by a score of (13-0) and their worst
loss was to #78 ranked Utah by a score of (26-30). Utah State was the #23 ranked team overall, with the #50 ranked
offense and the #6 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2014 [Mountain West Runners-Up]
Utah State finished the regular season at 9-3, while
playing against an
“easier” strength
of schedule. Again the Aggies played in the Mountain West Conference Championship game (and again lost), but this time to #13 ranked Boise State. The Aggies went on to play #69 ranked UTEP in their bowl games where they defeated the Miner by a score of (21-6). Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #21 ranked BYU by a score of (35-20) and their worst
loss was to #63 ranked Tennessee by a score of (7-38). Utah State was the #32 ranked team overall, with the #52 ranked
offense and the #24 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2015
Utah State finished the regular season at 6-6 and bowl eligible, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule. The Aggies were defeated by #68 ranked Akron by a
score of (21-23) to finish 6-7 overall. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #8 ranked Boise State by a score of (52-26) and their worst
loss was to #78 ranked New Mexico by a score of (13-14). Utah State was the #62 ranked team overall, with the #79 ranked
offense and the #42 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2016
Utah State finished the regular season at 3-9 (and bowl ineligible), while
playing against a
“tougher” strength
of schedule, meaning the Aggie's SOS was between one
and two standard deviation's less than the "league" SOS. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #29 ranked Arkansas State by a score of (34-20) and their
worst
loss was to #103 ranked Nevada by a score of (21-24). Utah State was the #73 ranked team overall, with the #88 ranked
offense and the #47 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2017
Utah State finished the regular season at 6-6, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule, The Aggies and were
bowl eligible where they were defeated by #65
ranked New Mexico State by a score of (20-26). Utah State's best
regular
season victory
was against #84 ranked UNLV by a score of (52-28) and their worst
loss was to #87 ranked Air Force by a score of (35-38). Utah State was the #62 ranked team overall, with the #44 ranked
offense and the #76 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2018
Utah State finished the regular season at 10-2, while
playing against an
“easier” strength
of schedule and were bowl eligible, where they defeated #38 ranked North Texas (52-13). Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #40 ranked BYU by a score of (45-20) and their worst
loss was to #60 ranked Michigan State by a score of (31-38). Utah State was the #3 ranked team overall, with the #6 ranked
offense and the #27 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Gary Andersen (2019-2020*) [contract]
2019
Utah State finished the regular season at 7-5, while
playing against an
“average” strength
of schedule and were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #88
ranked Kent State by a score of (41-51) to finish the season at 7-6. Utah State's best regular
season victory
was against #23 ranked San Diego State by a score of (23-17) and their worst
loss was to #65 ranked Wake Forest by a score of (35-38). Utah State was the #96 ranked team overall, with the #58 ranked
offense and the #119 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2020
Utah State is currently 0-3 with their worst loss of the season under Andersen's was to #49 ranked Boise State by a score of (13-42). The Aggies are currently the #110 ranked offense, the #62 ranked defense and the #110 ranked team in the FBS.
2020 NCAA FBS Head Coaching Changes
Southern Mississippi & Jay Hopson