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They've split the last two times they've played, the Aggies winning dramatically in Logan and the Utes winning dramatically in Salt Lake City. In two years since, the Aggies have won six more games than the Utes.
But there's a lot more to it than that.
No. 24 Utah is no longer a mere member of the Pac-12 South, it's a bona fide factor, capping off a 9-4 season with a 45-10 thrashing of a solid Mountain West team — one that earlier had beaten the Aggies 16-13.
Friday night, the Aggies will be without not only those lost to graduation, but senior starting nose guard Travis Seefeldt (injured in a harrowing car wreck), top playmaker JoJo Natson (dismissed for a violation of team rules), 2014 leading receiver Hunter Sharp (suspended), starting sophomore guard Tyshon Mosley (suspended) and part-time starting senior cornerback Bryant Hayes (suspended).
In a result so close Kyle Whittingham admitted it surprised him, USU's skeleton crew edged the Big Sky's Southern Utah by just three last Thursday, scoring nine of 12 points via a blocked extra point and a fourth-quarter punt return.
Utah was hardly perfect in beating Michigan by one score — finishing sackless, scarcely involving outside receivers, generating little push at the line, missing field goals — but, ultimately, it squeaked by Michigan.
And USU squeaked by Southern Utah.
That's why, in the 112th iteration of the Battle of the Brothers, the Utes enter game day as 12-point favorites to capture Series Win No. 79, in what bettors expect to be a low-scoring affair (over/under 44.5). And some Utah fans have wondered why the home team isn't favored by more.
But there are still those last two meetings.
As Kyle Goon wrote Thursday, they've been harder to forget than this rivalry's usual offerings.
Time, Place and [Radio Waves in] Space • Kickoff is 7 p.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game will air nationally on ESPN2, called by Dave Flemming, Mack Brown and Allison Williams, and on radio dials in Utah at ESPN 700, called by Bill Riley, Frank Dolce and Bo Nagahi. Satellite radio listeners can tune in at Sirius 108 or XM 197. It's Patriot Day, and in remembrance of 9-11, Utah will honor first responders and members of the military. The Navy's Leap Frogs will skydive the game ball into the stadium, halftime will feature a bagpipe performance of "Amazing Grace," and Utah players will honor those fallen in 9-11 with decals on the backs of their helmets.
Opposing Coach • Matt Wells followed the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year by being named 2013 Mountain West Coach of the Year, going 9-5 with three quarterbacks after losing Chuckie Keeton to injury. Then, in 2014, he won 10 games with four quarterbacks. At just 42, Wells was himself a signal caller for the Aggies in the mid-90s and was previously Utah State's offensive coordinator and QB coach before replacing former Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen. He's widely regarded as a rising star.
Utah Ties • Senior Utah defensive end Jason Fanaika played his first two seasons at Utah State, rooming in 2011 with starting right guard Taani Fisilau, before walking on at Utah in 2013. ... Junior Utah linebacker Sharrieff Shah Jr. redshirted as a freshman at USU in 2012 before walking on at the U. ... Senior Aggies linebacker L.T. Filiaga played at the U. from 2012-13, recording 35 tackles, including eight against Utah State in 2012. ... First-year Aggies defensive coordinator Kevin Clune was a graduate assistant at Utah in 2000-01, while first-year Aggies offensive coordinator Josh Heupel coached senior Utah quarterback Kendal Thompson at Oklahoma. ... With 40 players on each active roster from the state of Utah, many Utes and Aggies played with and against each other in high school, but an unusual note is that Hayes, USU cornerback Deshane Hines and Utah nickelback Jordan Fogal were all part of the same secondary at California's San Mateo College.
Pregame Quotable • Matt Wells on Utah's defensive scheme: "Back in the day, I called it their punt-return defense because it looked like there were 10 guys within a yard of the line of scrimmage and one post safety all the way back. It doesn't look that way as much anymore, but Utah is always aggressive. They're a pressure defense. They've got tremendous skills to play that man-to-man, and this year is no different."
Media Guide Nuggets • Keeton is one of just two FBS quarterbacks to start in five season openers. Tulsa's T.J. Rubley did it in 1987-1991. ... The last time the Aggies started a season 2-0 was 2012, when their first two opponents were Southern Utah and Utah. ... Utah State is 4-52 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-25, but it's won three of its last five.
Telling Stat • The Aggies were one of the most heavily penalized teams in the nation last year, averaging 7.2 penalties for 66 yards, and they almost doubled that in last Thursday's opener, when 11 flags cost them 123 yards.
Aggies Offensive Outlook • Last year's success came, really, in spite of Utah State's offense, which finished 83rd in the nation at 379 total yards per game.
USU appears likely to have even fewer weapons Friday, so Heupel is going to have to play his hand wisely.
Keeton, of course, is the big variable. In two games against the Utes, he's 53-of-72 for 530 yards and four passing touchdowns, and he's also totaled 171 yards and one rushing score. With two touchdown passes, he'd tie Jose Fuentes for the school record. A win, and he'd be just one shy of Tony Adams' mark.
But it's been a long time since Aggie fans have witnessed the same Keeton who — shoes be damned — so frequently foiled Utah pass rushers and froze Utah defensive backs.
They certainly didn't see that Keeton against the Thunderbirds, when he was 16-for-33 for 110 yards and one interception.
He needs some help, though. Not only will USU be without Natson and Sharp — who had four touchdowns of 70 yards or more in 2014 — but the status of big senior wideout Brandon Swindall is unknown.
Senior Devonte Robinson, with 29 yards, was USU's leading receiver against SUU.
Against Utah's formidable front seven, a repeat of that output is going to make life awfully hard for a rushing attack that features — without Mosley — just two returning starters on the line.
Sophomore LaJuan Hunt led the way in Week One with 23 carries for 80 yards after last year becoming the first freshman to lead USU in rushing since 2007.
Aggies Defensive Outlook • If there's a good reason Utah isn't favored by more than 12, it's this group.
The Aggies ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense in 2014, at 19.1 ppg. FootballScoop.com found that on 19.8 percent of last year's plays, USU's opponents lost yardage, fumbled or threw a tipped or intercepted pass. Utah may be "Sack Lake City" after leading the nation with 55, but Utah State deserves a nickname of its own ("Smash Valley"?) after finishing third, with 50.
They lose linebacker Zach Vigil, who earned a spot with the Dolphins after finishing with 156 tackles and nine sacks, and safety Frankie Sutera, who had seven picks and 4.5 sacks.
But what remains held Southern Utah to 52 yards rushing and 111 passing, and senior Kyler Fackrell and junior Nick Vigil may be as good as any pair of linebackers Utah will face this year.
Fackrell, 6-foot-5, 250 pounds but fast enough to have a 99-yard interception return to his credit, had two sacks in the opener, while Vigil totaled 13 tackles in his seventh career double-digit game.
Senior nose guard David Moala notched a sack and a blocked extra point in his first start, and sophomore corner Jalen Davis continued the excellent form he showed as a true freshman with three defended passes, two tackles for loss and a sack.
Aggies Special Teams Outlook • Given that he was USU's leading punt returner last season, Natson's absence theoretically hurts them in this department, but junior wideout Andrew Rodriguez earned Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week with his 88-yard game-clinching score.
Redshirt freshman punter Aaron Dalton was called upon a whopping 13 times but averaged just 35.6 yards in his Division I debut, while junior kicker Brock Warren went 1-for-2, hitting from 30 yards, in his first action since 2012.
Required Reading
Injury Report • The statuses of senior wideout Tim Patrick and redshirt freshman Raelon Singleton are unknown, though Patrick suited up for last Thursday's game and is expected to be another gametime decision. Tight end Evan Moeai is out for the season with an undisclosed lower leg injury, and sophomore Troy McCormick is lost for the season due to an ACL injury from spring camp. Senior cornerback Ahmad Christian remains out with an Achilles tear from winter conditioning. There's been no word on Utah State's Swindall, who has caught two touchdown passes against the Utes.
Three Big Questions
1. Will we see Dominique Hatfield, and does Utah really need him yet? • Utah State seemingly has a desperate need to stretch Utah's defense vertically and keep the front seven out of its backfield, and Hatfield's reinstatement gives Utah another possible means of preventing that. Whittingham has said Hatfield will play if he's ready. But as untested in Division I game action as Utah's outside corners may be, junior Reginald Porter and junior college transfer Cory Butler-Byrd are veterans compared to the guys they'll line up against.
2. Can Utah get the ground game going earlier this week? • The Utes averaged a lackluster 2.2 yards per carry at the half last week, and Whittingham bemoaned the offensive line's lack of push against a stout Michigan defensive front. Utah State fields a lighter bunch. Can the Utes show they have the muscle to support senior running back Devontae Booker's Heisman candidacy beyond the offseason chatter and Twitter hashtags?
3. Will we see more than one Utah quarterback? • In 2012, we did, because of bad news. Jon Hays relieved an injured Jordan Wynn, while a young Travis Wilson threw his first career touchdown pass, caught by a young Kenneth Scott for his first career touchdown reception. This year, either because the game is in hand or to throw a curveball, don't be surprised if Utah gives a few series to part-time 2014 starter Kendal Thompson. Coaches also may choose to test out the goal-line and short-yard packages they've worked on with redshirt freshman and heir apparent Chase Hansen.
— Matthew Piper
mpiper@sltrib.com
Twitter: @matthew_piper