Sports

Utah State vs. Idaho State: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

Nairavoice · Sep 4, 2026 · 5 min read

Kickoff: Saturday, 5 p.m. MDT
Advertisement
Venue: Maverik Stadium
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: Aggie Sports Network (KZNS 1280 The Zone)/Sirius XM Ch. 382
Advertisement
Series: Utah State is 19-2 all-time against Idaho State, with the first meeting dating back to 1904. The Aggies won their last matchup with the Bengals 78-28 in 2023. Idaho State last beat Utah State 27-24 in 2000.

Radio: Aggie Sports Network (KZNS 1280 The Zone)/Sirius XM Ch. 382

Series: Utah State is 19-2 all-time against Idaho State, with the first meeting dating back to 1904. The Aggies won their last matchup with the Bengals 78-28 in 2023. Idaho State last beat Utah State 27-24 in 2000.

For Utah State: After a year of unknowns in Bronco Mendenhall’s inaugural season in Logan, the Aggies finally have some stability with both Mendenhall and defensive coordinator Nick Howell returning. Mendenhall brought in a familiar face in offensive coordinator Robert Anae. The two previously coached together at Virginia and BYU.

The coaching continuity couldn’t have come at a better time. Utah State athletics is entering a new era as it moves from the Mountain West to the Pac-12.

The Pac-12 has familiar faces in Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State. But the Aggies will have new conference members in Oregon State, Texas State and Washington State.

“I’m excited and optimistic for this team, this program,” Mendenhall said. “Exciting time for Utah State joining the Pac-12. It’s great for the community, great for this institution, and really signifies just a lot of hard work for a lot of people over a long time. I feel lucky to be the steward over this program at this time.”

Utah State went 6-7 last season and got a sneak peek of Pac-12 football against Washington State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Aggies ended the season on a 34-21 loss to the Cougars.

Most importantly, Mendenhall said in Monday’s media availability that Utah State got out of fall camp healthy and without any significant injuries.

For Idaho State: The Bengals played in Week 0 and won 38-10 over VMI. It was never close, especially after the third quarter, when Idaho State went off for 28 points. VMI scored 10 in the fourth quarter after the game was already over.

In that game, the Bengals really favored the pass game. That shouldn’t come as a shocker with quarterback Jordan Cooke on the roster.

This will be Cooke’s fourth year with the Bengals, and he’s coming off a season with 3,052 passing yards. Last week, Cooke delivered with 325 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Idaho State only carried the ball 25 times for 88 yards.

Utah State QB McCae Hillstead, left, talks to a teammate during spring camp in Logan. | Arpan Bose / @bose.pictures, Courtesy Utah State Athletics

Not-so-new quarterback: Of course, if there’s anything Aggie fans should be looking out for on Saturday, it’s how its not-so-new quarterback, McCae Hillstead, looks. Hillstead previously had four starts his freshman year in Logan before transferring to BYU for two seasons. Hillstead is back and was named QB1 back in April.

Anae has gone on the record and said he plans to utilize Hillstead’s passing ability to open the offense, instead of doing so through the run game.

However, it’s as important to note who will catch the football as to who will throw it, and Utah State will have plenty of new faces catching it.

While Demick Starling isn’t new to the program, it’ll be his first year as a contributor after redshirting last season due to injury. Anthony Garcia is the most tenured receiver returning to the program.

Two transfers to watch are Georgia State transfer Javon Robinson and Virginia transfer Eli Wood.

The secondary: Don’t let the FCS label fool you; Saturday will be an early test for Utah State’s secondary. As mentioned, Idaho State likes to throw the ball, and it has a capable quarterback to do it.

That means the Aggies’ secondary will face pressure early and have to prove itself. It seemingly has the personnel to be very good, especially with safety Brevin Hamblin returning.

Utah State added some interesting transfers, especially Texas Tech safety transfer Chapman Lewis and North Dakota cornerback transfer Antonio Bluiett. This year’s secondary could be both talented and deep, and Saturday will give an early look at the potential of this group.

“This team is willing. They’re certainly eager to practice. They have a strong competitive spirit. Many times, I was adapting practice because of how willing they were not only to make contact but also to practice hard. We came out of camp very healthy, which is always a huge goal. I think the biggest change (from last year) is just consistency and those guys that have been in our program having known what the expectations are.” — Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall

“You always try to find areas where you can improve, because I think Week 1 to Week 2 is your biggest opportunity — you finally saw some live bullets and you’ve gotta change some things on special teams, defense and offense. It’s a great opportunity for our guys getting to play a big opponent, and there’s a lot of details we’ve gotta fix up. Hopefully we can continue to play well on defense and special teams, like we did, and ratchet a few things up on offense.” — Idaho State coach Cody Hawkins