Brosterhous got the Week 2 start at Washington and nearly pulled off the upset before his final-play Hail Mary was tipped and picked off as time expired — a 16-14 loss that came a week after Utah State blew a lead against FCS Idaho State on four turnovers, two of them Hillstead interceptions in the fourth quarter. Whichever quarterback Mendenhall trusts Saturday, he's without starting cornerback Emmanuel Karnley, who missed most of the Washington game and left the secondary thin against a Utah offense that just hung 43 points on an SEC opponent.
This is the 113th meeting in a series that dates to 1892 and one Utah has dominated for most of a century, and nothing in either team's first two weeks points toward that changing. Utah State has been competitive in single-score losses to Idaho State and Washington; Utah has looked like a top-20 team that just doesn't beat itself.
Devon Dampier is the headliner for Utah after accounting for four touchdowns in the Arkansas win, two through the air and two on the ground, and Wayshawn Parker punched in two more on the ground himself. The Utes' defense is the more interesting story, though — 13 pass breakups against Arkansas is a program high going back nearly three decades, and it came from a unit that played man coverage for most of the night rather than sitting back in zone.
None of that changes what's actually at stake for Utah State beyond pride and the Beehive Boot itself: first-year membership in the Pac-12 and a program Mendenhall has said is deeper than a year ago, even if the record doesn't show it yet. For Utah, this is the last tune-up before Big 12 play gets real, and a rivalry game against a winless neighbor is exactly the kind of spot that can turn into an afterthought if the focus slips.