USU football: Larsen selected to preseason all-MW team; USU picked to finish 8th

It’s fair to say Utah State safety Ike Larsen won’t have the luxury of sneaking up on opposing teams during the 2023 campaign.
That’s because future opponents of the Aggies surely know who Larsen is after his breakout redshirt freshman season of 2022. The former Sky View and Logan high star established a new single-season USU record with three blocked punts — one of which resulted in a safety — plus he matched fellow safety Hunter Reynolds with a team-high four interceptions.
Larsen, who came through with a pick-six against Hawaii and finished the season with 34 tackles, was recognized for his efforts as he garnered second-team all-Mountain West honors. The son of Bret and JoAnn Larsen was the lone Aggie and one of only four defensive backs to be tabbed to the ’23 all-MW team, which was released Wednesday as part of the conference’s football media days. The annual two-day event will conclude Thursday at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
The preseason all-MW team was released Wednesday, as was the predicted order of finish for the 12 programs in the conference. USU was picked to finish eighth.
This is the first time the Mountain West isn’t divided into two divisions since the Aggies joined it prior to the 2013-14 academic year. The Mountain West moved away from the divisional format following the ’22 season, meaning the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will compete for the MW crown moving forward.
As expected, Boise State was projected to win the league title as the Broncos tallied 28 of the 37 first-place votes. The preseason all-league team and predicted order of finish is selected entirely by members of the media that routinely cover the conference. This is the 16th straight year BSU has been chosen to capture either a divisional or conference championship.
The Broncos went 8-0 against league foes during the ’22 regular season, although they lost to Fresno State in the Mountain West title game. The Broncos will only need to replace two offensive starters from a year ago, plus they welcomed back six defensive starters, their starting punter and kicker.
Air Force was narrowly picked to place second in the Mountain West, just ahead of Fresno State and closely followed by San Diego State. The Falcons, who have won 10 or 11 games in their last three full seasons, received a pair of first-place votes, while the Bulldogs received five and the Aztecs one. The other first-place vote was a head-scratcher as it went to UNLV, which concluded the ’22 campaign with a losing record and hasn't gone to a bowl game since 2014.
San Jose State was pegged to finish fifth in the conference, followed by Wyoming, Colorado State, USU, UNLV, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico. Nevada and New Mexico went winless in Mountain West action a year ago.
There have been five different conference champions in Utah State’s first 10 seasons in the Mountain West. BSU and FSU have each reigned supreme three times, followed by SDSU with two titles and USU and SJSU with one apiece.
Meanwhile, every Mountain West program with the exception of UNLV and Nevada was represented on the preseason all-conference squad. Wyoming led the way with five selections — three of them on defense — followed by AFA, SDSU and CSU with four apiece, BSU with three and SJSU and FSU with two each. USU, New Mexico and Hawaii all had one, and Hawaii’s all-MW honoree, cornerback Cam Stone, is a transfer from CSU.
Of the 26 different athletes named to this preseason squad, only five of them garnered first-team all-Mountain West honors at the conclusion of the ’22 regular season in CSU wide receiver Tory Horton, Wyoming linebacker Easton Gibbs, CSU safety Jack Howell, Wyoming kicker John Hoyland and SDSU punter Jack Browning. Horton secured a spot on the preseason team as a wideout and punt returner.
Additionally, Gibbs was projected to be the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, while SJSU quarterback Chevan Cordeiro was picked as the Offensive Player of the Year and SDSU’s Browning as the Special Teams POTY.
Gibbs ranked third in the Mountain West last season in tackles an outing at 9.3. The soon-to-be junior racked up 121 tackles, including 9.0 for a loss and 3.0 sacks.
Cordeiro excelled in his first season at SJSU as he threw for 3,251 yards and a MW-best 23 touchdowns, plus rushed for a single-season career-high nine scores. The senior-to-be was Hawaii’s starting signal caller in 2021.
Browning was a difference maker as a punter and kicker a year ago as the senior-to-be averaged 46.1 yards per punt and was successful on 20 of his 25 field goal attempts, plus all 30 PATs. Of Browning’s 68 punts last season, 28 landed inside the opposition’s 20-yard line, including 14 inside the 10-yard line.
RADIO UPDATE
Aggie fans that reside in Cache Valley will have an easier way of listening to football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games moving forward. That’s because games from those sports will now be broadcast on KVNU (610 AM/102.1 FM) as the long-standing Cache Valley station is now an affiliate, it was announced Wednesday.
LEARFIELD’s Aggie Sports Properties is still the exclusive multimedia company for USU athletics and Scott Garrard will remain as the play-by-play announcer for both Aggie football and men’s basketball. Additionally, 1280 The Zone is still the flagship station for both of those programs.
“We are thrilled to announce a new radio partnership with the Cache Valley Media Group and USU Athletics through our media partners at LEARFIELD that will bring the excitement of Aggie Athletics to over 100,000 listeners in Cache Valley and the surrounding communities,” said Jerry Bovee, USU’s interim director of athletics, in a press release. “This renewed agreement is a win-win for Utah State and the Cache Valley Media Group, but, more importantly, for all the incredible Aggie fans in Northern Utah. I appreciate Kent Frandsen and is team at the CVMG as well as David Reeve at LEARFIELD for their vision and willingness to come to get this deal done.”
KVNU listeners can now tune into Aggie football and men’s basketball contests in the Tremonton (98.3 FM) and Garden City (93.5 FM) areas. Pre- and postgame shows with Al Lewis will continue on KVNU.
“For decades, KVNU radio has been associated with Utah State athletics in one form or another and the Cache Valley Media Group is excited to move forward in the next chapter of that relationship,” said Kent Frandsen, the owner and president of the Cache Valley Media Group. “KVNU listeners are Aggie fans, and this new era of carrying Aggie broadcasts on local radio would not have been possible if not for the tireless efforts of interim Director of Athletics Jerry Bovee. His unwavering commitment and dedication to the Utah State community have been instrumental in making this collaboration with the university and Aggie Sports Properties a reality.”
FUTURE GAMES
Utah State will square off in future football games against USC and Temple, according to FBSschedules.com. The Aggies will face Temple on the road during the 2024 campaign and welcome the Owls to Maverik Stadium four years later. USU other non-conference road game in ’24 will be against USC at the Coliseum, which will be the Trojans’ first season in the Big 10 Conference.
USU has never played Temple before, but is 0-6 all-time against USC.