After another blowout loss is this who the Aggies are? Or is a turnaround still coming?

Another game, the same story for Utah State football.
Or was it?
Utah State lost to UNLV at home Friday night, 50-34.
The Aggies trailed 41-7 at halftime before rallying in the second half to make the score look somewhat respectable.
Now 1-5 on the year and 0-2 in Mountain West Conference play, Utah State is an inconsistent team that has shown flashes of good play, though those flashes overwhelmingly have been overshadowed by a porous defense, a mistake-prone offense and largely uncomplimentary football.
“That is just where we are at right now,” interim head coach Nate Dreiling said.
Right now being the key phrase.
There is still — somehow — hope in Logan. Measured hope. Maybe even faint hope. But hope nonetheless.
Hope that was buoyed by the Aggies’ performance against UNLV.
“We’re so much better than how we’re playing,” Dreiling said. “We do silly things to stop ourselves on offense — stupid turnovers, unsportsmanlike conducts, defense not getting lined up because we’re not focused.
“Then in the second half, you see the team that we teach with love, integrity and toughness, and they go out there and perform and beat the heck out of a team that has a legit chance to go to the College Football Playoff.”
Through two quarters Friday night, Utah State looked like an awful football team, and awful may be too kind.
Beginning with the opening offensive series of the game for UNLV, Utah State’s defense couldn’t stop anyone or anything. Barely a minute into the game the Rebels led 7-0. That lead that ballooned to 14-0 by the midway mark in the quarter, and then in the second quarter things really fell apart.
Three consecutive turnovers by the Utah State offense — two interceptions and a fumble, all courtesy of quarterback Spencer Petras — helped UNLV score 27 second quarter points, even as USU’s offense out-gained UNLV’s in the period.
When the Aggies’ defense started to stiffen up ever so slightly in the quarter, the Aggies’ offense saw fit to gift UNLV short field after short field after short field, and when the offense played well, the defense surrendered touchdowns.
Utah State couldn’t come back from that, and it was a first half performance that left Dreiling telling his players at the break, “We either need to execute, to be a smart football team and have discipline, or don’t go back on the field.”
He added, “I said I’m simply tired of it.”
The second half was a completely different story.
Utah State was by far the better team in the third and fourth quarters, which is saying something considering UNLV is now 5-1 this year.
The Aggies were nothing short of great on offense, scoring touchdowns on four of their six second half possessions. Petras turned things around in a big way and finished the game with a program record 41 completions.
Oh, and he threw for a career-high 461 yards and three touchdowns.
USU finished two 100-plus yard receivers in Jalen Royals and Jack Hestera. Even the tight ends got involved, with Broc Lane hauling in five catches for 45 yards and a score.
And then there was running back Rahsul Faison, who rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Offensively, once the turnovers were largely eliminated, Utah State looked good.
“I knew this was going to be a four-quarter game,” UNLV head coach Barry Odom said. “I never felt, going into the week against an offense like these guys, I never felt great about any lead.
“They’ve got a really great scheme. I thought they’ve got a quarterback that knows how to run their offense. We had a big lead at half, but we knew we would have to come out and we knew we would get their best shot in the second half.”
Defensively, the Aggies were a completely different team in the second half, too, and that was with plenty of young and inexperienced players getting considerable playing time.
The energy level was at a season high and it showed. Players were flying around, pressuring UNLV quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams or harrying Rebel receivers like Ricky White in the secondary.
Utah State actually got stops and only allowed a single second half touchdown. UNLV actually punted twice in the second half, major wins for an Aggie defense that hasn’t been able to stop just about anyone.
“We slowed down,” defensive end Cian Slone said. “We chilled out and played our brand of football.”
It was, Dreiling said, a glimpse into the type of defense this team is capable of playing, even when they are seriously shorthanded.
“You finally saw what Aggie defense should be like in the second half,” he said.
Utah State wasn’t close to perfect against UNLV. Don’t get that confused — even when things went well in the third and fourth quarters.
But the flashes were there, maybe more than they’ve been in any loss this season other than against Utah.
So which team is Utah State really? The 1-5 team that currently is holding down a spot at the bottom of the MW standings? Or the team that has out-played both Boise State and UNLV in the second half in back-to-back weeks?
The Aggies hope the good team is what will win out in the end.
“I know I sound like a broken record, but this team is so close to really taking off. So close,” Dreiling said. “These guys are playing their butts off. No one is tapping out. They are all bought in.”
And after a brutal early season schedule, things are about to lighten up. Don’t think Utah State isn’t aware. They are banking on a lighter schedule from here on out finally leading to some wins.
“We have played four teams in the last five weeks that had playoff hopes. Legit playoff hopes, including (UNLV),” Dreiling said. “That is the teeth of our schedule. From here on out it isn’t teams that are 5-1 or 4-1, teams that are USC or Utah or Boise State with a Heisman player.
“We know we’ve had some good competition and that is going to be awesome for us. When we get back to teams that maybe aren’t of that caliber yet, we need to make sure that everything is clicking and we are flying. Hopefully we can benefit.”
That is the thing about Utah State football right now. For as bad as the Aggies have played through their first six games this season — and there has been plenty of bad, including in the loss to UNLV — there’ve been enough flashes of good to keep hope alive.
When the hope runs out, that’s when Utah State will really be as bad as its record indicates. That hasn’t happened yet, though.