Utah State football couldn’t have experienced much worse of an outcome Saturday. On the road in Philadelphia against a Temple team roundly considered one of the worst at the FBS level, the Aggies fell completely flat.

After racing out to an early 14-point lead, Utah State got outscored by winless Temple in the second half, 28-8, in a 45-29 loss to the Owls Saturday afternoon. Offensively, the Aggies played well enough,

Utah State will hit the road one last time in non-conference play to take on Temple, a former powerhouse of the AAC in the 2010s but has since fallen on

When Utah State has been at its best defensively in recent years, the Aggies have been a disruptive defense; i.e. getting into the opposition’s backfield for tackles for loss and sacks, as well as causing turnovers and penalties by the opposing offense.

Dreiling took full blame for the loss, which now has Utah State 1-3 overall entering its first bye week of the season. As USU’s defensive coordinator, the Aggies’ defense surrendering 45 points to Temple was particularly galling to Dreiling.

Note: With EA Sports’ College Football 25 bringing college football back to the video game world, the Deseret News is simulating every Utah State game against an FBS opponent this season. The Utah State Aggies face an almost “must-win” situation in their final nonconference game of the season when they travel to face Temple on Saturday.