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.

Utah State faces a monumental task when Mountain West Conference play begins.

The Aggies are on a three-game losing streak heading into conference action.

Utah State will also take on the league’s top-ranked team to kick off MWC play, while the Aggies hit the road to take on Boise State on Saturday.

Can the Aggies stay with the Broncos?

The Deseret News ran a simulation of Saturday’s game on the EA Sports College Football 25 video game, and it ended about as you’d expect.

How the simulation is set up

There were a few basic rules: the simulation used 10-minute quarters and I let the computer simulate the game without user intervention.

The CPU ratings have also been slightly adjusted from the default to make pass defense more realistic. In my opinion, passers completed an unrealistic number of attempts in previous simulations, so I adjusted the pass accuracy from 50 to 35 and then adjusted the pass defense ratings. from 50 to 75. That helped to create more realistic numbers.

Injuries and changes to the depth chart were also made, although that didn’t really have much of an impact in this simulation compared to previous simulations: Utah State is at the end of the day and has had some time to heal.

I’ve also coordinated the uniform combinations we’ll see in the game. Utah State goes all white and wears its white road jerseys with white helmet and pants, while Boise State dons its orange throwbacks, with an orange helmet paired with a blue helmet and matching blue pants.

How accurate was the simulation of Utah State’s last game?

The actual score: Temple 45, Utah State 29

College Football 25 simulation final score: Utah State 29, Temple 10

My analysis: Going into the game, it seemed like this simulation was completely plausible: Temple was winless and had one of the lowest scoring offenses in the country. The simulation accurately predicted total points for Utah State, while also projecting total offense of over 400 yards for the Aggies (which happened).

In the actual game, however, the Aggies fell apart in the second half after taking a 21-17 lead at intermission. Utah State gave up 451 yards and 45 points to a Temple offense that otherwise looked listless.

How did the simulation go between Utah State and Boise State?

Final score: Boise is 24, Utah is 6

Key sequence: Late in the second quarter, with Utah State trailing 17-0, the Aggies had a promising, fast, scoreless drive.

Spencer Petras completed three consecutive passes to get the Aggies down the field quickly after taking possession with just over a minute until halftime – a 37-yard pass to Kyrese White brought the ball to the Boise State 1.

However, the Broncos defense came up with a huge goal-line stand: Petras was stopped for no gain on a first-and-goal, then Utah State leaned on lead back Rahsul Faison to try to score. However, Faison was stopped for no gain on two straight plays, before being dropped for a five-yard loss on fourth and goal, and Boise State took a 17–0 lead into the intermission.

How the simulation went: In a simulation that featured a stiffer defense than perhaps expected, the Broncos got off to a fast start.

After an early three-and-out, Boise State scored on three straight possessions to build a 17-0 lead.

The Broncos used a heavy dose of star running back Ashton Jeanty on their first scoring drive, which ended with a 1-yard Austin Bolt touchdown catch.

Then, after Utah State was held to three and out on its second possession, Boise State took advantage on a 27-yard punt return that helped set up a 47-yard Jonah Dalmas field goal with 1:57 left in the first quarter .

After another Utah State three and out – the third straight to start the game – Boise State again methodically moved the ball downfield, including a key third-down pick-up that advanced the ball inside the Utah State 30.

That set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Maddux Madsen to Matt Lauter with 7:45 until halftime.

The Aggies’ first promising drive of the game ended with no points, as Petras took back-to-back sacks before Elliott Nimrod missed a 50-yard field goal attempt.

Then Utah State squandered its next drive, as Boise State left the goal line standing.

That was as close as the Aggies got to an upset, as both teams used ball control in the second half to keep the final 30 minutes moving quickly.

Jeanty delivered the final blow late in the third quarter as Boise State leaned on its star again, scoring on a 26-yard touchdown run on the final play of the quarter to make it 24-0.

Utah State finally countered with a quick 75-yard touchdown pass to White on the first play of the fourth quarter.

But beyond that, both teams traded time-consuming drives – and a few interceptions – before Boise State simply ran out the clock with a final drive that ended at the USU 5.

Star players: Jeanty was a key factor, running for 173 yards and the score in the third quarter to pace the Boise State offense.

Madsen, the American Fork High product, threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns, as well as an interception, while his favorite target was Latrell Caples, who had five catches for 88 yards.

For Utah State, Faison finished with 70 rushing yards, although that amounted to an average of just 2.9 per carry.

White finished with six catches for 140 yards and the long touchdown, accounting for more than half of Petras’ 218 passing yards.

Key statistics: The Broncos finished with just 329 yards of total offense, though they converted 7 of 14 third-down attempts to make the most of those yards.

Utah State put up 258 yards of total offense, although the Aggies struggled on third down and converted just 4 of 13.

Boise State also had five sacks, compared to two for Utah State.

How realistic was the simulation?

My analysis: If there’s anything that seems a little unrealistic about this simulation, it’s that I expected Boise State to score more: In real life, the Broncos average 47.8 points per game, and 24 points seems a little low, especially against a team from Utah State. that means giving up 36.3 points per game.

But otherwise this went as expected. Jeanty controlled the flow of the game and Boise State was never in real danger of losing to a Utah State team desperate for a win.