Month: September 2025

Texas A&M vs. Utah State: Score, live updates of non-conference game from Kyle Field originally appeared on The Sporting News

Texas A&M had a successful season opener last week.

The Aggies now want to keep generating momentum in preparation for next week’s huge game at Notre Dame. A&M is back in action at Kyle Field Saturday morning to take on another set of Aggies – the Aggies of Utah State.

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A&M (1-0) is coming off a 42-24 win against UTSA, as quarterback Marcel Reed threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns. But it was also a breakout game in the debut of new Aggie wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver, both offseason transfers.

Concepcion caught a TD pass and had A&M’s opening score by returning a punt 80 yards for a TD. Craver was the Aggies’ top receiver with six catches for 122 yards and two TDs.

A&M’s defense, after giving up a 75-yard TD run on the opening play of the second half which cut the Aggies’ lead to 21-17, then put the clamps on the Roadrunners, forcing six straight punts. The final score by UTSA came in the closing seconds.

Utah State (1-0) also won its season-opener last week, 28-16, against UTEP in the first game under new coach Bronco Mendenhall. Quarterback Bryson Barnes threw for 233 yards and a TD, and running back Miles Davis had nearly 150 yards of total offense with a rushing TD.

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Follow The Sporting News correspondent Buck Ringgold (@Bucks_Ballpark) for all of the live updates and scoring from College Station.

Scroll down for live score and game updates from kickoff to the postgame. Refresh this page for the latest.

UTAH STATE 0, TEXAS A&M 0 1ST QTR.

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PREGAME

– Live from Kyle Field in College Station, Texas A&M’s Aggies attempt to move to 2-0 when they take on Utah State’s Aggies, who are also 1-0.

Texas A&M 2025 Schedule

Aug. 30 UTSA W 42-24

Sept. 6 Utah State

Sept. 13 at Notre Dame

Sept. 27 Auburn

Oct. 4 Mississippi State

Oct. 11 Florida

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Oct. 18 at Arkansas

Oct. 25 at LSU

Nov. 8 at Missouri

Nov. 15 South Carolina

Nov. 22 Samford

Nov. 28 at Texas

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Data Skrive

Star player Mario Craver and the Texas A&M Aggies (1-0) meet the Utah State Aggies (1-0) on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET, at Kyle Field. Go to SEC Network to see the Texas A&M Aggies take on the Utah State Aggies.

Keep up with college football all season on FOX Sports. Learn more about the Texas A&M Aggies and the Utah State Aggies.

How to Watch Texas A&M vs. Utah State

• When: Saturday, September 6, 2025 at 12:45 p.m. ET
• Location: Kyle Field in College Station, Texas
• TV Channel: SEC Network
• Live Box Score: FOX Sports

Texas A&M’s 2025 Schedule

Texas A&M 2025 Stats & Insights

• Texas A&M is totaling 399.0 yards per game on offense, which ranks 63rd in the FBS. On the defensive side of the ball, the Texas A&M Aggies rank 99th, giving up 373.0 yards per contest.
• Texas A&M ranks 62nd in pass defense this year (170.0 passing yards allowed per game), but has been playing really well on the offensive side of the ball, ranking 23rd-best in the FBS with 291.0 passing yards per game.
• The Texas A&M Aggies are averaging 42.0 points per game on offense (29th in the FBS), and they rank 93rd on defense with 24.0 points allowed per game.
• Despite having a bottom-25 run defense that ranks 18th-worst in the FBS (203.0 rushing yards allowed per game), the Texas A&M Aggies have played better on offense, ranking 96th in the FBS by averaging 108.0 rushing yards per game.
• On offense, Texas A&M ranks 109th in the FBS with a 27.3% third-down conversion rate. Meanwhile, the team’s defense ranks 62nd in third-down percentage allowed (203.0).
• With zero forced turnovers (94th in the FBS) against zero turnovers committed (first in the FBS), the Texas A&M Aggies (0) have the 56th-ranked turnover margin in college football.

Texas A&M 2025 Key Players

Utah State’s 2025 Schedule

Utah State 2025 Stats & Insights

• In terms of total offense, Utah State ranks 76th in the FBS (360.0 total yards per game) and 55th on defense (284.0 total yards allowed per game).
• Utah State is accumulating 233.0 passing yards per contest on offense this season (59th-ranked). Meanwhile, it is allowing 181.0 passing yards per contest (69th-ranked) on defense.
• With 28.0 points per game on offense, the Utah State Aggies rank 63rd in the FBS. On defense, they rank 67th, surrendering 16.0 points per contest.
• The Utah State Aggies rank 86th in the FBS with 127.0 rushing yards per contest on offense, and they rank 55th with 103.0 rushing yards given up per contest on defense.
• Utah State’s offense has not been getting things done on third down, ranking 11th-worst in the FBS with a 16.7% third-down conversion percentage. It has been better on the defensive side of the ball, surrendering a 26.7% third-down rate (39th-ranked).
• With one forced turnover (51st in the FBS) and zero turnovers committed (first in the FBS) this season, the Utah State Aggies rank 31st in the FBS with a turnover margin of +1.

Utah State 2025 Key Players

FOX Sports created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Utah State (1-0, 0-0 Mountain West) at No. 19 Texas A&M (1-0, 0-0 SEC)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 10:45 a.m. MDT

• Venue: Kyle Field (Capacity: 102,733)

• TV: SEC Network

• Radio: Aggie Sports Network (KZNS 1280 The Zone)/Sirius XM Ch. 382.

• Series: Utah State trails, 0-1.

The trends

For Utah State: The Aggies are coming off a season-opening 28-16 win against UTEP at home, the first win of the Bronco Mendenhall era.

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Utah State was a little hit-and-miss in the game, strong in the first half in all phases, with a real slowdown on offense in the second half. Even with that, though, the Aggies handily defeated the Miners.

Utah State showed considerable growth defensively and teased a talented special teams unit as well. And when on, the offense moved well, with quarterback Bryson Barnes seeming to have a good handle of the new system.

For Texas A&M: The Aggies, the nationally known ones, are ranked No. 19 in the country and picked up a season-opening 42-24 win at home against UTSA last weekend. Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed was excellent in the victory, throwing for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns.

Texas A&M is in its second season under Mike Elko, and won eight games last season. The expectation in College Station is always higher than that, although ESPN’s FPI projects the Aggies to win seven or eight games.

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What to watch for

There should be two lines of thought for Saturday’s game.

1. What does Utah State need to do to pull off the unprecedented upset?

2. What does Utah State need to do to show improvement from Week 1 to Week 2?

On the first front, there are keys to every major upset. Utah State will need to win the turnover battle. Getting a few extra possessions would go a long way.

USU also needs to shorten the game. More time on the clock means more possessions for Texas A&M and Reed, which will likely mean more points on the board. Utah State needs to have an effective run game, be it with running back Miles Davis and Javen Jacobs or quarterback Barnes.

Some elite special teams play won’t hurt either. A special teams touchdown or excellent punting (winning the field position battle), would set up the Aggies to pull off the groundbreaking upset.

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As for what Utah State needs to do to improve from Week 1, limiting penalties (even small ones) would be notable. Better protection of Barnes would also be a step in the right direction, after UTEP sacked the Aggie quarterback six times last weekend.

A more effective — consistent — rushing attack would engender optimism about a group of running backs who’ve been described as the strength of the team. And more pressure on the quarterback wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Key player

Marcel Reed, sophomore, quarterback, Texas A&M:

The outcome of Saturday’s game will likely fall on the shoulders of Reed. The sophomore from Tennessee had an up-and-down freshman season for Texas A&M, but he showed flashes of greatness.

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Against UTSA, Reed was excellent. He completed nearly 65% of his pass attempts for 289 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 39 yards, proving the engine for Texas A&M’s offense.

If Reed plays like he did against the Roadrunners this Saturday, Utah State will be in for a long day. If he reverts back to how he played — at times — as a freshman last season, the Aggies have a shot to pull off the shocker.

Reed has immense talent. He was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and a top 20 QB prospect nationally.

That type of player has the chance to be special. Utah State has to hope that he isn’t special Saturday.

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Quotable

“You always look for relative points of reference or realistic points of reference. Fun to watch UTSA, I think they do a nice job. And it’s a really a helpful game for us. Liked their plan, they did a really nice job. Obviously, the game went Texas A&M’s way, but it was very competitive for a long time. Any time you play an opponent, you look for what worked and see if you could replicate, see if those matchups might be similar.” — Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall

“Known Bronco for a long time. Just following his career, not as much personally. Obviously a tremendously successful head coach, did a great job at BYU. Coached against him when he was at UVA when I was the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest. Have always followed his program(s) from afar. This will be the first time going against him (as a head coach). … I think he (Mendenhall) is a tough hard-minded head coach and his teams show that. There is a blue-collar toughness to how they play. They play extremely hard, physical and they are very disciplined.” — Texas A&M coach Mike Elko

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Next up

• Utah State: vs. Air Force, Saturday, Sept. 13, at 7:45 p.m.

• Texas A&M: at No. 9 Notre Dame, Saturday, Sept. 13, at 5:30 p.m.

Utah State schedule

• Sept. 6 — at Texas A&M

• Sept. 13 — Air Force

• Sept. 20 — McNeese State

• Sept. 27 — at Vanderbilt

• Oct. 11 — at Hawaiʻi

• Oct. 17 — San José State

• Oct. 25 — at New Mexico

• Nov. 8 — Nevada

• Nov. 15 — at UNLV

• Nov. 22 — at Fresno State

• Nov. 29 — Boise State

It has almost been forgotten that the University of Utah, now a regular top-25 program, was once an average football team, at best. It was that way for decades, and nobody on The Hill seemed to really care, either. There was one man who changed all that.

Ron McBride. If there was no Ronnie Mac, there would have been no Pac-12, no Big 12, no Urban Meyer, no Kyle Whittingham, no unbeaten seasons, no Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl wins, no conference championships. He was the bridge that led to all of that.

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And to think he was turned down for the head coaching job twice before he landed it.

“He really put Utah football back on the map,” Whittingham told Yahoo recently. “Coach Mac was responsible for the resurgence of Utah football.”

And that is why Utah will officially induct McBride into its Ring of Honor in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.

McBride, a career assistant to that point, became Utah’s head coach in 1990 and proceeded to turn it into a winner. He raised the program to a different level. He got things ready for Meyer, who took it up another notch to national prominence, and Whittingham, who kept it there and built on it. Utah has since become a brand name in college football, something that was once unthinkable.

He got things ready for Meyer, who took it up another notch to national prominence, and Whittingham, who kept it there and built on it. Utah has since become a brand name in college football, something that was once unthinkable.

Before Ronnie Mac came along, the Utes were almost perfectly mediocre. It was an uncanny effort of sustained mediocrity. They finished the 1950s with a won-lost record of 54-44-4; they survived the 1960s with a 53-48-1 record; they endured the 1970s with a 44-67 record; they staggered through the 1980s with a 54-57-3 record. After 40 years, they had a cumulative record of 205 wins, 216 losses, eight ties — or an average of 5.1 wins per season. They went through head coaches like office temps — two in the ’50s, three in the ’60s, three in the ’70s, three in the ’80s.

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“The bottom line is that (the Utes) are an enigma,” said Utah’s athletic director at the time, Chris Hill. He said this in the fall of 1990 — McBride’s first year.

No one could figure out how a school with the size, location and resources of Utah couldn’t at least play better than .500 football. Not even Jim Fassel, 29-33 in five seasons, could solve the problem, and all he did was go on to take the New York Giants to the Super Bowl after Utah fired him. Wayne Howard, one of Utah’s most successful coaches, once told close friends, “This place is jinxed! It’s impossible to win here. I don’t know what it is.”

So along came Coach Mac, who had been an assistant coach for 25 years at this point and seemed destined to remain such. He applied for Utah’s head coaching job in 1982 and 1985 and was denied both times. He interviewed for the job again in 1990 and was hired. But he was dismayed to discover during the interview process that the Utes were content with mediocrity.

As Mac told the Deseret News in 2011, “The guys who were doing the hiring told me, ‘We just want to be competitive and we don’t want to be embarrassed by BYU. If we just finish in the middle of the conference and we’re respectable, you can stay as long as you want.’ Expectations were not very high. Basketball was carrying things, and football just needed to be respectable.”

Mac’s response: “That’s not the way it’s going to be. We’re going to beat BYU and win championships and go to bowl games.”

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In Year 2, Mac’s team won seven games and lost five, marking only the 10th time in 28 years the Utes had a winning record. In Year 3, the Utes went to their first bowl game in three decades. In Year 4, they were 7-6 and played in another bowl game. In Year 5, they were 10-2, ranked eighth in the nation and beat USC in the Freedom Bowl — their first bowl win since 1964.

In 13 seasons, Ronnie Mac’s teams had a record of 88-63, won two conference championships and beat BYU six times. He revived the rivalry, which had seen the Utes lose 16 of the previous 18 games against BYU before he took charge.

Mac was, above all, a master recruiter. The Utes had had only three players taken in the NFL draft in the previous eight years. Under McBride, 21 players were drafted, including future NFL stars Jordan Gross, Jamal Anderson, Luther Elliss, Steve Smith, and Kevin and Andre Dyson.

He was a master recruiter because players loved him. The players loved him because he was warm and humorous and charming and enthusiastic and positive with everyone — fans, coaches, players, administrators. There might be no one who has made more friends in football than Ron McBride.

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He disarms everyone; he loves everyone; he makes everyone around him feel good. He has a special bond and rapport with Black and Polynesian people. A non-Latter-day Saint, he was among the first coaches to embrace the missionary program and encouraged Latter-day Saint players to serve missions while also holding their scholarships while they were gone. Almost no one was doing that at the time.

“I wanted to be a positive influence in the LDS community,” he said years ago. “I wanted to support the kids going on missions.”

Mac is a people person and football provided a means to meet and interact with thousands. A native Californian, he began coaching in 1965, and for the next six decades he coached 13 different schools and pro clubs (he served three separate gigs at Utah, which always had a strong pull on him), and that’s not counting all the volunteer jobs and clinics he had along the way.

“I wanted to be a positive influence in the LDS community. I wanted to support the kids going on missions.”

former Utah coach Ron McBride on recruiting Latter-day Saint players

One month shy of his 86th birthday, he participated in a seven-day clinic for three high schools in Maui this summer. He still trains players in the offseason. As recently as 2022, he was a volunteer assistant at a local high school.

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His influence has infused the local college football scene. To wit: the current Utah coaching staff. He hired Whittingham as a defensive coach out of Idaho State. Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley played for Mac’s teams. He hired offensive coordinator Jason Beck years ago at Weber State. Other Utah assistants also had their beginnings with Mac — Elliss, Lewis Powell, Colton Swan, Sharrieff Shah. Several members of the BYU staff also tie back to Mac.

On Saturday, the U. will ensure that future generations will remember McBride. His name will be placed on the Ring of Honor inside the stadium.

“It’s for the players and the assistants — they created it, they did it,” the coach says. “It’s really something all of them achieved. That name being up there represents the players, the coaches and the people who work up there.”

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The professional violinist who was taken into custody by ICE in Colorado last month has posted bond. Local Denver musicians met him outside the detention facility.

John Shin, 37, was detained by ICE while on a work trip in Colorado on August 20, 2025. Since then, he has been held at the Aurora, CO, ICE detention center. According to his attorney, Adam Crayk, Shin posted bond and was released today.

Because his release was fairly sudden, Shin’s family was unable to meet him outside of the detention facility. Instead, fellow musician Shana Kirk met him outside.

“The first wave of relief, I didn’t expect, and I don’t even know John,” Kirk said, “Johns’ family is hundreds of miles away and he has no one on the ground here so we agreed to be the intermediary to communicating how things work at the facility.”

Kirk is based in Denver and had never met Shin prior to his release. But she felt compelled to help when she heard about his detainment. She said, “The music world is small. Once word started getting around that a violinist got reprehended by ICE, that sounded like an unusual story.”

“We wanted to be out there, so he doesn’t just release on the street,” Kirk said, with local musicians gathered outside the Aurora detention facility. She was overwhelmed by the amount of support from the music community, “[I’m] unbelievably proud but I’m not surprised. It is an incredibly beautiful community.”

While Shin is expected to return to Utah and to his family today or tomorrow, his release does not mean the end of legal proceedings in this case.

Video Courtesy: Efren de gala

Reportedly, ICE arrested Shin because he has a previous impaired driving charge. In 2019, he was charged with DUI, but resolved it with an impaired driving charge in 2020. Crayk says Shin has since completed probation, treatment classes, and all other requirements of his charge.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Professional Utah violinist arrested by ICE on his wife’s birthday

“The problem that you have, though, is as someone who is coming to the United States and who doesn’t currently have proper documentation because when you get a DUI, DACA gets taken — immigration will not let you have DACA with a DUI,” Crayk said, when Shin was first detained by ICE.

“He becomes a priority, especially under the current administration — so, he was taken into ICE custody because he accepted and did an agreement in Tooele County for an impaired driver, which caused ICE to take him into custody,” Crayk added.

The next step for Shin is to get him a green card, according to Crayk. He said, “John’s not leaving this county. We are going to win. He is going to get a green card and, ultimately, going to become a citizen because this is not the type of case we should have wasted our resources on, not even close.”‘

John Shin has lived in Utah through his elementary school, high school, and college education, graduating from Utah State University. He has worked with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West.

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The influence of Utah football — from the high school to college ranks — continues to be felt in the NFL.

While states like California, Florida and Texas are football powerhouses and churn out NFL stars at a blistering pace, the Beehive State has a growing presence at the highest level of the sport.

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That will be no different during the 2025 season, as there is nearly enough talent with Utah ties to fill an entire roster.

Currently, there are 47 Utah ties on NFL active rosters, with another 20 on practice squads.

What are the top names and storylines to watch for in the 2025 season?

Will Jaxson Dart play as a rookie?

Jaxson Dart, the former Corner Canyon and Roy High star, has been one of the most intriguing rookies during the offseason, thanks to positive impressions coming out of New York Giants camp and the team’s preseason games.

When Dart was going through the draft process, he was largely viewed as more of a project, where he would take over a franchise a year or two down the road.

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Could that process happen sooner, though?

With the Giants, he is behind veteran signal caller Russell Wilson, who will be the team’s starter to begin the season, and a backup alongside another veteran, Jameis Winston.

Dart completed 68.1% of his passes (32 of 47) for 372 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in three preseason games for New York.

On the Giants’ unofficial depth chart for their Week 1 game against the Washington Commanders, Dart is listed as the primary backup to Wilson.

The Giants don’t plan to rush him into service before he’s ready — whether that’s this year or next, or even later.

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“I feel like whenever my number is called, I’m going to go out there and I am going to play my game and ball — that’s my mindset any time I touch the field,” Dart said, according to Fox Sports. “Obviously, Russ is the starter and he’s going to be amazing. He’s had such a great camp and has played at an elite level. So, my job is just be the best teammate and be ready whenever it is.”

What’s next for Puka Nacua and Dalton Kincaid?

At least based on preseason expectations heading into the 2024 season, some may view their sophomore campaigns as a bit of a down year for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (BYU, Orem High) and Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid (Utah).

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Nacua missed time due to injury and came up just 10 yards short of a 1,000-yard receiving season. Even with playing just 11 games, Nacua had 79 receptions for 990 yards and three touchdowns in helping the Rams advance to the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.

Kincaid, meanwhile, had some national pundits hyping he’d become a top-five NFL tight end in his second pro season. A knee injury also forced him to miss some time in 2024, though the former Ute still had 44 catches for 448 yards and two touchdowns, numbers that didn’t match his breakout rookie year after being a first-round selection in 2023.

Can both Nacua and Kincaid bump up their productivity and leadership this season?

The Bills are considered one of the teams with the best odds to win the Super Bowl in 2025, and Kincaid could be asked to be an even bigger producer in Buffalo’s offense that is captained by Josh Allen.

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Nacua, meanwhile, appears primed to have another 1,000-yard receiving season after going for a then-rookie record 1,486 yards in 2023, when he was a fifth-round selection.

His Los Angeles team isn’t considered as strong of a playoff contender as Buffalo, but the Rams have made the postseason each of the previous two seasons Nacua has been with the organization. Los Angeles also added veteran Davante Adams to its receiving group this offseason, which could open things up more for Nacua.

Will there be a Year 3 surge for both offensive playmakers?

Nacua is focused on “just being consistent” heading into his third season.

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“There’s an excitement to go out there and prove ourselves again,” he said in an interview posted on the team’s website. “Last season is over and we’re ready to have a new challenge step in front of us.”

Which guys who aren’t offensive skill position players will have the biggest impact?

While guys like Nacua and Kincaid might earn plenty of the spotlight as offensive playmakers, there are several other NFL names with strong Utah ties that are expected to play critical roles for their teams this season.

In the NFL’s annual countdown of the top 100 players currently in the league — known as “NFL Top 100” and voted on by the players — there are five Utah ties, with BYU and Utah State each represented twice on the list in 2025, as well as another former Utah high school star.

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Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell, a former Desert Hills High standout, is No. 13 on the list, followed by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, the former BYU defender, at No. 16.

Nacua clocks in at No. 41, while two former Utah State stars — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love and Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner — come in at No. 68 and No. 74, respectively.

Another top-100 list also includes a pair of former Utes, in addition to the aforementioned five on the NFL Top 100 countdown.

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco has Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson at No. 71 on his list, as well as Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles at No. 74.

Who will emerge among a decent rookie group?

There are 15 total rookie Utah ties on rosters right now, with six of those being on active rosters, six on practice squads and three more on injured reserve.

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Dart, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jalen Royals (Utah State), Chiefs linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (Kearns High) and Buffalo Bills tight end Jackson Hawes (Highland High) all were draft picks who will start the season on an active roster.

Former Utah defenders Connor O’Toole and Karene Reid were the two undrafted rookies who managed to make an initial 53-man roster, with the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, respectively.

Dart appears to be in a good position to contribute early in his career, perhaps even this season.

While Royals was ruled out for the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday in Brazil because of a knee injury, the former Aggie star will have opportunities to earn a spot in the Kansas City rotation, especially with Rashee Rice suspended for the first six games of the season.

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Bassa, meanwhile, is the backup at weakside linebacker and could factor into the Chiefs’ defensive rotation this year.

Hawes is one of three active roster tight ends with Buffalo, along with veteran Dawson Knox and Kincaid.

There’s also a handful of guys — including Houston Texans defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (Utah, Bingham High), Minnesota Vikings cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn (Utah), Denver Broncos tight end Caleb Lohner (Utah) and Rams offensive lineman Wyatt Bowles (Utah State, Syracuse High) — that could elevate from the practice squad to the active roster sometime this year.

Can Jordan Love get the Packers closer to a title?

Love is headed into his third season as the Green Bay Packers’ starter, and the past two years he’s gotten the franchise into the postseason.

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After reaching the divisional round during his first season as the starter, the Packers bowed out in the wild card round last year to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

With Green Bay adding some young playmakers around him — including taking Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round of April’s NFL draft and TCU’s Savion Williams in the third — can Love and the Packers make a deeper run in the postseason this time around?

Love has been consistently good in his first two seasons as a starter, going 18-14 while throwing for over 7,500 yards and 60 touchdowns during the past two years, to just 22 interceptions.

His numbers dipped a bit last season, though Love missed two games due to injury.

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Personal numbers aside, he’s got his sights set on the ultimate goal.

“You talk about Super Bowl, that’s the goal for us,” Love told reporters in late May, according to The Athletic. “We talked about that last year, and that’s the same message this year. We’re trying to win a Super Bowl. I’m definitely trying to be that guy to be able to take this team and lead them to that.”

Is Andy Reid still in prime position to win a title?

Kansas City head coach Andy Reid has gotten his Chiefs to the Super Bowl five times in the past six years, with Kansas City winning the title three times. In Super Bowl LIX, though, his team was handed a humbling 40-22 loss by Philadelphia.

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With guys like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones back, the Chiefs will again be a serious contender to capture the Super Bowl next February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Kansas City has won 17 straight one-score games, an NFL record — that included 11 during the regular season in 2024 and another in the AFC championship, when the Chiefs beat the Bills 32-29.

Will that kind of luck run out in 2025, though? And could that put the Chiefs in a less favorable position come playoff time?

Kansas City is expected to make the postseason for the 11th-straight year under Reid’s leadership, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl this season.

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Reid pays no attention to outside chatter that Kansas City’s Super Bowl window may be closing, after the team lost in a blowout to the Eagles last season.

“When it’s all said, it’s winning the game. We have winners, and they figured it out. I was proud of them for that,” Reid told Kay Adams in August on the “Up & Adams” podcast, according to NFL.com.

“We don’t listen to all the noise. If you do that, you’re gonna go crazy and then you’re not gonna have fun, right?”

Which Utah ties have the best chance of winning a Super Bowl?

In addition to the Chiefs — which have a number of Utah ties, among them Reid, Royals and Bassa — there are several other NFL teams with prominent Utah ties that are viewed as favorites to win Super Bowl LX in a few months.

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The latest odds have the Ravens, Bills and defending champion Eagles with the best chance to make the Super Bowl, according to The Athletic.

Following that trio are the Chiefs, Lions and Packers, as well as the Commanders.

Any combination of those teams with the top odds would have at least one notable Utah tie vying for a Super Bowl title.

Baltimore has former BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, while Buffalo has Kincaid, Hawes, former Weber State cornerback Taron Johnson and former Utah safety Cole Bishop.

The Eagles recently brought back former Utah star Britain Covey to their practice squad — he won a Super Bowl ring with the team last season — and also have former Olympus High standout Cameron Latu on their practice squad.

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Detroit has one of the game’s best young offensive tackles, Sewell, as well as former Utah running back/safety Sione Vaki.

The Packers have the aforementioned Love, as well as two former BYU players in safety Zayne Anderson and running back Chris Brooks.

As for Washington, the Commanders will be relying heavily on a former Aggie, Wagner, and a former Ute, kicker Matt Gay, this season.