Latest news with #Mendenhall
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Salt Lake City leaders, Black community mark Juneteenth, raise controversial new city flag
Juneteenth is next week, and leaders in the Black community and their advocates gathered to preemptively mark the holiday, stressing the importance of resilience. The theme of Tuesday's gathering at the Salt Lake City-County Building was 'And Still We Rise,' which Betty Sawyer, one of the speakers, said is pertinent today. Sawyer serves as head of the Ogden branch of the NAACP and was instrumental in the passage of legislation by Utah lawmakers in 2022, making Juneteenth, June 19, a state holiday. The theme was selected to underscore the importance of 'not getting overwhelmed by circumstances, good, bad or indifferent, but to recognize and embrace the resilience that we have, the tenacity that we have and, most importantly, the love that we have for one another,' she said. Together, 'when we decide to do something, there's no stopping us.' Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall also addressed the gathering, which drew around 100 people, noting the controversial new city flag that city officials approved last month, which incorporates the blue and red Juneteenth flag. HB77, approved by state lawmakers earlier this year, in effect prohibits the display of flags perceived as political at schools and local government offices. City officials added a sego lily flower to the Juneteenth flag and adopted it as an official city flag on May 6 to circumvent the law. 'This is what determination, partnership, creativity looks like,' Mendenhall said, referencing the new flag. 'Our values aren't changing. Diversity, equity, inclusion are our values. They're American values. That will never change.' Mendenhall's remarks drew applause from those on hand, but Gov. Spencer Cox blasted the flag when asked about it separately at his regularly monthly press conference later on Tuesday. In approving the Juneteenth-inspired flags last month, the City Council also adopted gay pride and transgender flags with sego lilies on them as official city flags, to get around HB77. 'They're dumb flags, and it was a dumb bill,' Cox said, noting that other racial and ethnic groups are left out. 'It's ridiculous. I feel bad for the Japanese Americans. I feel bad for the Polynesian Americans. I mean, who are we leaving out here? I'm sure they feel great that they got around this dumb law, and they did it with dumb flags. The whole thing is dumb.' The tone at Tuesday's ceremony, however, remained upbeat with a measure of defiance. She doesn't know if the Juneteenth flag will require a sego lily on it in years to come so that it can be flown outside the Salt Lake City-County Building, 'but this city's committed forever,' Mendenhall said. The Juneteenth flag, she went on, 'celebrates freedom, a new horizon, and it honors the bloodshed by the enslaved people who were oppressed for hundreds of years.' Though meant to celebrate the end of slavery, Juneteenth more specifically marks June 19, 1865. That's the day when Union troops reached Galveston, Texas — months after the end of the U.S. Civil War — to let some 250,000 African Americans know they were free. Some leaders in the Black community refer to Juneteenth, a federal and state holiday, as their second Independence Day, after July 4. 'The legacy of Juneteenth reminds us to never give up hope in uncertain times, to remember the resilience of generations that came before us and to keep these important stories and lived experiences alive, both today and for our shared future,' said Utah Rep. Sandra Collins, D-Salt Lake City. She sponsored the 2022 legislation making Juneteenth a state holiday in Utah. Numerous activities are scheduled around Utah in the days to come to mark Juneteenth. Ogden will host a Juneteenth Freedom Festival at the Ogden Amphitheater from Friday, June 13, to Sunday, June 15, featuring musical performances, a car show and much more. It's organized by Project Success, led by Sawyer. The city of Millcreek is hosting a Juneteenth celebration on June 18 from 6-10 p.m. at Millcreek Common. Salt Lake Juneteenth will be held June 19 at The Gateway in Salt Lake City from noon to 10 p.m. The Juneteenth Healing and Reconciliation Vigil will be held June 28 at the International Peace Gardens at Jordan Park in Salt Lake City from 4-6 p.m.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Denver Case Highlights the Potentially Deadly Hazards of Police Raids Based on Secondhand Information
On a Friday night in March 2023, Sean Horan called 911 to report that Michael Mendenhall, who runs a staffing agency out of a converted townhouse on Blake Street in Denver, had threatened him with a baseball bat. Based on nothing more than Horan's one-sided account of a confrontation at Mendenhall's townhouse, police officers arrested Mendenhall for felony menacing. To support that charge, Detective Nicholas Rocco-McKeel obtained a search warrant by repeating what another officer told him Horan had said. During the ensuing search of the townhouse, police seized the baseball bat as evidence. Prosecutors dropped the case against Mendenhall less than a week later, and it is not hard to see why: Horan's account of what had happened was inconsistent and improbable. But police never returned the bat, which was a valuable collector's item because it was signed by players at the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Denver. That purloined bat is at the center of a case that aims to overturn a controversial 1960 Supreme Court precedent allowing home searches based on hearsay. Mendenhall argues that the warrant authorizing the search of his property was invalid under the Fourth Amendment because it relied on thirdhand information rather than Rocco-McKeel's personal knowledge. "The Fourth Amendment must be enforced in its entirety," says Anya Bidwell, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which represents Mendenhall. Although "the Fourth Amendment bans reliance on second-hand information," she says, "the courts have read that requirement out of the Constitution. We're fighting to bring back the original understanding of this very important protection." Issuing a warrant "is no trivial thing," a brief that Mendenhall recently filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit notes. "Warrants authorize armed government agents to seize persons or comb through their most private spaces. Warrants authorize the government to employ violence to accomplish these goals. There is hardly ever a situation in which the individual is more powerless before the State than when its agents arrive armed with a warrant." Although no one was injured in Mendenhall's case, briefs supporting his appeal note that the consequences of hearsay-based warrants can be lethal, as illustrated by the 2020 death of Breonna Taylor. The circumstances that led to the search of Mendenhall's townhouse suggest the hazards of allowing police invasions of private property based on secondhand information. Around 10 p.m. on March 10, 2023, according to Mendenhall's brief, he was "relaxing after work at the townhouse with a friend when he heard women screaming and a man yelling just outside his front door." Concerned for the women's safety, Mendenhall grabbed his commemorative bat and "opened the door to investigate." He saw "a strange and shabbily dressed man," later identified as Horan, sitting on the stoop of the townhouse with two dogs and "yelling at a group of women." When Mendenhall asked Horan to leave, the brief says, Horan "refused and threatened to call the police." He followed through on that threat after Mendenhall went back inside. When four police officers arrived at the townhouse around 11 p.m., Horan, who lived about 50 miles away, told them he was taking a walk when he stopped to rest on Mendenhall's stoop. Although Horan was carrying a gun, he said he had felt threatened by Mendenhall and wanted to press charges. "Rather than asking follow-up or clarifying questions," Mendenhall's brief says, "the officers went to Mr. Mendenhall's townhouse and arrested him as soon as he opened the door, securing him in handcuffs and taking him to a squad car across the street." The officers called Rocco-McKeel, telling him what Horan had said. Without talking to Mendenhall, the detective regurgitated that account in an affidavit that he submitted to Denver County Court Judge Renee A. Goble, who issued a search warrant at 12:34 a.m. on March 11. Horan never testified before Goble, submitted an affidavit, or otherwise swore to the facts underlying the allegations against Mendenhall. And Rocco-McKeel, who wrote the affidavit, "neither observed any of the relevant facts nor personally spoke to Mr. Horan," the 10th Circuit brief notes. He "merely repeated what another officer said Mr. Horan had said." All of that was fine under the Denver Police Department's operations manual, which says officers may "rely upon information received through an informant, rather than upon direct observation, to show probable cause" for a search warrant. It was also fine under Jones v. United States, a 1960 case in which the Supreme Court approved the search of an apartment based on an unnamed informant's report that the tenant was involved in drug dealing. That decision, the Institute for Justice argues, is inconsistent with the text and history of the Fourth Amendment, which says "no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation." Until Jones, that requirement generally was understood to mean that warrants could be issued only based on the affiant's firsthand knowledge of the relevant facts, as opposed to the unsworn claims of another person who was never subjected to judicial scrutiny. That understanding, Mendenhall's brief argues, jibes with British and American common law, was reflected in a long series of court decisions, and "continued virtually without question for over 160 years." In Jones, however, the Supreme Court disregarded the Fourth Amendment's Oath or Affirmation Clause, focusing instead on what was required to show probable cause. That decision "addressed neither the constitutional text nor the overwhelming weight of authority," Mendenhall's brief says. "Under a proper interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, Denver's express policy of permitting warrants to be issued without oath or affirmation supporting probable cause is unconstitutional. But for Jones, Denver would be liable to Mr. Mendenhall for its unreasonable search and seizure of his property." In February, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer predictably concluded that Jones barred Mendenhall's civil rights lawsuit against the city and county of Denver. Mendenhall's lawyers acknowledge that the 10th Circuit likewise is bound by that precedent. Mendenhall "brought this case to overturn Jones and reestablish the vital role that the Oath or Affirmation Clause was intended to play in protecting the rights enshrined in our Constitution," the Institute for Justice says. "He concedes that this Court is bound by Jones and must affirm the district court's decision granting Denver's motion to dismiss. Mr. Mendenhall files this brief, however, both to preserve this issue for further review by the U.S. Supreme Court and in the hopes of persuading the members of this panel that they, too, should call on the Supreme Court to restore the constitutional protection that Jones improperly erased." In a brief supporting Mendenhall's appeal, five law professors argue that "the text and Founding-era understanding of the Fourth Amendment require that a warrant be supported by admissible witness testimony." They add that "cases decided shortly after ratification confirm that hearsay is not a proper basis for issuing a warrant." Two other briefs underline the hazards of hearsay-based warrants. The National Police Accountability Project and the Law Enforcement Action Partnership note that warrants based on secondhand information, typically from confidential sources who have incentives to lie or exaggerate, "routinely result in wrong house raids," which "present significant danger to residents of the home and officers executing the warrant," often resulting in "civilians and police being seriously injured or killed." That danger is starkly illustrated by the March 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor. Louisville, Kentucky, police broke into Taylor's apartment late at night based on a search warrant obtained by Detective Joshua Jaynes, who claimed a U.S. postal inspector had informed him that her ex-boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer named Jamarcus Glover, had been receiving packages at her address, which Jaynes suggested might contain drugs or drug money. It turned out that Jaynes never spoke directly with the postal inspector, who said there was nothing suspicious about the packages. But that revelation came too late for Taylor, who died in a hail of bullets after her new boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired at the invading officers, whom he mistook for violent criminals. Walker was initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but prosecutors dropped that case two months later, implicitly conceding that he had a strong self-defense claim. "No drugs, money, or contraband were found in Ms. Taylor's apartment during or after the raid," notes a brief that Walker submitted in support of Mendenhall's appeal. "Mr. Glover himself later confirmed that Ms. Taylor had no involvement in his drug trade, explaining that the only packages he ever had sent to her address contained clothes and shoes that we was afraid would be stolen if sent to the house where he stayed." Taylor's senseless death "reflects not only a catastrophic failure of the warrant process, but also a foreseeable consequence of Jones," Walker's brief argues. "By allowing magistrates to issue warrants based on hearsay, Jones removed the requirement that a declarant appear in court, swear to the truth of their statement, and be subjected to questioning, and replaced it with a framework that lends itself to fabrication." Thanks to Jones, "officers seeking a warrant but lacking probable cause—like Detective Jaynes—may now be motivated to enhance their own affidavits by inventing conversations with third-party declarants," the brief notes. "And, because Jones requires no oath or appearance from those declarants, the reviewing judge must rely entirely on the affiant's secondhand account of what a declarant allegedly said and why he/she should be believed. Not only does the magistrate have no opportunity to evaluate the declarant's demeanor, consistency, or basis of knowledge, but also, more fundamentally, the magistrate effectively has no way to verify whether the declarant even exists or ever even made the statements attributed to him/her. The result is a system in which wholly fabricated claims can serve as the basis for intrusions into our most private spaces." That brief was joined by Anjanette Young, another victim of a raid based on secondhand information. On a Thursday evening in February 2019, a dozen Chicago police officers, acting on a tip from a confidential informant, burst into Young's apartment. Young, who was changing out of her work clothes, was caught "completely naked and exposed." She was handcuffed in that state, feeling utterly humiliated, for 10 minutes while the officers vainly searched her apartment for an armed felon. "It quickly became apparent that the information they had received from the informant was bad," the brief says. "They were at the wrong apartment." Young "should never have had to endure the invasive and degrading raid that was conducted on her home," the brief adds. "When presented with a warrant application that relied entirely on an unverified tip from an informant, the magistrate judge who issued the warrant had a constitutional obligation to probe the basis for the officer affiant's assertions—e.g., by asking whether the informant's claims were corroborated and what, if anything, law enforcement had done to verify them. While it is unclear whether the magistrate ever spoke with the informant, the fact that he issued the warrant at all—given the apparent lack of any attempt by officers to verify the informant's tip—is highly suggestive of a lack of any meaningful consideration." Jones encourages such lax oversight, the brief argues: "The magistrate judge is no longer able to meaningfully perform [his] constitutional role. Denied access to the declarant, the judge cannot assess his/her credibility firsthand. Instead, the affiant alone decides which facts to include and which to withhold, effectively filtering the evidence and shielding the judge from any information that might undermine the affiant's narrative….The Fourth Amendment demands more than this system of magisterial rubber-stamping that Jones has engendered." The post Denver Case Highlights the Potentially Deadly Hazards of Police Raids Based on Secondhand Information appeared first on
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Grace Schara's wrongful death trial against Ascension St. Elizabeth begins
APPLETON - The jury trial involving the death of Grace Schara, 19, at an Ascension hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic got underway June 3 in Outagamie County Circuit Court. The Freedom teen died Oct. 13, 2021, seven days after she was admitted to Ascension NE Wisconsin-St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton for symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Scott Schara, her dad, sued the hospital a year and a half later in a wrongful death case that includes claims of medical negligence, violation of informed consent and battery. Dr. Gavin Shokar, who was the primary doctor in charge of Grace's care, and Hollee McInnis, a registered nurse who provided medications to Grace while she was a patient in the intensive care unit, are also named as defendants in the case. In an approximately 30-minute opening statement, Warner Mendenhall, one of Schara's attorneys, said Grace's stay at St. Elizabeth was a precautionary measure to provide her with supplementary oxygen and steroids. But she quickly began facing issues. On two occasions shortly after she was admitted, on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, Grace was given Precedex, which "dangerously lowered her blood pressure and pulse," Mendenhall claimed. On both occasions, Grace's condition improved after medical staff stopped or turned down her dose of the medication, he said. Scott Schara stayed with his daughter at the hospital for several days, until staff asked him to leave, and he was escorted out of the hospital by security guards on Oct. 10. He was persistent with asking questions of medical staff, but was "doing exactly what he was supposed to do as a dad and power of attorney for health care,' Mendenhall said. The family had lawyers negotiate with the hospital to allow older sister Jessica Vander Heiden to be with Grace. On the morning of Oct. 13, Shokar spoke with Grace's family over the phone saying Grace was stable and they should focus on nutrition and movement so Grace could soon go home. 'Oddly though, despite Grace's improving condition, Shokar requested Scott authorize a ventilator, even though there was no need for a ventilator at that time,' Mendenhall said. Mendenhall said Scott Schara did not want his daughter to be placed on a ventilator. But as a result of this conversation, Shokar not only documented that Grace had a Do Not Intubate order, known as a DNI, but also a Do Not Resuscitate Order, known as DNR. The Schara family did not learn Grace has been labeled DNR until Grace was in respiratory distress shortly before she died later that night. 'Dr. Shokar watched this 19-year-old girl breathing fast, and instead of assessing why, without talking to the family before, and Nurse McInnis, injected Grace Schara with morphine, a powerful opioid drug that suppresses breathing,' Mendenhall said. Scott and Cindy Schara, Grace's mother, then had to watch their daughter die over FaceTime, with their cries for medical staff to save their daughter ignored, Mendenhall said. 'At this trial, we will show that Grace Schara, a beautiful, gifted 19-year-old girl with Down syndrome, was killed by a deadly injection while dozens of medical personnel stood aside and did nothing,' Mendenhall said. Attorneys for the defendants painted a very different picture of Grace's hospital stay and the events leading up to her death. Two attorneys delivered opening statements for the defense: Jason Franckowiak, who represents defendants Ascension Health and McInnis; and Randall Guse, who represents Ascension Medical Group – Fox Valley Wisconsin, Inc. and Shokar. Grace did not die of any injection she was given by hospital staff, the attorneys argued. She died of a COVID-19 infection, which worsened during her days at the hospital, despite medical staff's best attempts to save her. Additionally, attorneys said Grace's family had consented during a conversation with Shokar to both a "Do Not Intubate" and a "Do Not Resuscitate" order. Franckowiak said evidence presented at trial will dispute multiple claims made by the plaintiffs, including that the medications and dosages provided to Grace were standard in the intensive care unit. Specifically, Precedex and lorazepam, both sedatives, were used in an effort reduce her rapid breathing and allow her to take deeper breaths and take in more oxygen. After administration of those drugs did little for her vitals, Shokar ordered McInnis, one of Grace's nurses, to administer a small dose of morphine. That drug, Franckowiak said, helped temporarily improve Grace's oxygenation, from around 50% to 98%. "Dr. Shokar reached a reasonable conclusion that the morphine had done exactly what he had intended it to do: it had lowered Grace's rate of breathing sufficient to allow her take deeper breaths, therefore increasing her oxygenation level,' Franckowiak said. Grace was stable for about an hour, but then her lungs gave out, Franckowiak said. He said experts will testify that without the ability to intubate Grace, chest compressions would not have been effective. And a reversal agent like naloxone would not have been effective, as the plaintiffs asserted. "The only potential way for Grace's emergent pulmonary condition to have been adequately addressed at the point of her arrest would have been mechanical ventilation, but doctors and nurses had been explicitly forbidden by Mr. Schara (from) intubating Grace," Franckowiak said. Franckowiak also said Scott Schara will be asked to testify about some of his beliefs, which have 'shaped the allegations' he is making. Among them are a belief that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned to create fear and a general distrust of medical personnel. Cindy Schara, Grace's mom, was the first witness to testify for the plaintiffs. She detailed how Grace began to show symptoms of COVID-19, which she describes as similar to allergy symptoms, after the family attended a concert in Oshkosh on Sept. 25. Grace was not vaccinated, and on Oct. 1 she tested positive for the virus. Cindy said she had the same symptoms, which is why she was never able to go to the hospital to be with Grace. Cindy Schara also confirmed she and Scott Schara had been researching how to treat COVID-19 prior to seeking medical help for Grace on Oct. 6. Cindy Schara said they were researching protocols provided by Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. The group, now known as the Independent Medical Alliance, was formed in April 2020 by physicians and former journalists who advocated for unapproved treatments, such as ivermectin, for COVID-19. Both its founders have since had their medical board certifications revoked. She said the organization advised taking supplements, which they did, and to seek medical help if blood-oxygen saturation levels dropped below 94%, which they also did. Cindy Schara said the family would never made a decision on a DNR order on its own. If they were, they would want other family members, their pastor, primary care physician and a lawyer to be involved in the conversation. "It would be a terrible thing to have to decide," she said, indicating she and her husband never made that decision during two separate phone calls with Shokar. She was questioned at length about her and her husband's views on the medical professional after Grace's death. She acknowledged she believes the COVID-19 vaccine is a bioweapon and young vaccinated men, once vaccinated, became sterile, among other things. None of these theories are supported by research or the scientific community. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks. Jessica Van Egeren is a health care reporter and assistant breaking news editor with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trial begins against Ascension hospital in Appleton over Grace Schara's death
The Star
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Private city, public fight
TO many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with some 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for around two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans and the biggest call-centre and cold-chain transport firms in the region. But to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have, according to the city's owners, demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange for building permits. A few years ago, a governor 'drove around with us, just pointing at different plots of land, saying 'I want that, I want that'', said Preston Mendenhall, Kenya country head for Rendeavour, the company building the city. The American responded with a tactic rarely attempted in Kenya: going public. More than once, Mendenhall has held press conferences detailing the alleged extortion attempts of local politicians. 'They thought that we, as foreign investors, would leave the country,' he said. '(But) we're looking at a 50-year time horizon. For us to challenge somebody, if need be in public, who is trying to extort us... we believe that's the right thing to do.' Last year, he publicly accused local governor Kimani Wamatangi of demanding 22ha of Tatu City, worth US$33mil, free of charge. Wamatangi – who did not respond to a request for comment – denied the accusation. It's a risky strategy. 'I'm subject to four defamation cases. It's their intimidation tactic and they're used to getting what they want,' said Mendenhall. 'But the first case goes back to 2015 and we haven't had a hearing yet, so I'm not too worried.' The waiting game appears to be paying off. The first governor who targeted them, Ferdinand Waititu, is now in prison from a separate corruption case. Wamatangi was arrested in April by anti-corruption officers who found some US$13,000 in cash in his home, also in an unrelated case. A worker inspecting the condition of goods preserved in sub-zero storage at cold chain solutions provider, Cold Solutions Kenya Sez Ltd, at their plant in Tatu City in Ruiru, Kiambu county. — AFP World-class facilities Meanwhile, Tatu City is slowly but steadily growing. The resident population is still small, but the 2,000ha site already includes a supermarket, health clinic and two schools with 5,000 pupils. There are 2,400 homes ranging from studios to lakeside mansions and 2,000 more on the way. Many are attracted by the fact that it has its own electricity and water supply to prevent cuts that are highly common across Africa. 'That is why we chose Tatu City,' said Hannington Opot, commercial director of Hewa Tele, which is currently building a factory to produce medical-grade oxygen for hospitals – a chemical process requiring uninterrupted power and water. Cold Solutions, which provides storage for food and pharmaceutical partners, also highlighted the infrastructure. 'We wanted to put a stake in the ground and say that Africans can build world-class facilities. And it marries nicely with what Tatu is trying to do,' said managing director Fredd Kambo. Unity Homes has built over 1,500 apartments. Buyers are attracted by the 'playgrounds, parks, the fact they can drink the water from the tap... and knowing no one will build two centimetres in front of your balcony', said commercial director Mina Stiernblad. By far the hardest Tatu City is the most advanced of six cities Rendeavour is building across Africa – in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia. Kenyan corruption has made it 'by far the hardest', said Mendenhall. Anger over corruption was one of the key drivers of mass protests in Kenya last year. But Rendeavour's founders made their fortunes in the free-for-all of 1990s Russia and are unfazed. The owners have faced their own allegations, including claims of tax evasion. But investigations have been ongoing for years without resulting in any charges. Mendenhall says they are just more extortion attempts by 'bad actors'. He emphasised that many in the Kenyan government are 'incredibly supportive'. 'They understand the vision of this project, understand the number of jobs that it's created,' he said. And for all the corruption attempts, Mendenhall has great faith in Kenya. 'Kenya is really an economic hub of the region (and) we think Nairobi will become the capital of Africa,' he said. — AFP
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Utah State Football Preview 2025: How Quickly Can Bronco Mendenhall Rebuild the Aggies?
Has Bronco Mendenhall found a home?Utah State has had a rough run, and it needs Mendenhall to work his magic as soon as humanly program won ten or more games four times in the last 13 seasons - the only double-digit campaigns in Utah State history - and going to bowl games has become the norm. But three straight losing seasons, and the firing of head coach Blake Anderson just before last year started, made 2024 impossible to turn things back around. But Mendenhall is used to this. He was great right away at BYU for 12 seasons before running off for the Virginia job. In Year Four, he took the Cavaliers to the Orange Bowl. After taking three years off, he resurfaced in New Mexico, taking over and winning five games with one of the best offenses in the State might need a little bit. Mendenhall knows what he's doing, but close to 30 players transferred out, the portal didn't fill in enough gaps, and this whole thing will be put together with duct tape and a few there's enough in place to potentially match the four wins of last season. And because it's Mendenhall, it should be fun regardless of the first year record. Utah State Aggies Preview 2025: Offense X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN- Bronco Mendenhall isn't quite bringing over the New Mexico offense that finished fourth in the nation, but he'll give it a shot. Coordinator Kevin McGiven spent the last several years making the San Jose State offense go. Offense wasn't a problem for Utah State, finishing sixth in the nation, averaging 468 yards and 32 points per game, but …- Leading passer Spencer Petras is done, but Bryson Barnes threw 12 touchdown passes and got in enough work last year and at Utah to be ready for the gig. His 348 rushing yards over the last two games might be a glimpse of what's to come in the Mendenhall attack. However, Arizona transfer Anthony Garcia will get every shot in fall camp. - Jalen Royals was a special receiver who'll be a big deal for the Kansas City Chiefs. The transfer portal needs to pick up the slack with Corey Thompson (UNLV), Brady Boyd (Texas Tech), and Demick Starling (WKU) all relatively untested options who'll get every shot.- The line isn't totally starting over, but all five starters will be replaced. Jake Eichorn (BYU) will come in through the transfer portal, and there's a little experience to play around with. The job will be to crank up the running game, and it won't just be Barnes. Miles Davis (BYU) and Javen Jacobs (New Mexico) are quick backs who should each average over five yards per carry. Utah State Aggies Preview 2025: Defense - The defense couldn't do much of anything, even with all the help coming from the strong Aggie offense. The D had a nice pass rush, but it allowed 470 yards and 38 points per game. Defensive coordinator Nick Howell is still around, and …- The Aggies might have the best safety in the Mountain West. Ike Larsen is back after making 217 tackles, nine picks, and 17 broken up passes over the last three years. Omari Okeke and transfer Bobby Arnold (New Mexico) will step in at the other slots. The corners might be even better, with Bryson Taylor and Noah Avinger two big-play parts of last year's New Mexico secondary. - Top pass rusher Cian Slone is gone to NC State, but Bronson Olevao Jr. is back at one linebacker spot - he was second on the team with 3.5 sacks and 23 tackles - and John Miller should be a bigger tackler in the middle coming off a 52-tackle season.- The line doesn't have a ton of experience with Slone gone on one end, but Gabriel Iniguez is a decent run stopper inside, Bo Maile can play inside or as a 3-4 end, and the transfer portal will help with tackle Tyree Morris (Lafayette) an instant starter. Utah State Aggies Key to the Season Be way, way better against the Aggies allowed 5.4 yards per carry and got hammered over 200 yards in seven games. It's way, way too tough to hold up when the team is getting crushed in the time of possession battle, and in this way, the offense has to control the clock a bit better. But it's been years since the program has consistently stopped the run. Utah State Aggies Key Player Tyree Morris, DT the run defense must be more than just a speed bump. The 6-6, 273-pound Morris might not be huge, but he's active. He made 65 tackles, two sacks, and five tackles for loss last year for the Leopards, and now he has to be a disruptive force. Utah State Aggies Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss Top Transfer In: Noah Avinger, CB it's not Morris, and if it's not fellow former Lobo defensive back Bryson Taylor, it's Avinger, a strong-tackling option for any defensive back started out at San Diego State, missed the 2023 season, and then stepped in at corner for New Mexico and stopped everything the porous defensive front didn't, coming up with 91 tackles and five broken up Transfer Out: Rahsul Faison, RB Aggies have other options at running back and should be okay, but the 5-11, 200-pound Faison would've rolled in this new offense. He wasn't bad in the old one, running for 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns in two seasons. Now he's at South Carolina. Utah State Aggies Key Game at New Mexico, Oct. 25No one's expecting a College Football Playoff national title out of the Aggies, but there are games you can lose, and games you can't. Bronco Mendenhall losing to the Lobos after his one-and-done era in Albuquerque is one of those the Aggies shouldn't drop.- 2025 Utah State Schedule Breakdown Utah State Aggies Top 10 Players 1. Ike Larsen, S Sr.2. Noah Avinger, CB Sr.3. Bryson Barnes, QB Sr.4. Bryson Taylor, CB Sr.5. John Miller, LB Sr.6. Bronson Olevao Jr., LB Jr.7. Tyree Morris, DT Jr.8. Miles Davis, RB Sr.9. Gabriel Iniguez, DT Sr.10. Omari Okeke, S Sr. Utah State Aggies 2024 Fun Stats - 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 186, Utah State 89- Field Goals: Opponents 20-of-22, Utah State 10-of-16- Time of Possession: Opponents 32:41, Utah State 27:19 Utah State Aggies 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen It's Bronco Mendenhall, and while that will only go so far on a team that returns four starters and lost just about everyone of note through the transfer portal, he should have the team ready and good enough to at least push for the four wins of last not an awful deal to miss Colorado State, San Diego State, and Wyoming, but it would've been nice to miss Boise State, or UNLV, or Fresno State. Making things worse, there's a trip to Hawaii kicking off a run of four road games in six dates. The Aggies will beat McNeese and slip by UTEP in the opener. It'll pull off at least one other Mountain West game - at New Mexico and home against Nevada are most likely - but this is a true rebuilding The Utah State Aggies Win Total At … 3.5Likely Wins: McNeese50/50 Games: Air Force, at Hawaii, Nevada, at New Mexico, San Jose State, UTEPLikely Losses: Boise State, at Fresno State, at Texas A&M, at UNLV, at Vanderbilt © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
