Is it reasonable to expect Aggies’ Ike Larsen to be a star again?

Ike Larsen is going to play for Utah State this season.

Aggies coach Bronco Mendenhall announced Monday that Larsen — one of the biggest stars for the Aggies over the last three years — was reinstated to the team following a seven-week suspension levied for a “violation of team rules” that was incurred before the season even started.

Larsen returned last week, and practiced Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during Utah State’s bye week.

“My hope is that Ike has a fantastic finish of the season, both on and off the field, academically and everything else. I’d like to see it really end well for not only him, but our program.”

Bronco Mendenhall on the return of Ike Larsen

“(Larsen) worked hard to work through all the requirements that I thought were appropriate,” Mendenhall said. “And the team has welcomed him. It really has just been, seemed like it’s just been, business as usual since then.

“My hope is that Ike has a fantastic finish of the season, both on and off the field, academically and everything else. I’d like to see it really end well for not only him, but our program.”

Larsen’s return seems to come at an advantageous time for Utah State. Starting Saturday at Hawaii, the Aggies will embark on a seven-game stretch against MWC opponents that includes matchups against the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 teams in the conference right now (based off the latest conference standings).

In short, Utah State has every opportunity to control its own destiny, in a league Mendenhall believes is replete with parity.

“We think the Mountain West Conference is wide open,” Mendenhall said. “We think there is almost complete parity.”

Adding Larsen, an All-Mountain West player in both 2022 and 2023, should only give the Aggies a step up against the competition. After all, Larsen has, at times, been a game-changing playmaker for Utah State. He has singlehandedly won games for the Aggies with blocked kicks and has been highly productive every year of his collegiate career, even with something of a down season in 2024.

While the Aggies’ defense has improved this year, it still hasn’t rated all that well thanks to losses to No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 20 Vanderbilt.

Right now, USU is surrendering the second-most points per game by a MWC team this season (30-plus), and is in the bottom third of the conference in total defense, yielding an average of 413 yards of offense per game.

Pass defense has been alright for Utah State (No. 7 in the MWC), while run defense has been a struggle (USU is allowing 187 yards on the ground per game).

Larsen, at his best, would help the Aggies improve in both areas. He is a proven playmaker in the back end, with 17 pass breakups and nine interceptions in his career, and most of his time at Utah State has been spent plugging holes in run defense, which is why he has 217 career tackles.

Is it fair to expect that Larsen will be the same player he’s been previously after missing so much time? Is it fair to expect Larsen to be improved from the player he was last season, when he was an average safety at best, and frequently below average?

It might not be.

Talented as he is, Larsen has never done anything like what he will do this season. His true freshman season he played in one game in October, didn’t record any stats and redshirted the year. From that point on, Larsen appeared in basically every game possible for Utah State, playing 11 games in 2022, 13 games in 2023 and 12 games in 2024.

He has never had to sit out half a year, be it for injury or suspension, and then plug back in. And he missed a good portion of fall camp too, in the buildup to the season.

There is also an argument that Larsen shouldn’t start right away, not with other players having earned those spots with their performances. To that point, Larsen isn’t on the two-deep chart for the Hawaii game.

Noah Avinger, Larsen’s replacement, has been one of the best safeties in the West this season, grading out as the third-best safety in the MWC (per Pro Football Focus). And though Brevin Hamblin has had his ups and downs after transferring from Utah Tech, the potential is easy to see. Hamblin’s development may be more important than seven games of Larsen before his college career comes to a close.

Still, Larsen has proven a special player at Utah State. The kind that can make instinctual plays defensively that turn games on their head. He’s the kind of player who coaches can’t help but put on the field. And he might end up being better than ever, even in just seven games. That is if you believe Utah State linebacker John Miller.

Miller has taken a star turn for the Aggies this year and he credits almost all of it to Utah State’s coaching staff.

“The biggest impact and key to this whole thing was been the coaching staff coming in, the new coaching staff, and how hard they’ve worked us,” Miller said. “How hard they’ve made us prepare to be able to be successful in those moments. And I feel like that’s the biggest thing that’s been helping me, the high expectations and details that they drive into us.”

If Larsen has indeed “worked hard to work through all the requirements,” then he might be in line for his best season yet, abbreviated though it will be.

Is it reasonable to expect Larsen to be star again for Utah State? Perhaps not, but it won’t be a surprise if he is.