Harrison Taggart was taken off the field in an ambulance Saturday after a second-quarter collision in Utah State’s 33-0 loss to Utah, and the game stopped while medical staff brought an on-site ambulance onto the field. Taggart gave a thumbs-up as he was rolled on a stretcher to the ambulance, a small sign of relief in a moment that quickly became the focus of the night.
Bronco Mendenhall later called Taggart the heartbeat of the program and said there was no way to separate the injury from the rest of the game. He said the linebacker’s influence reaches beyond the snaps he plays, describing him as the emotional leader who connects with teammates, then added that he would stop there because Taggart had gone off on the spine board and the team was concerned.
That concern landed in a game Utah controlled from start to finish. Utah outgained Utah State 480 yards to 188, and the Utes’ offense kept pressure on throughout the night. Braden Pegan caught eight passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns, while Devon Dampier passed for 253 yards and two scores. For Utah State, the loss also exposed how much the team is still sorting out at quarterback, with Mendenhall saying starting Grady Brosterhous over McCae Hillstead was his choice.
Brosterhous finished with 130 passing yards, no touchdowns and an interception, and he ran for 17 yards on 17 carries. Mendenhall also said Hillstead is becoming back and available, but gave no clearer answer on whether the job will stay with Brosterhous once he is fully ready. That leaves the biggest question from Saturday unresolved: Taggart’s exact diagnosis and recovery timeline were not disclosed, and Utah State now has to wait for the medical update that will matter far more than anything that happened on the scoreboard.
