LOGAN — Slow starts are becoming all-too-frequent themes to Utah State football seasons.

The Aggies begin the season playing a rough schedule, lose a few games and have an uphill battle to fight just to appear competitive.

As if loading up on teams often in the Top 25 weren't challenging enough, Utah State almost always has to play most of its non-conference schedule on the road.

That case might be no-better illustrated than this season, when coach Gary Andersen's team will not play a home game against an FBS opponent until Oct. 17 — six weeks into the season.

"That is something we really don't want to do again," Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes said, explaining the scheduling quirk that had USU playing at BYU and Utah in the same season was something he and Andersen inherited from past administrators and won't happen again on his watch. "To be successful, you have to give yourself a realistic chance to win games, and always going on the road makes that hard to do."

Barnes said Utah State has home-and-home series set up with Colorado State, San Diego State and Wyoming in coming years, as well as matchups most years against BYU and Utah.

Those games will be balanced by one "guarantee" game at a power school from a BCS conference — Barnes said the going rate for such a game is now in the $1 million range — and a home game against a school from an FCS conference such as the Big Sky.

Next year, the Aggies visit Oklahoma and will travel to Auburn in 2011. Idaho State will come to Logan next season, while Weber State and Southern Utah are also on future schedules.

What remains fact, though, is that Utah State's game this Saturday is the latest home-opener against a FBS team in the conference. Only Hawaii, which played Fresno State last week, waited until October to host a FBS opponent.

All that time on the road has left Utah State not only a little homesick for its plush new digs at Romney Stadium, but with an ugly record, too.

"The schedule that was in place for this team does not give them the best chance to succeed," Barnes said. "Last year was the first time in more than 10 years that we had six home games. That just isn't the way you build a program."

Utah State's current 1-4 record isn't a coincidence. The one win was a home game, the four losses all on the road.

Andersen, however, isn't willing to admit road trips matter on a week-to-week basis.

"The way we prepare and the way we travel should have no bearing on the game," Andersen said.

He also added he wouldn't complain one bit if the schedule were reversed.