Competitive football began on campus in 1892, with a team organized specifically for a Thanksgiving Day game between the Agricultural College and the University of Utah. While the University men reportedly had uniforms, the so-called Farmers played in whatever clothing they had on at the time. The Farmers prevailed 12 to 0. Gradually, the college developed its team, hiring its first coach in 1904. The Aggies, as they soon became known, affiliated with other state and regional schools in the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Association in 1914, and became charter members in the Skyline Conference in 1949. Play moved from the Quad area east of Old Main to Adams Park, west of College Hill, in 1914, and to the original Romney Stadium, at the corner of 700 North and 800 East streets, in 1929.

When the Skyline Conference disbanded in 1962, the Aggies were not included in the reorganized Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies fielded some of its best teams during the 1960s, including those led by All-American, Merlin Olsen. Hoping to attract attention to the program, and possibly be invited to join the WAC, the university built a new Romney Stadium at the site of the present Maverick Stadium in 1966. Invitations were not forthcoming.

During the 1970s, USU affiliated with California Schools in Pacific Coast Athletic Association, and later with an expanded slate of competitors in the Big West Conference. In 2005, they joined the WAC, by then a shadow of the original. USU affiliated with its current conference, The Mountain West, in 2011.