Utes double up Aggies
SALT LAKE CITY – The Urban Meyer era got off on the right foot for the University of Utah, but it was a familiar story for Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy.
The Utes came away with the 40-20 victory in front of a 39,697 crowd Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“I think we’re too inconsistent,” Dennehy said. “There are some fundamental things we need to get better at.”
Inconsistency and missed opportunities are phrases the Utah State football team has become all too familiar with over the last couple of seasons.
Although the mishaps by USU didn’t directly lead to any points by the University of Utah, the certainly didn’t do anything to keep them them from scoring.
“We just need to make things look better, but a win is a win and we scored 40 points on a bad day,” said Utah quarterback Brett Elliot.
The Aggies missed an opportunity on the first possession when they recorded a five-yard penalty for a false start, putting them on their own 45-yard line.
And when Utah State faltered, the Utes scored. With 7:16 left in the first Larry Miles scored off a 12-yard pass from Elliot. Bryan Borreson was successful on his PAT.
The Aggies missed an opportunity toward the end of the first quarter when Mark Estelle ran the length of the field for a touchdown, only to be called back to the USU 23-yard line because of a blocking foul below the waist.
The Aggies missed an another opportunity in the second quarter when they lost five yards for an illegal substitution.
And when Utah State faltered, the Utes scored. Brandon Warfield scored on a four-yard run with a little over three minutes left in the second quarter.
Borreson was again successful on the PAT.
USU got on the board in the second quarter off a 21-yard field goal by Justin
Hamblin. The Aggies scored again early in the third off a team safety, their first since 1998.
But then came the end of the third quarter. The Aggies missed an opportunity for a touchdown when Chris Cooley caught a seven-yard pass from quarterback Travis Cox in the left corner of the endzone, only to be called offsides. USU lost five yards on the play.
Fortunately for the Aggies, Cox scored on a keeper from seven yards out on the next play. Justin Hamblin successfully completed the PAT to bring the Aggies within nine points, 21-12.
Hamblin, who signed with the team in December and participated in spring
practices, transferred from Utah following his mission to Venezuela for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cox finished the game with 280 passing yards and completed 19 of his 41 throws. He had one incompletion.
Aggie Chris Stallworth ended the game on a positive note for USU as he scored on a 50-yard pass from Cox with four minutes left in the game.
Meyer kept who would be his starting quarterback a secret until game time. It turned out in his favor, as Elliot finished with 94 passing yards on 11 of 19
throws and two
incompletions.
-juag@cc.usu.edu
UTAH STATE’S DAVID FIEFIA gets taken down by Ute Sione Pouha. (Photo by John Zsiray)
Utah State´s David Fiefia blocks University of Utah´s Josh Savage while Travis Cox looks for an open line. (Photo by John Zsiray)