Football debrief: The good, the bad and the ugly
The Good: Diondre Borel may have played his worst game of the season, but his second-quarter option keeper for a touchdown was a thing of beauty. Borel gave a gorgeous head and ball fake to isolate the Hawaii defender assigned to “run the alley,” and then outraced the rest of the Hawaii defense to the endzone. The 35-yard score evened the game at seven early in the second quarter, and put Borel above the 7,000 yard career yardage mark. On another high note, USU punter Peter Caldwell looked fully recovered from an early season ankle injury, booting a career-long punt of 66 yards in the first quarter. The punt was the second longest punt in a Western Athletic Conference game this season.
The Bad: A year after getting gashed on the ground by Hawaii for 360 rushing yards, Utah State’s defense proved unable to stop the Warrior rushing attack again this year, allowing 216 yards – including 172 yards and four touchdowns to senior Alex Green – in the blowout loss. Utah State’s leading ball carrier Kerwynn Williams managed just 39 yards on seven carries. The Aggie passing attack didn’t fare much better with just 123 yards.
The Ugly: For the fourth time this season, Utah State folded in the second half. Lucky to be down only 14-7 at halftime, USU came out of the tunnel with absolutely no emotion for the game’s remaining 30 minutes, allowing 31 Warrior points and failing even to make the game competitive for the few fans who stayed to watch during the torrential rains. Statistically, the game’s final box score reads like a nightmare for Utah State. Being out-gained by a margin of 3:1 doesn’t bode well going into the rest of WAC play, while finishing the game with just one third down conversion in 12 attempts can’t be what the team had in mind following an extra week to prepare.
The Woeful: Fans started to head for the gates as the rain came pouring down with about 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but as Utah State took the field after halftime, most of the 17,000-plus fans in attendance had left. The scene shocked Utah State’s players, including tight end Kellen Bartlett, who said after the game that the sight of a nearly empty Romney Stadium “sucked.” Bartlett and his teammates may have been “shocked” by the sight of the empty stadium, but the lack of support from the homecoming crowd shouldn’t have affected the Aggies’ play on the field.
“We love the support and wish the crowd would have stuck around, but we don’t rely on the crowd,” Bartlett said.
What’s next: Utah State doesn’t get a break in the schedule next week, when the team travels to play the University of Nevada in Reno. The Wolf Pack are 6-1 on the season, and are on the cusp of reentering the Top 25 after losing to Hawaii two weeks ago. Utah State has won only one game away from Logan during Gary Andersen’s tenure, and has not won a game on the road this season. Next week’s game will begin at 7:30 MST and be televised nationally on ESPNU.
– adam.nettina@aggiemail.usu.edu