Notebook: Inside the game

Four of Boise State’s six touchdowns came on third down and the Broncos converted half of their third downs into first downs. “We’ve got to get them of the field,” linebacker Matt Wiser said. “We made too many fundamental mistakes.”

Wiser said it was the little things that allowed BSU to convert so many third downs.

“When you play Boise State, those are the things you have to do,” he said. “We’re a good team, we just have to clean up the little things.”

Aggie Jake Hutton said most of the defense was playing well.

“One person misses an assignment and the play breaks down,” he said. “And it’s never the same person. If we mesh together, then we can be really good.”

Head coach Brent Guy said there is plenty of time for USU to turn it around.

“There’s a lot of season left,” he said, “We’re showing signs of life, but we have a lot of improvements to make.”

Nowhere to run

BSU came into last Saturday’s game averaging 220 yards rushing per game. USU held them to only 84.

Of the 84 yards, 55 of them came in the fourth quarter.

“They run power,” Guy said. “They loosened us up because they threw the ball.”

Hutton said the defense was ready to stop the high-powered Bronco running game.

“We came out strong,” he said. “We were just making plays. We were shutting down the run pretty good.”

Wiser said it was no secret that BSU would try to run the ball as often as it could.

“We knew they were going to try to run,” he said. “We executed well out there.”

The Aggies, who averaged 122 rushing yards fewer than the Broncos, actually matched its opponent with 84 rushing yards of their own.

Penalties few, but costly

The Aggies were only called for two penalties during the entire game. Both of them came on the same drive in the second quarter.

After USU took a 14-10 lead, it kicked the ball back to BSU and tackled the returner just past the Bronco 20-yard line. But the Aggies were called for offsides and had to rekick. BSU returned its second chance to the 35-yard line.

The second penalty came when the Aggies were called for holding on a Bronco punt play. The call resulted in a BSU first down and led to a touchdown which would give the Broncos the lead for good.

Other notes

* Jason Stephens doubled his season reception total with four catches for 55 yards.

* Matt Wiser had 15 tackles – 10 of them solo.

* For the second game in a row, Ryan Bohm did not touch the ball. Bohm was injured two weeks ago against San Jose State on a hard hit.

By the numbers:

351 – Passing yards for the Broncos, the most USU has given up all season.

29 – Consecutive WAC games won by Boise State, a league record.

26 – point loss by BYU against Notre Dame.

5 – Sacks by the Broncos, resulting in 35 yards lost by the Aggies.

4 – touchdowns by Boise State on third down.

2.2 – Average yards gained per run for USU.

0 – Games this season where USU has had more total yards than its opponent.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu