Ags no match for Fresno
The Utah State football team could have taken Head Coach Brent Guy to a haunted house instead of playing Saturday night in Fresno State as the game turned into a 53-21 nightmare loss.
The Aggies had negative rushing yards through three quarters. Three turnovers in the first half, an interception and two fumbles helped Fresno State to a 23-7 halftime lead. A safety from a bad snap on a punt led to 23 third-quarter points.
That list doesn’t include not converting a third down until the second to last play of the third quarter and allowing Fresno State to score on nine straight possessions.
“[The mistakes] come in bunches on us,” Guy said. “That’s what we’ve got to learn – to not make mistakes in bunches.”
The game did start well for the Aggies, though. After Terrance Washington intercepted the first Fresno State pass, the Aggies drove 35 yards to take a 7-0 lead. Chris Forbes scored on a 1-yard run after a 12-yard reception by Tony Pennyman and an 18-yard reception by Forbes put the ball on the Fresno State 1-yard line.
After holding Fresno State to a field goal on their next drive, the kickoff might as well have been a witch on a broom since the Aggies were never any closer.
With a blocking penalty on a touchback that started the Aggies on their own 10, quarterback Leon Jackson III fumbled a play-action fake, which Fresno recovered on the Aggie 1-yard line.
The turnover led to a 1-yard touchdown run that put Fresno up 10-7. On the next possession, Jackson threw an interception on second down which Fresno turned into a touchdown after a seven-play drive.
The Aggies put together a drive at the start of the second quarter thanks to two Fresno State penalties, but fullback Lynwood Johnson fumbled and Fresno State recovered on the Aggie 35-yard line to continue the nightmare.
The Aggie defense held Fresno State to two field goals after the fumble and another Utah State three and out to go to half down 23-7. As bad as the first half looked, the third quarter was still to come.
“The most embarrassing thing was the third quarter,” Guy said. “We got stuck and we got stuck bad.”
“We let them have 23 points in the third quarter,” linebacker DJ Brookter said.
Everything seemed wrapped like candy for Fresno State as the Bulldogs started at the Utah State 47-yard line thanks to a return and an Aggie facemask penalty. The Bulldogs scored again to take a 30-7 lead.
After an Aggie three-and-out, Jeff King snapped the ball over punter Justin Hamblin’s head for a safety. Fresno scored on their next drive thanks to two personal foul penalties on the Aggies.
The Aggies went three and out again and the punt was returned to the Aggie 24-yard line before Fresno scored to go up 46-7 near the end of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs added another touchdown after returning a kickoff to the Utah State 28-yard line in the fourth.
In garbage time, Jackson had a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Aggies 14 points on the scoreboard. Kevin Robinson caught his seventh touchdown pass of the season with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter to put up the final score of the game at 53-21.
Backup quarterback Jerod Walker threw the touchdown pass to Robinson and was the only reason the Ags didn’t finish with negative yards rushing. When Fresno State went for it on fourth down with about a minute left, Jarrett Bush intercepted the pass in the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, tailback Chris Forbes went down with neck pain and was carried off on a stretcher. Signs were positive when the game ended, Guy said, and neck injury precaution was taken, but Forbes was moving his fingers and responding normally Saturday night.