Notebook: Inside the game
The score wasn’t as bad as last year, but the stats seem to show the Ute offense performed better on Saturday night than they did last year.
Still, the first half was an amazing 30 minutes of football to have a score of just 14-7. Utah gained only 10 yards less than they did in the first half last year, yet the game was well within reach coming out of halftime for the Aggies.
The Utes actually gained 69 more yards this game than they did last year (510-441), but the Aggie defense came up with two timely turnovers to decrease the scoring margin by 18 points.
The Aggie defense forced two turnovers but couldn’t seem to stop the Utes any other way.
“Throughout the whole game, we weren’t fundamentally sound,” middle linebacker Matt Wiser said of the defense as a whole.
Utah more explosive
It wasn’t the first quarter that did the Aggies in, it was the big plays they gave up in the second.
Guy has a theory that a team that gives up five big plays of 20 yards or more will lose the game, while a team that can hold the other side to four or fewer big plays will win.
The Ags gave up two big plays within minutes of one another. The first set up the tying touchdown and the second put the Utes up for good with just under two minutes left in the second quarter.
Midway through the third, the Utes had their fifth big play, while the Aggies were held to two on the night. Utah finished with six.
Guy said penalties on third downs kept the Ags from getting back in the game. The offense false started on a third and two near the end of the third quarter while John Chick had a facemask penalty called on his third down sack of Utah’s quarterback in the midway through the third.
Game Notes
* Utah State started five freshmen on Saturday: right tackle Derek Hoke, tailback Ryan Bohm, linebacker Devon Hall, linebacker Jake Hutton and corner back Marquis Charles. Fifteen freshmen played for the Aggies and a total of 19 newcomers saw game action.
* Quarterback Leon Jackson III rushed for more yards than any Aggie quarterback in the last 15 years with 87 yards rushing. Jeff Crosbie’s 77 yards against Nevada in 1999 was the 15-year high.
* Tail back Ryan Bohm had the best debut of any runningback in the past three years as he rushed for 56 yards on 11 carries. Emmett White and Richard Watson were the only backs with better debuts in the past five years. White rushed for 143 yards on 20 carries in his debut and Watson rushed for 74 yards on 20 carries.
* Bohm also led the team in receptions and receiving yards. Bohm caught five passes for 41 yards.
* Freshmen linebackers Devon Hall and Jake Hutton finished with eight and six tackles, respectively. Hutton also forced a fumble.
* Terrance Washington and Matt Wiser led the team in tackles with 11 each. Wiser had two for a loss.
* Wide receiver Tony Pennyman was suspended for the game for violating team rules. Pennyman will play against UNLV, Guy said.
* In the first, the Aggies, who hadn’t played a game since last November, looked to be the sharper team as Utah shanked a punt and had a touchdown called back on an illegal block before fumbling away a scoring chance.
-krn@cc.usu.edu