Watson succesful in first collegiate start
After a redshirt 2001 season, it was only a matter of time before Richard Watson would receive his first collegiate start.
Unfortunately, the conditions leading to his personal success were not ones of joy for the Aggies.
After tailback Roger Robinson departed from the team and David Fiefia rolled an ankle, the Aggies were down to Watson.
He didn’t disappoint his critics though.
“Watson played pretty well,” said USU Head Coach Mick Dennehy. “Once again, as we get deeper and deeper into football games we have a tendency to have to get away from what we’d like to be doing and throw the ball more. I thought the kid played really well.”
Dennehy described Watson as a hard runner and someone who would battle an opponent to the end.
Watson also thought he was a bright spot for the Aggies Saturday, despite the 63-38 loss.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t result in a win so that’s always a bad ending right there,” he said. “I think I’m able to make a lot of tackles.”
Watson did have something to say about former teammate Robinson, who left the team for reasons yet to be formally reported.
He said the team spent the week coming together prior to the Boise State game.
“People, if they don’t want to be here, that’s fine,” he said. “People that are here are going to go out there and leave it all on the field.”
As for the injury to Fiefia, Dennehy said information regarding ailments will not be released following games as of next season.
Through a law passed by President Bill Clinton, Dennehy said coaches cannot make comments on medical information because it could make them liable.
Player of the game
B.J. Rhode, BSU quarterback
Rhode threw for five touchdowns en route to a 63-38 Bronco victory.
In a span of shortly over one minute, Boise State turned a 7-3 lead into a 21-3 advantage, thanks in part to Rhode.
He was the hand behind the 67-yard scoring strike to Jay Swillie.
Rhode finished the night 17-for-28 for 376 yards and five touchdowns. The 376 yards marks the ninth-best passing performance in school history. His five touchdowns tied six other five-touchdown nights for second most TDs in a single game for the Broncos.
“Overall, I was extremely happy,” said Boise State Head Coach Dan Hawkins. “I thought B.J. played well. He had some tremendous throws and got Jay involved which is awesome.”
Smurf Turf
There is no question the field at Boise State is different.
Not only is it Astro Turf, compared to the Bent Bluegrass of Romney Stadium, but it’s a bright Bronco blue.
Aggies had varying opinions on the field following the game.
“It’s just like any other field,” said linebacker Jesse Busta. “It’s a simple game of football – [the field] is simply 100 yards long when it comes down to it.”
Wide receiver Kevin Curtis acknowledged the possible intent of the color of the field, to blend the Bronco player uniforms into the turf, he said he doesn’t think it works.
“It’s a mental thing to try to throw opponents off,” he said. “I just think it’s ugly. I hate it, personally.”
The Aggies also played on artificial turf at Nebraska and will see the fake stuff again in the final game of the season at Middle Tennessee.
Celebrate good times
The Broncos incurred a celebration penalty on their first touchdown of the night.
BSU radio announcers said the officials were “taking away the players fun” by issuing the penalty.
In the long run, it didn’t matter though as Bronco Nick Calcyacy successfully made the PAT.
The Aggies received a celebration penalty last season as Chris Stallworth removed his helmet following what could have led to the game-winning touchdown against Wyoming. The PAT was missed though, costing USU the game.
Bronco Stadium attendance
A crowd of 25,161 showed up for Saturday’s game. By halftime a couple thousand fans cleared the stadium.
The crowd was nearly 5,000 short of a sellout.
Home sweet home
The Aggies will play their first home game in nearly three weeks as they host BYU Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Romney Stadium.
Following the meeting with the Cougars, the Aggies will have their first bye of the season.
Ironically, the Cougars had a bye the week before they were to face Utah State. As did Boise State.
The rest obviously made a difference as the Broncos were nearly able to double the production of USU.
Utah State has three road games remaining this season, the first being Oct. 26 at Louisiana-Monroe.
Quotables
“The bottom line is we gave up too many big plays, too many turnovers, and then you just multiply things by 10 if you lose your composure and I felt like we did that as well. We are not a good enough football team to win games unless we play as well as we can and we do that in spots. We continue to be too inconsistent and unless we’re willing to make the commitment to get that squared away we’re going to continue to struggle.”
– USU Head Coach Mick Dennehy
“It’s something I never thought would ever happen. I’ve had this game in the back of my head for a couple of years now. Never in my wildest dreams did I think they were going to put 60 points on us again.”
– Aggie linebacker Jesse Busta
“We expect to win these games, and we expect to win by a lot. Even though we came out on top, we expect so much more out of our team.”
– Bronco receiver Jay Swillie
Independent Standings
W L PF PA Streak
N.D. 4 0 92 57 W2
S.F. 2 2 105 89 L2
Conn. 2 3 112 101 L1
Navy 1 3 114 164 L2
Troy St. 1 4 101 159 L2
USU 1 4 99 211 L2
By the numbers
25,161 – Attendance Saturday at Bronco
Stadium in Boise, Idaho.
63 – Jerome Dennis had the longest kick-
off return by USU this season.
42 – Boise State points at halftime.
24 – Utah State points at halftime.
22 – Jose Fuentes 200-yard passing game,
his fourth straight.
3 – Timeouts used by Utah State in the
first 17 minutes and four seconds of
the game.
2 – Boise State recovered two fumbles and
intercepted two passes for a season-
high four takeaways.
1 – USU victories this season, Sept. 14
against Idaho State.
0 – Points scored by either team during
the third quarter.
-JUAG@cc.usu.edu