Utah State football unofficially welcomed to Sun Belt by ULM
For the second time in as many weeks, the Utah State University football team needed an overtime period to decide the outcome of its game.
Unlike last week’s victory though, the Aggies could not defeat the University of Louisiana Monroe as the Indians pulled out a 51-48 victory in the second OT at Monroe Stadium.
With the Aggie loss and the Indians’ win, both teams now have a record of 2-6.
This loss has more ramifications for the Aggies though, as it ensures they will finish with a record of 5-6 at best and it will be their fifth straight losing season.
It is also their first loss to a Sun Belt opponent after winning five straight against teams from their future conference.
The game was lost when Indians’ running back Bryant Jacobs scored on a 25-yard run in the second overtime. The carry gave Jacobs 138 yards for the night and was the final nail in the coffin for Utah State.
The Indians were down by three points going into their possession of the second overtime as Dane Kidman connected on a 32-yard field goal to give the Aggies a 48-45 advantage.
Both teams scored in the first overtime as tight end Chris Cooley caught a 23-yard pass from quarterback Jose Fuentes to answer a 35-yard pass from Indians quarterback Steven Jyles to wide receiver Drouzon Quillen.
Unlike last week’s game where the Aggies needed last-minute heroics to send the game into overtime, this week the Indians were able to tie the game with 11:40 left on a 2-yard run from Keith Thomas.
“As a team we have just not improved at the rate we were supposed to be,” said Aggie Head Coach Mick Dennehy. “ULM showed that they are a much improved team and it showed [Saturday].”
Aggie cornerback Mark Estelle said in the News-Starout in Monroe, “We should have beat them. We broke down mentally and didn’t do our assignments. They made plays happen when we gave them the opportunity.”
The Aggies had a good night offensively as they scored three rushing touchdowns, two by James Samuel and one by Richard Watson.
Wide receiver Kevin Curtis scored two touchdowns on passes from Fuentes.
Samuel and Watson combined for 117 yards rushing, 81 and 36 respectively, and Curtis had 114 yards receiving on six catches.
Curtis moved into fourth place on the Aggie all-time receiving list with 150 receptions and 2,408 yards.
Fuentes threw for more than 300 yards again as he completed 26 of 49 passes for 368 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His third touchdown pass was his 53rd for his career, a new school record.
Linebacker Jesse Busta turned in another solid night for the defense as he led all tacklers with 14. Busta also moved into fourth on the Aggie all-time list. He currently has 365 career tackles.
The Aggies were unable to spoil the Indians’ Homecoming game, as Jyles threw for a career-high 470 yards, three touchdown passes and ran a fourth touchdown in himself.
Indian wide receivers Mack Vincent and Quillen both had 100-yard receiving games as Vincent tallied 186 yards and Quillen had 153 yards.
The receivers had seven catches each.
“It was a team we were supposed to beat,” Cooley said in the Logan Herald-Journal. “We got down early and didn’t play as hard as we should have. They did. We played one half, but that is not enough. You have to play four
quarters.”
The game had its share of sloppiness as well, with the Aggies committing 12 penalties for 106 yards and the Indians were flagged 17 times for 146 yards during the rainy evening.
Louisiana Monroe Interim Head Coach Mike Collins won his second career game since taking over for Booby Keasler who resigned on Sept. 18.
“I can live with any ‘W,'” Collins said. “We played well offensively and defensively. I have to commend our football team -the kids staying with it and persisting with what they were trying to do and become successful with it.”
The Indians have a 2-3 record with Collins at the helm.
-jwhigg@cc.usu.edu