Tide sweeps Ags away
Traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Crimson Tide, the Utah State football team lost its eighth-straight season opener 48-17.
During the first half it looked as though Utah State could hang tough with the Crimson Tide, but it was a game of two halves.
Alabama moved the ball down the field with ease during its first series of the game, but once it got into the red zone, the Aggie defense put the brakes on the series.
Utah State held Alabama to just a field goal attempt and Brian Bostick took advantage on his 28 yard attempt.
Utah State’s first series ended with an interception thrown by Aggie Travis Cox. Roman Harper of Alabama was the receiver of Cox’s errant pass, and he ran it back 26 yards to put the Tide in good field position.
“When you are playing a team like Alabama, you cannot make mistakes,” Cox said.
Alabama then scored a touchdown and converted their point after attempt to extend the lead 10-0.
Cox wasn’t bothered by his interception and on the next possession he hooked up on a 35-yard touchdown pass with Kevin Robinson to bring the Aggies to within three.
With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Kenneth Darby, the running back for Alabama, broke a 29-yard run for a touchdown. With that score, it put the Crimson Tide up 17-7.
“Kenneth Darby brought us a little spark,” said Brodie Croyle, Alabama’s starting quarterback. “After I hand the ball off I just kind of stand there watching him. I thought it was going to be a 5-yard gain and he kind of left those guys standing still on that touchdown run.”
Near the end of the half Utah State started marching down the field trying to close the gap.
“It was a very positive experience,” Cox said. “We thought we were in the game going into halftime, we were very confident and couldn’t wait to get back to the game.”
Ben Chaet did bring the game to within one touchdown after he hit a career best 44 yard field goal with no time left on the clock before halftime.
“It was a great opportunity for us to come to the University of Alabama,” Mick Dennehy said. “They have a great facility and great tradition. I felt we made two huge mistakes in the second half that allowed them to get two easy touchdowns that were really difficult for us to overcome.”
Simeon Castille, of Alabama, intercepted another one of Cox’s passes and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.
“I was on the tight end,” Castille said. “Usually, I don’t cover him. He missed the ball, I was able to catch it and run for a touchdown. I was ecstatic.”
This started a 17-point unanswered streak for the Crimson Tide to start the second half.
After a punt by the Aggies, Croyle connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass with Keith Brown to extend the lead 31-10.
“I played well tonight,” Croyle said. “There were a couple of times in the end zone where I could have led more. We were conservative and didn’t show much but we put up points against a tough Utah State defense.”
Brian Bostic then connected on a 34 yard field goal after a nine play, 57 yard drive by Alabama to put the score at 34-10.
With five minutes left in the third quarter Utah State scored its first and only points of the second half. Cox hooked up with freshman tailback Chris Forbes for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
The scoring drive consisted of six plays and 72 yards.
Alabama went on to score two more running touchdowns, a one-yard run and a seven-yard run. Those touchdown runs brought the final score to 48-17.
Cox was only 24 pass yards short this game of reaching 3,000 yards passing, and this was his first multi-interception game since early last season.
The 48 points the Aggies gave up was the worst during a season opener since 1992 when they gave up 49 points to Arizona.
Forbes had only 28 yards on 11 attempts rushing.
Cox completed 16 of his 27 passes for 162 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
“I saw enough good things from our kids to make me believe that we’ve got a chance to be a good football team,” Dennehy said. “We didn’t tackle very well at times. We’ll go back to work on Tuesday and get those things squared away.”
The Aggies play again on Saturday Sept. 11 at 6:05 p.m. when Utah State takes on Idaho in Logan.
-kcaustin@cc.usu.edu