Aggies lose to Cougars on senior night
The Utah State football team allowed 248 yards passing and four touchdowns to freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum on Saturday as BYU dominated the Aggies 51-28.
“We’ve got to be able to have better coverage,” said USU head coach Matt Wells. “We’ve got to make plays in the back end of the secondary.”
The height difference between 6’6” BYU receiver Mitch Matthews and the sub-6’0” Aggie defenders proved to be a problem the entire game. Matthews had multiple receptions over defenders and finished with six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s no rookie quarterback,” said USU head coach Matt Wells. “That’s their offense. That didn’t surprise us one bit. We knew they were going to take shots.”
The Aggies led the game deep into the second quarter, but a sequence of three BYU touchdowns — including a fumble returned for a score with no time left in the first half— over a three-minute stretch surrounding halftime turned a 21-10 Utah State lead into a 31-21 deficit.
“The team that gains the most yards doesn’t always win,” Wells said. “There were several plays that contributed.”
Utah State outgained the visitors 445 to 358 in the game, including 202 to 74 on the ground. BYU averaged just 2.4 yards per carry, but averaged nearly 18 yards per pass completion.
Leading 21-17 with just a few seconds left in the second quarter, senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton took the snap at the USU 42-yard line. He rolled out and, finding his receivers covered, began to scramble. Disaster struck, though, as he tried to reverse field to avoid a defender and fumbled the ball away. BYU defensive lineman Tomasi Laulile picked up the loose ball, juked an Aggie lineman and rumbled the rest of the way for the score.
“That’s something I have to live with,” Keeton said. “That’s something I owe it to these guys to make up for. We only have one game left, but they’re going to see a pitbull whenever they come into this facility.”
The second half for the Aggies began much the same way as the first half ended. BYU returned the kick to the 38-yard line and then scored just three plays later when Matthews out-jumped the defender in the end zone for a 35-yard catch. The drive, which lasted just over a minute, put the Cougars up 10.
“We knew they were going to come out and throw the ball a lot,” said junior linebacker Nick Vigil. “[We had] a couple coverage breakdowns where guys were running free. Tonight the defense let the team down.”
USU scored on its opening drive of the game for only the second time all season when Keeton scored on a 52-yard run. The quarterback fooled a defender by faking an option pitch to the running back, causing the defender to overcommit, then sprinted past the rest of the defense for the long score.
“I saw the safety in space, and I’ve been around football long enough to know there’s a dive player, a quarterback player and a pitch player,” Keeton said. “He had to make a decision and I forced him with the fake.”
“The entire time I was running I was thinking somebody would be closing,” Keeton said. “I saw the safety to my left side but I didn’t think his angle was going to catch me. Thank the Lord for that.”
Utah State took its biggest lead of the day when Keeton connected with senior receiver Hunter Sharp for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:00 left in the second quarter. The score put the Aggies up 21-10 and was the school-record 61st passing touchdown of his career.
“It was special, but at the same time it was just part of the game,” Keeton said. “It was something I just wanted to get out of the way.”
The Cougars answered on the next play when a miscommunication in the Aggie secondary left Matthews uncovered for a 72-yard touchdown reception. Keeton’s fumble on the ensuing drive gave BYU the lead.
The Aggies had a chance to close the gap to a one-score game late in the third quarter when a career-long punt return by Sharp gave the offense the ball at the 31-yard line. The drive stalled, though, and junior kicker Jake Thompson’s attempt was blocked and returned to the USU 10-yard line. BYU scored on the next play to go up by 17.
BYU, which leads the nation in blocked kicks, had two blocks against the Aggies.
“You can’t have those issues and expect to win a gain of this magnitude against a very, very good BYU team,” Wells said.
Keeton finished with 243 yards passing and 54 yards rushing and two total touchdowns. Sharp finished with seven catches for 100 yards and one touchdown.
— thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tomcat340