Aggies Fend of Cougars in Comeback Victory over Washington State

In a battle between the bottom of the PAC-12, the Aggies came out victorious over the Washington State Cougars for their first-ever PAC-12 conference victory. While the Cougars held the lead for most of the night, the Aggies ground out a win thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.

To open the game, running back Noah White fumbled the opening kickoff by the Cougars, allowing WSU to open their first drive from the USU 22-yard line, where they promptly took the lead with a field goal that they did not relinquish for the remainder of the half.

On the second go-around, USU was able to secure the kickoff and allow the offense to take the field. The Aggies were able to piece together an eight-play, 47-yard drive into Cougar territory, helped by a pass interference penalty committed by the Cougars. The drive stalled, and the field goal unit took the field but was unable to get the ball through the uprights, still down as the defense took the field.

Much of the remaining clock of the first quarter was used by a Washington State drive that took them 54 yards down the field. The Aggies were able to make a stop to limit the Cougars to just a field goal, assisted by two holding calls in the Cougars’ final set of downs of the drive. 

With the ball back in USU’s hands, the offense finally made progress down the field without the help of penalties as Grady Brosterhous found Eli Wood for a contested catch for a 33-yard gain, putting the Aggies on the WSU 30-yard line. By the end of the night, Wood would rack up 84 yards on six receptions.

“I just feel like it’s kind of your job as a receiver. I just anytime the quarterback throws you the ball, it’s just a blessing, and you only get so many opportunities as a receiver,” said Wood. “You run a lot of routes throughout the game, but you only get so many opportunities where you know you’re going to get thrown the ball. So just capitalizing on those is just really important. It’s something I take a lot of pride in.”

Following that catch, the drive stalled out, and the Aggies were forced to settle for a field goal. The kick was good from 48 yards, which is a career-long for kicker Kian Afrookhteh. Those three points would be the only points the Aggies would score for the remainder of the half.

The Cougars would march down the field again and once again settle for another field goal, extending the lead to 9-3.

After the kick, the teams would trade punts back and forth. The streak was broken when the Aggies attempted to convert on fourth and two, but Brosterhous was ruled short on the quarterback keep.

The following drive by the Cougars would initially be shut down as the Aggies sacked the WSU quarterback on third and long. Unfortunately for the Aggies, the Cougar drive was extended after a personal foul on USU safety David Kubongo occurred after the play. On the next play, WSU running back Leo Pulalasi broke free for a 54-yard touchdown. The Cougar lead was extended to 16-3. 

In the final three minutes of the half, there would be three possessions, with neither USU nor WSU able to get anything going.

Out of the gate in the second half, the Aggie defense swarmed the Cougars to force a three-and-out. This drive would set the pace for the remainder of the night. The Aggie offense still struggled to move the ball downfield, as they once again traded punts with the Cougars. 

“The message [at half] was just cut it out. This is not how you guys play. We’re kind of playing down, but we need to play Utah State football like we know how to play Utah State football,” said line backer Asher Cunningham. “We work really hard in practice, so just let that translate. Just keep your heads up, just keep going, keep pounding. Carson Tujague was yelling at us, ‘We’re not losing this game, we’re not losing this game.’”

The defense once again stepped up for the Aggies as Cunningham forced a fumble that was recovered by Bronson Olevao to put the Aggies at the Cougar 39. The Aggies capitalized on the turnover as Brosterhous found Wood in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown pass, putting the Aggies at 10 points, still trailing by six.

While the Aggie defense continued to shut down the Washington State offense, the USU started to get the ball moving downfield. Wide receiver Demick Starling did find open space for a gain of 41, followed by another reception for 11 yards. After a personal foul on head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Aggie drive stalled, and they were moved out of field goal range.

“I said, ‘How can that not be pass interference?’ and then I said, ‘I think you missed that call.’ Then I was backing up to the sideline, and then there’s a flag, and so I guess by letter of the law, I was wrong,” said head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “I’m not going to make an excuse, but I didn’t see that coming. I’ve got to set a good example, so I’ll work on that too. Sometimes grown-ups need to be a little more disciplined too.”

In the following drive, the defense stepped up once again for the Aggies as Cunningham forced his second fumble of the night, putting the Aggies at the Washington State 19. After a Javon Robinson catch brought the Aggies to the 2-yard line, Javon Jacobs found the end zone to put the Aggies up for the first time all night.

“That moment was a conscious see-ball give-all moment. You know, just play my job, execute what I needed to do, and then we just swung to the ball,” said Cunningham. “That’s kind of what I like about most of our defense is how we just swung to the ball. They had nowhere to go, nowhere to sneak around.”

Alongside the two forced fumbles, Cunningham had 17 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks. This was his second game in a row as the leading tackler for the Aggies.

The USU defense continued to halt the Washington State offense, forcing consecutive three-and-outs in the Cougars’ final two drives of the night. The defense shut out Washington State in the second half, helping set up USU’s 13-point comeback.

“I love our team; they fought from beginning to end. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t flawless, but it was gritty, and it was tough, and it was a victory,” Mendenhall said. “I love seeing my team happy and my coaches. They worked really hard all week and in this game.”

With the win, the Aggies now sit at 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in PAC-12 play. The win is also the first PAC-12 win for the Aggies. USU will have a bye week next week and then will head to San Marcos on the 24th to take on Texas State.