A different kind of streak: Ags head into offseason after getting second win at Idaho
From now until August 2008, the Utah State football team will be able to say it is on a winning streak.
The Aggies (2-10, 2-6) ended the 2007 season by beating the Idaho Vandals, 24-19, in Moscow, Idaho, Saturday afternoon. In doing so, the Aggies notched their second consecutive victory. It was the first time since 2003 USU had won two straight games, and the first occurrence since 1999 the program tallied back-to-back victories on the road.
“I think we had confidence we could come in here and (win),” Aggie head coach Brent Guy said in a radio interview. “I told them we’ve got to pick up that football team that walked up the ramp (last week) in Las Cruces with the plays we made in the fourth quarter and start playing that way today. We did.”
Utah State certainly began strong on both sides of the ball. Four minutes into the second half, senior quarterback Leon Jackson III put Utah State up 24-10 on a one-yard rushing touchdown.
From that point, the Aggie offense was stuck in the mud. In each of their four final drives, the Vandals forced USU to punt.
In the meantime, the Vandals did a poor job but nearly stole the game away nonetheless.
“I told the kids we earned this one,” Guy said. “We’ve been through the fire. We’ve felt the heartbreak way too much this year, especially with the fourth-quarter games we’ve had this year. Even if we didn’t play perfect in the end, we earned it. We’re not embarrassed by it.”
The Vandals’ Tino Amancio put in a 36-yard field goal late in the third quarter to narrow the USU lead to 24-13. The Aggie offense responded with a five-play drive that stretched only 22 yards before Jackson punted it away.
The momentum then began shifting in Idaho’s favor.
Vandal running back Brian Flowers rushed for 41 of the 60 yards Idaho collected on its next drive, which stretched all the way to the Aggie 20-yard line. It was then that Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle’s pass to the right corner of the end zone was underthrown to an otherwise open wide receiver and intercepted by USU’s Roy Hurst.
The Aggie offense advanced nine yards, and Peter Caldwell punted.
The Vandals then went 69 yards in 10 plays to score a touchdown, but the two-point conversion failed. The Vandals made up for it by recovering the ensuing onside kick at their own 43-yard line with 5:38 on the clock.
Though the Vandals made their way to the Aggie 24-yard line before failing to convert on a fourth-and-seven, the Aggie offense again sputtered with eight yards and another Jackson punt. The USU offensive failure gave the Vandals a final chance to win the game with 1:33 remaining.
Enderle completed a 41-yard pass as time expired, but it wasn’t enough for the end zone.
The final stats are deceiving. The Vandals had 428 yards of total offense, far superior to the Aggies’ 272. The hosts also dominated in first downs (24 to 15) and time of possession (32:22 to 27:38).
K-ROB, JACKSON BREAK RECORDS
Aggie wide receiver/return specialist Kevin Robinson set the NCAA career record for all-purpose yards per play and also set the USU record for career receptions. The latter record (174) was previously held by former Aggie Kevin Curtis, who is now an NFL standout.
“Coach called a play and said, ‘Everybody go deep,'” Robinson said of the play in which he broke the record. “Leon got back in the pocket and had good time from the linemen. I didn’t think he’d throw it to me. I was just running down trying to clear it for (Aggie wide receiver/quarterback) Diondre (Borel). I just had to fight for position, and the corner did a good job boxing me out.
“I just give it to the guys up front, the guys blocking and the team supporting me,” Robinson continued. “If it wasn’t for the team and if they didn’t believe in me, none of this would have been possible.”
Jackson set a school record for completion percentage (65.4). He also broke his own USU record for rushing yards by a quarterback on a two-yard rush on his team’s opening drive. He ended the season with 338. Jackson’s two rushing touchdowns on the day give him six for the season-the most for an Aggie quarterback since 1997.
-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu