Aggies can’t leash Bulldogs in home loss
Utah State’s players and coaches talked all week about how much it would mean to get a win over conference foe Fresno State. They talked of the past two games against the Bulldogs, and how close the Aggies were to beating the perennial Western Athletic Conference (WAC) heavyweight. They talked about the importance of winning games against quality teams, and correcting the self-inflicted mistakes which have led to so many close losses over the past two seasons.
But when the final second ticked off the clock in Saturday’s 41-24 loss to Fresno State, the Aggies and their head coach instead found themselves experiencing a bad case of déjà vu.
“I don’t have a lot to say overall,” said USU heach coach Gary Andersen after the game. “We got beat by the better team today.”
The better team would have been hard to pick out during the first half of Saturday’s action. USU (1-2, 0-1 WAC) went toe-to-toe with Fresno State (2-0, 1-0) for the first thirty minutes of the game, stopping the Bulldogs on their first series when Bulldog head coach Pat Hill gambled on a fourth and one. Shortly thereafter, USU quarterback Diondre Borel eluded a sack and found receiver Dontel Watkins in the corner of the endzone to give the Aggies an early 7-0 lead.
USU used a hurry-up offense to strike early at the Bulldogs. Peter Caldwell continued the first half scoring for USU by booting a 50 yard field goal, while Michael Smith took a handoff from Diondre Borel three yards into the endzone to put the Aggies up 17-10 with just over six minutes left to play in the first half.
“They did a really good job of (playing) up-tempo,” Hill said. “I just don’t think we were quite ready for that.”
Despite jumping out early and finding success against the Fresno State defense, the Aggies and Bulldogs went into the half tied at 17. Fresno State received a significant boost before the right half when Rashad Evans returned a punt 50 yards to set up a short field, which Bulldog quarterback Ryan Colburn took advantage of when he ran in for an eight yard touchdown.
The two teams traded salvos early in the third quarter after USU started out strong. The Aggies received a great defensive play when end Quinn Garner picked off Ryan Colburn thanks to a deflection by cornerback Chris Randle, but USU was unable to capitalize when Caldwell missed a 37 yard field goal attempt. The Aggie defense held strong, however, and after another stop of Fresno’s offense, Borel capped off a 60-yard drive by jitterbugging his way into the endzone with 6:09 left in the third quarter. Up 24-17, the student section’s pre-game chant, “I believe that we will win,” seemed to be coming to fruition.
“I thought we came out strong,” said linebacker Bobby Wagner. “Our defense played well and out offense was rolling.”
Borel agreed with Wagner’s assessment, saying “Everyone came out strong in the first half. We played hard in the first half and were in the game.”
The Aggies’ first half momentum fizzled as the third quarter came to a close, however. After Borel gave USU a 24-17 lead, Fresno State marched right down the field for a 16-yard A.J. Ellis touchdown run. Ellis, starting for the injured Robbie Rouse at running back for Fresno State, ran for 165-yards and two touchdowns on the evening, highlighting a 230-yard day on the ground for a Bulldog offense. The renewed emphasis on the running game was a major point of emphasis for Hill, who relied on a punishing ground game to break USU’s momentum late in the game.
“We made some great adjustments at halftime,” he said. “As far as the offense goes we knew we had to run the ball in the second half to keep the ball away from them, and we did.”
According to Bobby Wagner, Fresno’s run game in the second half not only wore down the Aggie defense, but it exposed it to the play-action pass.
“We struggled in the second half against the run, which set up the pass for them,” he said. “This is certainly a game we should’ve won. We let it slip away.”
With the game tied at 24 and momentum now in Fresno’s hands, the Aggies imploded with miscues in the game’s final quarter. Behind Ellis and Colburn, Fresno extended the lead to 34-24 by the midway point of the quarter, while the Fresno defense stiffened up to hold the Aggies off the scoreboard. USU held the ball for only three minutes and 57 seconds during the fourth quarter, and went 0-4 on third down conversions.
“We struggled in the second half,” Borel said. “We didn’t play with the same intensity.”
While USU had chances to put together a comeback, the Aggies were unable to follow through, and a final 12-play, 51-yard drive ending in a two yard Ellis touchdown run put the proverbial nail in USU’s coffin. The loss was the fourth straight in the series for the Aggies.
If dropping an early season matchup to Fresno wasn’t hard enough, USU also saw three key starters get injured during the game. Both Randle and safety Rajric Coleman went down for the Aggies, as did Caldwell. Their status for next week’s game and the remainder of the season remains a question mark.
Despite the missed opportunity for an upset, USU’s players won’t be content with licking their wounds as they go back to the drawing board. With two out-of-conference showdowns with Mountain West teams looming, USU isn’t giving up on this season or their goal of returning to the postseason.
“We all felt like this was an opportunity to prove to the WAC, as well as the nation, that we are a team that wins,” said defensive end Levi Koskan. “It’s a very disappointing loss, but its one that we will rebound from. We will take this loss and learn from it and improve for next week.”
– adamnettina@gmail.com
