Aggies fail to close out another game
Utah State football head coach Gary Andersen seems to be heading back to basics after his team gave up another lead late in the game.
The Aggies failed to score after a touchdown early in the second quarter gave them a 21-14 lead, and the Fresno State Bulldogs rallied to score 17 straight points and hold on to win the game, 31-21.
“It’s dishearting,” Andersen said. “There are a lot of things to look at on this one when we look back and study it, but I’m looking at the coaches. That means I’m looking at myself. I’m looking at the coaches, because there are some questions I want to get answered with offense, defense and special teams.”
USU dominated Fresno early in the game and even led, 14-0, midway through the first quarter, after 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chuckie Keeton to running back Michael Smith and a 59-yard run to the end zone from running back Robert Turbin.
Fresno State tied the game early in the second quarter on a one-yard keeper up the gut from Derek Carr.
Smith found paydirt for his second touchdown of the night on the ensuing possession, and that is where the Aggies began to spiral downward.
USU’s secondary, especially the corner back position, has been targeted from time to time all year long, but Fresno made an asserted attack on USU’s corner backs all night long and exploited the weakness.
“Fresno has some very talented wide receivers, and they have a very talented quarterback who throws the ball very well,” Andersen said.
Carr threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns and completed passes to five different receivers.
USU struggled mightily with penalties, but the Aggie corner backs may have struggled the most, and they were responsible for 60 of the 118 penalty yards the Aggies incurred. Jumanne Robertson and Nevin Lawson each had a pair of pass interference calls.
“We had 11 penalties tonight, and about four of those were passing interference,” Andersen said. “I think everyone of those passing interference calls were good calls, so we need to improve in that area.”
Despite all the problems the Aggies experienced Saturday night, Andersen said he feels his team needs to figure out how to finish drives late in the game.
“If you sit and you evaluate this football program right now, that might hit it right on the head,” he said. “Execution — consistent execution — understanding the details and the little things you have to be able to handle — as coaches we need to be better. We need to coach better. We need to teach better.”
Andersen said he is very serious about re-evaluating the performance of the coaching staff after so many disheartening losses this season.
“Maybe I need to do things a little bit different,” Andersen said. “Maybe I need to challenge (the players) a little bit harder and let them understand where we’re sitting. Maybe the coaches need to do a little bit better job, and that starts with me.
“I want to look at the commitment of the kids,” he continued. “I want to ask the kids how we are teaching them. If we’re not teaching them right, then we need to fix that with getting new coaches or train coaches better — get the players taught better.”
Andersen and the Aggies will have a week to figure things out before they face Louisiana Tech for the Western Athletic Conference home opener.
“I’m not going to sit here and point fingers at kids, but I will point them at myself, and I will point them at assistant coaches and we better get better,” Andersen said. “It’s time to put up or shut up and figure it out.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu