Aggies Fall to Utes in Battle of the Brothers Blowout

In the 114th meeting of the Battle of the Brothers, No. 17 Utah took home another victory, finishing 33-0 over the Aggies. The Aggies struggled out of the gate against the Utes. The Utes would jump out to an early lead, which they wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the game. 

To open the game, Utah marched down the field on their opening drive, ending the drive with a 28-yard receiving touchdown by former Aggie Braden Pegan. The Aggies’ defense was able to hold their own on first and second down, but repeatedly gave up chunk plays on third down to allow the Utes to jump out to an early lead. 

The Aggies struggled to move the ball during the first quarter, accumulating only 10 yards in the first 15 minutes of the game. Their first drive following the Utah touchdown was a three-and-out.  

Utah’s second drive was smoother for the Utes, a quick seven-play, 75-yard drive to the end zone. The Utes gained over 10 yards on five of the seven plays of the drive, including an 18-yard pass to Ricky Johnson to move the Utes into Aggie territory; the drive concluded with a Byrd Ficklin rushing touchdown.

Throughout the game, the Aggies struggled to establish a run game. In the first half, the Aggies accumulated just ten rushing yards. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall was transparent about the need for the run game to improve.

“Our run game doesn’t really exist at this point, and it hasn’t been that we haven’t been addressing it or working on it or looking and trying to find options,” Mendenhall said. “Javen had a really nice run, kind of on a windback draw that you guys saw, and so there has to be some deception to it currently, some conflict to it, but we haven’t cracked that code yet.”

The Aggies did enter Utah territory on two drives in the first half, the first coming in the opening drive of the second quarter. The Aggies started the drive at their own 22-yard line and moved the ball up to the Utah 36. Sophomore running back Noah White had an 18-yard reception to move the Aggies into Utah territory. After being stopped on the 36, the Aggies elected to punt the ball away on fourth-and-four.

A similar result occurred on the following Aggies drive. USU received the ball following a 54-yard field goal from Utah kicker Dillon Curtis. The Aggies moved the ball to the Utah 37-yard line before punting again on fourth-and-six.

“As we saw, the fourth down I did choose to go for, we weren’t successful. I thought their defense was playing really well. Their offense is super dynamic, and there’s a team that can score from anywhere super fast, and so I chose to play field position,” Mendenhall said. “I believe that was the right call for our team at this time today against that team. I chose field position with the scoring potential they have.” 

A scary moment for the Aggies occurred in the second quarter after linebacker Harrison Taggart was taken off the field in an ambulance with an apparent head injury. 

“Harrison is the heartbeat of our program. There, there isn’t anyone that’s more vibrant and has more influence on our team,” Mendenhall said. “The time he spends and how he connects with our players and the emotional leader and man, I don’t have a scale that I can turn enough to say his impact.”

Utah State linebacker Harrison Taggart points to the sky while being loaded into an ambulance at Rice-Eccles Stadium during a game against Utah on Sept. 19. (Owen Clarke / The Utah Statesman)

The Aggies were able to hold Utah to a three-and-out inside two minutes of the half, but Utah regained possession after a USU player made contact with the ball on the Utes’ punt.

The second half began in a very similar fashion to the first. Following a three-and-out by the Aggies to open the half, the Aggie defense was able to force a turnover on downs after a tackle for loss by junior safety Lewis Chapman.

“Coach really had a great play right there. So that put me in the right spot, right where the quarterback was,” Chapman said. “So I mean it was really just on me to make the play.”

 Despite the turnover, the Aggie drive stalled out after only three plays, and they chose again to punt from the Utah 44-yard line.

Utah State’s defense was able to stop the Utes on the following drive, but found themselves on the field again following an interception of quarterback Grady Brosterhous in the end zone. The following Utah possession was short, as on the fourth play of the drive, Utah running back Daniel Bray broke free for a 63-yard touchdown.

Neither team would score for the remainder of the game. The Aggies’ final two drives ended in punts, and the Utes would kneel out the remainder of the time. The Aggies’ hope moving forward that they can find more offensive consistency.

“You know we got to be able to sustain drives and score. I have my expectations for our offense, within my game and as an offensive unit,” running back Javon Jacobs said. “We need to supplement the defense and not turn the ball over, or not go three-and-out in those key situations, and have great ball security as well. So that’s what we’ve got to focus on moving forward.”

With the loss, USU is now 0-3 on the season. The Aggies will face Troy at home next week, which will also be the homecoming game for the Aggies.