Aggies top UNLV 34-20, lose Harrison
Saturday marked another conference win for Utah State football and another quarterback sidelined with an injury, as the Aggies defeated UNLV 34-20 at home to improve their record to 5-3 on the season.
Third-string quarterback Craig Harrison made the most of his second career start before going down in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury, throwing for 221 yards and three touchdowns while gaining 39 yards on the ground.
“I thought Craig played well,” said USU head coach Matt Wells following the win. “He was very efficient and consistent. He managed the play well and got the guys rallied around him. He did a nice job up until the injury.”
Wells added concern that Harrison’s injury could be major.
“It looks like he may be out for a while,” Wells said. “We’ll know more once we get MRIs and X-rays, but it doesn’t look good.”
Freshman fourth-stringer Kent Meyers picked up where Harrison left off, starting the fourth quarter for the Aggies with a 73-yard drive capped by a Joe Hill touchdown. Meyers threw for 41 yards and rushed for another 18 on the drive.
UNLV’s hopes for a comeback were silenced by two late-game interceptions by the Aggie defense, an aspect of USU’s game that was notably absent from last week’s contest against Colorado State. The Aggies, who added a fumble recovery to their two picks against UNLV Saturday, have now forced 22 turnovers in their past seven games.
Eight different Aggies have recorded interceptions this season, but defending the run is where USU does its best work. Utah State now ranks fourth in the nation in run defense, allowing opposing teams a mere 89 yards per game on the ground. The Aggies’ defensive pressure also nets USU 3.88 sacks per game, more than any FBS school in the country besides Utah’s five sacks per game and Washington’s 4.25. Utah State improved that number Saturday with six sacks against the Rebels.
The Aggies now sit in the middle of the Mountain West pack with a conference record of 2-1, having overcome a remarkable number of injuries to key starters.
“I’ve never seen this before and I never hope to see it again,” Wells said. “But we’re faced with it. It’s adversity at its finest and highest level I’ve ever seen. I won’t minimize it for those three quarterbacks, but I’ve got Kyler Fackrell, Alex Huerta, Tavaris McMillian and Brandon Swindall out too. They’re all starters. I hurt for those kids.”
Despite the unfortunate string of injuries, athletes continue to step up for the Aggies. Junior wideout JoJo Natson posted a career-high 124 receiving yards Saturday, including a career-best 71-yard touchdown catch. Senior running back Joe Hill added his own career-long touchdown reception, snagging a 69-yard strike from Harrison for his first touchdown catch of the season. Senior Nick Diaz knocked down a season-long 49-yard field goal. Sophomore linebacker Nick Vigil filled the stat sheet with a career-long 31-yard rush, 1.5 sacks and his fourth forced fumble of the season.
Wells credited his ever-resilient team for the winning effort.
“The things that we can control are the things we’ll focus on,” Wells said. “There will be no self-pity with this team and I continue to be amazed by them. We preach it, but they play it. These players deserve all the credit today.”
Natson added that despite the adversity of injuries, the offense has adjusted to new quarterbacks well this season.
“I think the offense played really well today,” Natson said. “Not the best, not what we expected, but we have new quarterbacks. We’re rallying around new quarterbacks every week. Every time someone gets hurt, someone steps up. I feel like we were solid on offense. We had a few mistakes that we’ll fix, most of it comes from executing. That’s our biggest thing is just executing.”
Junior linebacker LT Filiaga echoed his teammate, citing last year’s success as proof of the Aggies’ ability to compete in the Mountain West no matter who’s taking the snap.
“It’s not like our team hasn’t been in this situation before,” Filiaga said. “I know last year Chuckie Keeton went down, and Darell stepped in and did a good job. We wrapped our arms around him. It’s the same situation, just different people. We have to do the same thing, just carry on and wrap our arms around the next quarterback or whoever it is that goes down, and lift them up and give them confidence from the team.”
The Aggies next face the 2-6 Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors on the road Saturday, Nov. 1 at 9 p.m. (MT).