Ags stymied by Razorbacks
A 103-yard rushing performance from Marcus Cross wasn’t enough to get Utah State on the scoreboard Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., as they fell 20-0.
Darren McFadden showed why he was SEC freshman of the year with two scoring runs, one a 72-yarder, and finished with 184 yards on 20 carries for a gaudy 9.2 yards per carry average. Felix Jones chipped in 72 more yards on the ground on just nine carries. McFadden’s 72-yard score was the longest of his career.
The Aggies could have avoided being skunked late in the fourth quarter when they drove down to the seven yard line. But instead of kicking a meaningless field goal, USU’s Head Coach Brent Guy told his team to go for the touchdown.
“We could have kicked a field goal at the end, but I told the kids we weren’t going to. We need to learn to score,” Guy said.
Unfortunately, three USU passes fell incomplete, but Guy was upbeat about the progress his team showed since its ugly debut last week at Wyoming.
“I do feel we are a better football team than a week ago,” Guy said. “We got something done and I feel better. We have improved.”
It was evident the Aggies were a much-improved team as early as the first quarter. The offense gained 74 yards en route to three first downs in the period, compared to zero in both categories last time out. USU finished the game with 249 net yards and snapped the ball more times than the home team, 67-60.
For the defense, sophomore linebackers Devon Hall and Jake Hutton led once again with eight tackles apiece. In the first quarter, Hutton forced McFadden to fumble when the Razorbacks had driven all the way down to the 1 yard line and appeared certain to score. The fumble was recovered by cornerback Drew Pearson.
“It was completely my fault for not securing the ball better,” McFadden said. There is no excuse except that I have to work to make sure it does not happen again.”
In fact, the Razorback’s 69,491 fans in attendance would not get to see a touchdown for the home side until the eight minute mark in the second quarter, when McFadden punched one in from nine yards out.
It appeared that USU’s tough D would carry that seven point disadvantage into the locker room at halftime. But heralded freshman Mitch Mustain connected on a big 46-yard pass to Damian Williams as Arkansas drove it 80 yards in five plays. The drive took place in the half’s final 59 seconds and was punctuated by a 13-yard Mustain scoring toss to 6-foot-6 Biletnikoff Award candidate Markus Monk.
“The touchdown was a go-route on the outside. Mitch threw it to a spot where only I could catch it and I went up and made the grab,” Monk said.
McFadden, who showed no ill effects from the toe injury which forced him to miss the bulk of preseason practices, scored the lone points of the second half with his long third-quarter burst. Arkansas missed the extra point.
“[McFadden] is a great runner, really fast,” Hutton said. “We did a good job, just made a couple of mistakes that hurt us.”
Guy said the problem for USU’s defense was that they “gave up too many big plays.”
With the Razorbacks’ offensive line and talented runners carrying the load, Mustain was just a modest 9-17 for 119 yards in his first start.
He did perform slightly better than his counterpart, Aggie signal caller Leon Jackson III, who finished 11-28 for 114 yards.
“We still did not score a touchdown,” Jackson said. “We need to learn to finish drives.”
Defensive end Ben Calderwood got his first start for USU and rewarded the coaches with USU’s first sack of the year. Tony Pennyman and Kevin Robinson extended their respective 12 and 19-game streaks with at least two catches. Penny had two for 36 yards, Robinson had two for 11.
After facing two teams with big, veteran offensive lines and talented running backs, USU now ranks 115 in the country against the run, allowing 250 yards per game.