Broncos beat the bulls on senior night
Utah State took on its Mountain West rival Saturday night in the final home game of the season at Merlin Olsen Field At Maverik Stadium.
USU (5-6, 3-4 MW) had its first lead of the season following the first quarter but couldn’t stop BSU’s (6-5, 5-2 MW) scoring game losing 10-45.
The game also resulted in several injuries including the starting and backup quarterbacks and and three running backs.
The senior night celebration honored CB Michael Anyanwu, RB Sione Finau, RB Cooper Jones, OL Calvin Knapp, OL Wade Meacham, DT Hale Motu’apuaka, CB Xavion Steele, ILB MJ Tafisi Jr., WR Terrell Vaughn and QB Levi Williams.
“Obviously disappointed with the outcome, not how I wanted to send seniors out on senior night. Love the way we came out defensively early and got some stops love the fact we were able to get in the end zone and go ten up. But beyond that, not much happened that was that was very positive. We turned the ball over too much,” head coach Blake Anderson said. “We’ve got to get better in terms of protecting the football.”
First to receive the ball, BSU couldn’t make it past the 25-yard line, punting it back to USU before accomplishing a first down.
Breaking the punting game streak on both sides, junior TE Broc Lane caught the ball up the middle completed for 19 yards, and advanced to the USU43. The Aggies couldn’t follow through on the advantage and punted it back to the BSU7.
BSU completed its first pass of the game on third and three but handed it back to USU.
To end the punting streak occurring for the majority of the first quarter, senior QB Cooper Legas passed deep to junior WR Jalen Royals for 57 yards. He took it and ran for his nation-leading sixth touchdown over 50 yards.
The first quarter ended with USU leading 7-0, the first time the Aggies have led at the end of the first this season.
Q1: USU 7, BSU 0
Just into the second quarter, senior RB George Holani rushed up the middle for a gain of 75 yards to score BSU’s first TD of the game.
USU brought the ball within scoring range and earned three points on a 34-yard field goal by junior PK Elliot Nimrod.
Shortly followed, BSU’s sophomore QB Taylen Green passed deep to sophomore TE Matt Lauter for a 26-yard touchdown.
On third and 13, Legas scrambled up the middle for a gain of 24 yards bringing the Aggies to the BSU38. Junior RB Davon Booth rushed for 18 yards to the seven and Vaughn brought it to the two but an attempt on the fourth down resulted in an interception by junior CB A’Marion McCoy returned for 21 yards.
After heading downfield, Holani rushed 33 yards for a touchdown in the middle of the second quarter making it 21-10 for BSU with 6:27 remaining in the first half.
Hillstead, who had been out on injury, was put in the game but fumbled it back to BSU on the first drive. Legas went out with a shoulder injury and did not come back to the game.
After recovering the ball on the USU25, the Broncos took the ball downfield for another TD accomplished by Green on a 2-yard pass. Following the kick, USU’s ADD Seni Tuiaki was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.
BSU ended the first half with a 44-yard field goal from Jonah Dalmas keeping the score at 31-10 for the Broncos.
Q2: USU 10, BSU 31
The second half started out with an unsuccessful drive by USU resulting in a 40-yard punt by freshman P Ryan Marks and a quick turnaround by BSU’s Ashton Jeanty rushing up the middle for a TD at 10:34 left in the third quarter.
Hillstead threw deep to Royals in the endzone but the incomplete pass forced the Aggies to punt it on fourth and 18.
After Hillstead was injured on the sack, senior QB Levi Williams stepped in throwing a complete 3-yard pass to Vaughn’s just before the end of the third quarter.
Q3: USU 10, BSU 38
USU took some hard hits in the third quarter while BSU ran up the middle of the field. They went 7 plays for 38 yards before Jambres Dubar ran it up the middle 10 yards for a TD.
With less than two minutes in the game, USU tried to run it downfield but was stopped on fourth and three. BSU took the ball back and ran out the clock to end the Mountain West foe matchup.
FINAL: USU 10, BSU 45
A sixth win of the season would have made USU bowl-eligible. They will now face New Mexico on Nov. 25 in their final game of the regular season and last chance at a bowl game.
“We have a short week to get ready for New Mexico, we still have an opportunity to go to bowl game, which will be huge for this group considering all that we’ve dealt with in the offseason and the schedule that we’ve played,” Anderson said.
FINAL STATS:
Total Yds: BSU 445, USU 373
Pass Yds: BSU 93, USU 209
Rush Yds: BSU 352, USU 164
Penalties: BSU 3-31, USU 5-40
1st Downs: BSU 19, USU 16
Avg Yds/Play: BSU 6.7, USU 5.2
Avg Yds/Completion: BSU 11.6, USU 13.1
Avg Yds/Rush: BSU 7.3, USU 3.9