Bulls on parade: Aggies top BYU 40-24
Jalen Davis sauntered into the post-game presser beaming above his shoulder pads, game ball carefully tucked in the crook of his arm. Senior quarterback Kent Myers sat nearby, patiently waiting in an office wheelie chair. Dallin Leavitt was undoubtedly somewhere in the building, still just being intense. The whole cast seemed relieved.
They’d actually done it.
Minutes earlier in the welcoming confines of Maverik Stadium, backed by students in all white and the Bear River Mountains’ orange-red hue, Utah State football rewrote a narrative that had plagued the team since the end of 2016’s disappointing campaign. The Aggies took the field against in-state rival BYU, endured an early punch in the mouth, and fought back from a two-touchdown deficit to move above .500 for the first time all season.
Utah State won back the Old Wagon Wheel by a final tally of 40-24. While none of it was perfect — the Aggies generated just 288 total yards of offense — the win improves USU’s record to 3-2, including back-to-back victories in which the defense has amassed 12 total takeaways. Davis finished the game with three interceptions and a pair of defensive touchdowns, leading a defense that has only allowed two touchdowns in its past two games.
“I’m not from Utah, but I know nobody likes BYU,” Myers said. “It was one of those things that we wanted to do for our Utah guys. It’s another game and another win that gets us closer to being bowl eligible. It’s another win giving us the momentum into our Mountain West game against Colorado State.”
The Aggie offense took the stage first, marching downfield quickly and confidently to open the show with Myers rolling outside for chunks of yardage and BYU’s front seven struggling with USU’s pace. Less than four minutes into the quarter, Myers found a wide open Dax Raymond for a 32-yard touchdown grab — the first of the redshirt sophomore’s career.
Just as quickly, that confidence evaporated after Myers threw a nasty 46-yd pick-six to BYU’s Micah Hanneman. With the game tied 7-7, the Cougars moved to crush the Aggies early. The second quarter began with BYU quarterback Baeu Hoge tossing a 26-yarder to Brayden El-bakri, taking a 14-7 lead. Under two minutes later, Hoge struck again — this time with a deep 40-yd bomb to Beau Tanner, who managed to sneak a foot inside the pylon for another score. The Aggies’ 7-0 lead was gone, replaced by a sinister 21-7 in a span of 17 minutes.
That’s when the stars came out. Jalen Davis, a back-end terror well on his way to an All-MW bid this season, shined brilliantly. Davis was the first to flip the momentum switch back in Utah State’s favor, snatching an errant pass that rebounded off of Chase Christiansen’s shoulders and streaking to the end zone for a 30-yard pick-six.
“There were a lot of great individual plays,” said USU head coach Matt Wells. “It was a tremendous job by our defense in getting the turnovers, we talked about that all week. Four of the last five years in this rivalry, the team that has forced the most turnovers has won the game.”
Ten minutes elapsed. Hoge limped through a drive before being sidelined without the possibility of returning. The Cougars employed third-string signal-caller Koy Detmer and running back Ula Tolutau to maintain BYU’s power running presence, but ultimately punted on three consecutive drives. Myers took the field. Ron’quavion Tarver did, too.
Myers spotted Tarver hauling down the left sideline with a single man to beat, and unloaded. His perfect 36-yard arc to the end zone found Tarver with a speedy defender hanging all over him — it didn’t matter. Tarver secured the catch, scored the equalizer and gave life to an Aggie offense determined to erase their early mistakes from memory.
BYU would’ve had 1:11 to take a lead before halftime, but Detmer tested Senior safety Dallin Leavitt over the middle and paid for it. The Portland native came down with an interception against his former team right on the 50, returning it all the way to the Cougar 24. With three seconds remaining in the half, sophomore kicker Dominik Eberle booted a 32-yard go-ahead field goal, and a wild Act I came to a close. The Aggies led 24-21.
The third quarter, so often Utah State’s weakest point, opened with a reprise. Davis stole another one from the Cougar offense all the way to the BYU 36, leading to more Eberle — and more points on the board. It was the only score of the period.
No fan feels safe with a 27-21 lead. The fourth quarter begins with a home team on third down and three on the BYU 19. Myers takes the snap and runs every one of those final 19 yards to reach paydirt, intensifying the charge already circulating a packed Maverik Stadium eager for a week’s worth of smack talk to pay off. Myers’ final statline included 16-27 passing for two touchdowns, but a failed 2-pt conversion kept the score 33-21. BYU responded quickly, completing a 39-yard pass to Jonah Trinnaman down to the Aggies doorstep. Tolutau punched in a touchdown from five yards out, but a costly holding penalty pulled the Cougars away from the goal line and into field goal territory. BYU knocked in a 37-yarder.
The teams mirrored each other over the next ten minutes, rushing for short gains and punting until finally, a crunch-time drive for the Cougars. Down 33-24 with 3:20 on the clock, it became clear BYU would need a score to keep the comeback dream alive — Jalen Davis would have none of it. Davis baited Detmer into a risky pass, Detmer took the chance, and the senior cornerback came down with his third interception of the game.
It was also his second trip to the end zone.
“It feels good, but then again, I just want to help my team win,” Davis said. “That’s all I want to do, go out there and help my team win, so that’s what we did.”
Utah State completed the game with seven takeaways, including three forced fumbles — the first three fumbles BYU lost all season.
“It just boosts our confidence even more,” Davis added. “Every win just boosts our confidence even more. We’re just going to take that to practice and keep working hard to get to that Mountain West championship.”