Defense dominates, offense wins in spring football finale
It was all defense — until the final two minutes — at the annual Blue vs. White spring game.
“I thought we did really good,” said Ricky Ali’ifua, a junior defensive end who recorded one tackle for loss at the scrimmage. “The offense didn’t score until the very end, but ideally we want them to never score. We had something to prove, not only to the fans but to the offense — that the defense is the heart of this team. That’s what we’re going to continue to try and prove for this program.”
The offense beat the defense 50-48 after scoring a late-game touchdown.
“It’s great to be back out here with all these guys again,” said senior quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who led the passing attack with 55 yards on 7-of-18 passing. “I guess we find ways to win, but we’ve got a lot of pieces to put into place.”
The offense got six points for a touchdown, three points for a field goal, two points for a rush of 15 or more yards, two points for a pass of 20 or more yards, one point for a first down and one or two points for respective conversions.
The defense earned six points for a touchdown, five points for a turnover, three points for a three-and-out, three points for a blocked field goal, two points for a stopped drive, sack or tackle for loss, as well as one or two points for failed respective conversions. The team wanted to emphasize defense, so the scoring rules included an amendment that if the offense scored inside of two minutes remaining, it would bring them even no matter the score difference.
“I think we’ll be OK,” said Utah State head coach Matt Wells. “I feel good about our offense. We’ve got a long ways to go, but I didn’t see anything that worries me.”
Trailing 38-11 on the last play of the game, redshirt freshman D.J. Nelson hit wide receiver Tyler Fox for a 4-yard touchdown to pull even. The offense converted a two point conversion on a wide-open catch in the end zone by running back Kennedy Williams.
The defense had seven players with at least three tackles each and eight tackles for loss. Ian Togiai led the defense with five tackles and one tackle for loss. Eric Bernston recorded the team’s only sack of the day.
Defensively the Aggies allowed 94 rush yards on 34 attempts and 95 pass yards on 39 attempts.
“We want to finish stronger than we started,” Ali’ifua said. “We didn’t do that at the end. … Overall I was really pleased with it. We had a lot of energy and a lot of juice, we’re satisfied with what happened today.”
Along with the defense, special teams impressed Wells. Punter Aaron Dalton kicked 13 times for an average of over 49 yards per punt and a long of 62.
The offense struggled all afternoon. The longest play of the scrimmage was a screen pass from Nelson to junior college transfer Devante Mays that went for 26 yards.
“It makes us better,” Keeton said. “It gives us a great defense to go against every single day. You can only get better by competing against the best. I think that’s what we do every single day. I’m excited to see what they do in the season.”
Redshirt freshman Zach Van Leeuwen caught five passes for 40 yards to lead the receivers, and Tonney Lindsey was the leading rusher with 19 yards on six rush attempts.
The offense was missing wide receivers Hunter Sharp and Brandon Swindall. Devonte Robinson and JoJo Natson both took limited snaps on offense as well. The defense was playing without top linebackers Kyler Fackrell and Nick Vigil. Noseguard Travis Seefeldt and defensive end Jordan Nielsen were missing from the defensive line.
There were close to 9,000 fans at the game to celebrate the new naming rights for Maverik Stadium and watch the spring game. Maverik sponsored live music and free food for fans before the game started.
“It’s neat to see this,” Wells said. “The amount of support, the amount of fans, the junior recruits and sophomore recruits. Great crowd, great turnout, alumni turnout — it’s a great day to be an Aggie.”
— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com
Twitter: @kalen_taylor