Football fails to defend in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
BOISE, ID — Utah State (6-7, 4-4 MW) faced Georgia State (7-6, 3-5 SBC) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, their 11th bowl appearance in the past 13 seasons, but couldn’t defend long enough to find victory.
“Our fans, those that travel we have a lot of folks that made the trip, just appreciate them coming and supporting us,” head coach Blake Anderson said. “Very disappointed in how we played. We’re a better football team than what you saw today. That’s the hard part, we did a lot of work to get here and overcame a lot of adversity to get here. But then did not play, in any phase, the way we’re capable of. I love these men, I love what they did to get us to a bowl game, but as I told them in the locker room we’re a better football team than we showed today, frustrated with how we played in all three phases.
GSU won the coin toss and deferred till the second. After receiving on the USU0, Jalen Royals brought it up to the 44.
Faison’s rush for a gain of one yard on the fourth down turned the ball back to the Panthers on the 32-yard line after USU’s first run.
GSU ran it back and a personal foul by Utah State helped them into the red. QB Keeper Darren Grainger rushed up the middle for a gain of 1 yard, solidifying the game’s first points.
GSU’s endzone celebration penalty played to USU’s advantage landing on the 50-yard line for their second go in the game, shortly followed by a touchdown of their own.
Jalen Royals found his 15th TD catch of the year, setting the single-season school record as he completed Levi Williams’s 35-yard catch to the end.
GSU took it right back going 60 yards downfield before Grainger jumped into the endzone advancing 14-7 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Davon Booth took matters into his own hands rushing 65 yards into the endzone marking his longest rush and the longest scoring run in USU bowl history.
Seconds before the end of the first quarter, Grainger threw it up the middle complete for 27 yards to Tailique Williams in the endzone.
Utah State started off the second quarter and attempted a 37-yard field goal but was unsuccessful. Another first possession without scoring hurt USU in the first and led GSU into the red at the beginning of the second.
Quick to respond, Michael Anyanwu forced a fumble recovered by Simeon Harris only for Williams to throw an interception to Josh Sterzer. Liam Rickman kicked a 31-yard field goal settling the score at 24-10 with 7:30 left in the half.
The pace slowed down until GSU took it into the endzone another time with 1:17 left. Grainger passed deep 23 yards to Cadarrius Thompson.
DE Paul Fitzgerald accomplished his sixth sack of the season, leading the team, to end the first half 14-31 for GSU.
USU’s defense struggled to produce throughout the first half. Georgia State is out some of its top running backs but still had 249 rushing yards on 23 carries at the end of the half.
The second half started out slower than the first.
Fitzgerald accomplished his third sack of the game — tied for the most in a bowl game in school history along with Nick Heninger who had 3.0 sacks against Oregon State in the 2021 LA Bowl.
Georgia State then went on a nine-play scoring drive for 80 yards in 4:26. Thompson caught a pass for a 37-yard touchdown bringing them 24 points on top of USU.
McCae Hillstead stepped in as quarterback for the fourth quarter after being taken out on injury after the San Diego State matchup on Nov. 4.
Booth rushed up the middle for a gain of four but a sack on Hillstead took them back 11.
GSU went five plays for 71 yards in 2:54 for its first touchdown of the fourth quarter after Freddie Brock rushed up the middle for a gain of 43 yards and then again for five more into the endzone.
MJ Tafisi marked his tenth tackle of the game, his ninth-straight double-digit tackle outing, marking a new school record.
The Aggies brought in back to the red zone with a 10-yard gain from Vaughn and almost to the endzone with a pass deep to the right intended for Kyrese Rowan.
Vaughn caught a short pass complete for two yards into the endzone with a successful two-point conversion by Royals to put points on the board for USU, the first time since the first quarter.
Ike Larsen recovered an onside kick and the Aggies got the ball back on offense for Hillstead to scramble for six yards on the fourth down.
GSU made its way to the 1-yard line before running out the clock and celebrating with the famous fry bath.