Football team finishes on high note

Utah State kicker Justin Hamblin had missed two field goals earlier in the game, both of which were closer than the game winner, from 22 and 26 yards. His first miss was a wind-aided wide right and his second a wide left.

With 1:16 left in the fourth quarter and the game tied, Hamblin nailed a potential game-winning 32-yard field goal, which gave the Ags a 24-21 win.

“I was just trying to delete those two I hadn’t made and focus on the kick I had to make,” Hamblin said.

“Hamblin made the right one today,” Utah State Head Coach Brent Guy said.

New Mexico State still had time on the clock but couldn’t drive down the field as Royal Gil was 1-8 with an interception on what was their final drive. Aggie junior safety Terrance Washington picked off an errant pass from Gil to seal the win for the Ags, their first road win of the season.

For New Mexico State, the loss was their 13th-straight dating back to their loss to Utah State in the last game of 2004 when the Aggies also clinched the win with a fourth-quarter interception. Besides stopping the Aggies’ six-game losing streak, it was a relief not to lose to previously winless New Mexico State, Guy said.

“You don’t want to be on SportsCenter as the team that lost to the winless team,” he said.

Utah State quarterback Jerod Walker made the second start of his career Saturday. Walker became the first Aggie quarterback since 1972 to rush for more than 100 yards as he ran for 102 yards on 25 carries. The last time any Aggie had run for more than 100 yards was against New Mexico State last year when Chris Forbes ran for 131 yards.

Walker also threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns, both caught by Tony Pennyman. The go-ahead score to start the fourth quarter was a 10-yard pass to Pennyman which gave the Ags a 21-14 lead with 14:54 left in the fourth.

Pennyman was voted one of the four team captains for the year. He scored two touchdowns on the day; the first two receiving touchdown game of his career. Pennyman caught five passes for 69 yards and rushed four times for 32 yards.

Pennyman was also last week’s WAC special team player of the week thanks to his two big returns against Nevada, New Mexico State avoided both he and Kevin Robinson in the kicking game all day holding Pennyman to one return for zero yards. Robinson had four punt and kickoff returns for a total of 35 yards.

Royal Gil replaced Joey Vincent at quarterback for New Mexico State in the fourth quarter and went 9-9 for 71 yards on his first drive as New Mexico State tied the game at 21 on a 2-yard reception. For the game, Vincent was 20-32 for 214 yards and a touchdown.

Gil’s luck ran out on the final drive of the game as New Mexico State converted on fourth down and 10 and then threw the game ending interception on the next fourth down.

The interception was the third turnover of the day for New Mexico State since they had lost two fumbles in the first half. The first gave Utah State a short field on their first drive of the game.

The game was the last for Utah State’s senior class. A conference road win has been a goal of the team for the season and to get it in the final game is a good going-away present for the 14 Aggie seniors.

“This is only the seniors’ 11th win at Utah State,” Guy said. “They can walk away real proud with their heads high with what they’ve done for us.”

Senior defensive end and one of the three senior team captains, John Chick had three sacks on the day. Senior middle linebacker Matt Wiser had 12 tackles and fellow linebacker Jake Hutton also had 12. Both linebackers recovered fumbles for the Aggies as well.

As the seniors played their last game, the 12th freshman started for the Aggies on the year. Bevan Howard became no. 12 when he started against New Mexico State and recorded three tackles in the game.

-krn@cc.usu.edu

Utah State’s Tony Pennyman tries to run past a Nevada defender during a game on Nov. 19. The Aggies beat New Mexico State 24-21 Saturday.