Football: Williams, Aggies stomp Rebels
In front of a white-clad crowd at home, the Utah State football team put a beating on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 35-13 Saturday.
But it didn’t come without a few bumps.
“We started off with some very positive plays and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with penalties,” sophomore quarterback Chuckie Keeton said. “That is something we need to work on this week and get under control. That is the biggest thing.”
The Aggies committed 123 yards worth of penalties and two turnovers in 60 minutes of football. It’s a difficult task to win a football game with that kind of a hurdle, much less win by 21. It’s a testament to the performance of the team.
Senior running back Kerwynn Williams finished with 260 all-purpose yards, 147 through the air and 113 on the ground, while Keeton threw for more than 400 yards. It’s no wonder the Rebels got trounced.
But miscues remain a concern with several high-profile games looming ahead.
Against a team such as UNLV, the Aggies were able to overcome the penalties and turnovers, but against higher-caliber teams like Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and BYU, it could do Utah State in. Back-to-back weeks against Colorado State and UNLV, the Aggies opened the second half with back-to-back turnovers.
That’s just turnovers – penalties are a whole different issue.
“We have to get rid of the unforced errors and the penalties or it will cost us a football game,” head coach Gary Andersen said.
Against the Rebels, the Aggies emotions got the better of them. USU was penalized 123 yards on nine penalties. Seven of those penalties were of the 15-yard variety. That means 103 of the 123 penalty yards came from personal fouls, pass interference and illegal blocks.
Physicality is one thing, but Utah State can’t afford that steep of repercussions for physical play. And it wasn’t just against a tough-as-nails UNLV squad, it’s been a theme this season.
Last week against Colorado State junior linebacker Jake Doughty was flagged for unnecessary roughness of Colorado State’s kicker on an onside kick when the game had all but been decided.
The week before against Wisconsin, offensive pass interference pushed the field goal unit back and resulted in a missed field goal and the Aggies’ lone loss of the year.
So far this season, Utah State has been hit with 471 yards of penalties, or 94.2 yards per game. USU opponents on the other hand, have been whistled 29 times for 249 yards – a little more than half of what the Aggies have.
On the bright side, the Aggies have a lot going for them. The defense is ranked No. 11 in the country and it seems the special teams issues have gone by the wayside. And with Keeton at the helm of a prolific offense, USU has the talent to compete with anyone in the country, as shown two weeks ago against Wisconsin.
“I thought we started out kind of rough,” Williams said. “We picked up too many penalties, and that put us in a bad spot. I think the defense was again held their heads up high all night. Having a defense like that allows us to take more chances on offense.”
So far – thanks largely to the performance of the defense – only one penalty has loomed large for the Aggies, that being the offensive pass interference against Wisconsin. But if they don’t clean it up, hopes of an outright WAC championship could go up in smoke.
Even though USU is 4-1, the conference schedule isn’t looking as simple as it did at the start of the season. Three conference opponents have records equivalent to or better than the Aggies in UTSA, Louisiana Tech and San Jose State – two of which Utah State faces in the first three weeks of conference play.
If Utah State can clean up its penalty situation and take care of the ball, teams will be hard pressed to stop the Aggies.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @curtislundstrom