“Hail Mary” pass answers USU’s prayers
Thanks to a missed extra point by University of New Mexico kicker Kenny Byrd, the Utah State University Aggies held on to win in overtime Saturday 45-44 at Romney Stadium.
The missed extra point provided an unexpected ending to a wild game of football.
“I haven’t seen anything like the last two games,” said Aggie Head Coach Mick Dennehy. “We are treading in new territorial waters now and it was absolutely wild.”
After having the ball for only 8 and one-half minutes in the first half, the Aggies found themselves down by only a field goal.
With the score 17-14 at the half, the game was still up for grabs.
The Aggies started the second half with a bang, as quarterback Jose Fuentes connected with wide receiver Kevin Curtis for an 80-yard touchdown catch on the second play of the drive.
“I have to give a little credit to the equipment guy,” Curtis said. “Before the game … they get my shoulder pads and they put all that sticky stuff on it so the defense can’t really pull and tug on my jersey. On that play, after I caught it, that guy was holding on to me and he just couldn’t really get too much of a grip and he slipped off.”
The touchdown gave the Aggies a 21-17 lead and with a Dane Kidman 38-yard field goal on the next possession, Utah State went up by seven points.
New Mexico quickly answered on the next possession and the two teams traded scores until they were tied 31-31 with 6:58 left in the game.
Utah State got the ball after New Mexico tied and the game and the Aggies began driving down the field.
With 32 seconds left, Fuentes made a costly error as Lobo safety Terrell Golden intercepted Fuentes’ pass and took the ball the other way for a 59-yard touchdown.
With New Mexico up 38-31 and only 25 seconds left on the clock, the Aggie offense went back on the field and went to work like nothing had happened.
On the final play of the regulation, Fuentes redeemed himself by connecting with wide receiver Chris Stallworth on a 32-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to tie the game at 38-38.
“I saw someone on our team come down with it but I didn’t know who it was,” Fuentes said. “I saw the stands go crazy and I knew it had to be us.”
Stallworth said, “I was blocking the other defenders waiting for [Curtis] to jump up and get it. I followed the ball all the way down. I just caught it, no jump or nothing.”
Stallworth’s catch gave the Aggies another shot at winning as the game went into overtime.
In overtime, the Aggies got the ball first and continued to work for the win.
On the third play of the overtime, running back James Samuel scored from eight yards out to give the Aggies the lead.
New Mexico answered the Aggies score when Lobo quarterback Casey Kelly found wide receiver Hank Baskett for Baskett’s second touchdown of the game.
Bad luck found the Lobos a play later when Byrd hooked the extra point wide right.
“I’m happy that we kept playing and kept believing. It’s an unforgettable feeling to win a game like this,” Dennehy said.
Lobo Head Coach Rocky Long said, “They made one more play than we did and they ended up winning the game.”
With the win, the Aggies record improved to 2-5 on the season, while the Lobos record fell to
3-5.
The Aggies celebrated their first win over a Division I-A foe in eight games, snapped their 14-game losing streak to Mountain West Conference teams. The win was the 60th for Dennehy as a college head coach.
Previously, the Aggies only win this season came to Division I-AA Idaho State.
Curtis had his best yardage game in an Aggie uniform as he compiled 180 yards receiving on six catches. His 180 yards moved him into fifth place on the Aggies’ all-time receiving yardage leader board with a career total 2,294 yards.
Linebacker Jesse Busta moved himself up the all-time leader boards as well, recording 15 tackles and moving into sixth place all-time.
-jwhigg@cc.usu.edu
USU quarterback Jose Fuentes looks for an open pass during an overtime Saturday against UNM. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)
Aggie defensive tackle Ronald Tupea peels the decal off of his helmet to trade with New Mexico safety Terrell Golden after the game. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)