Homecoming heartbreak
Utah State managed to invent another way to lose a game in the same pattern as they lost to Auburn earlier this season. The Aggies blew an eight point lead in the fourth quarter and lost to Colorado State in overtime, 35-34, Saturday.
Running back Robert Turbin had 115 yards and four touchdowns in the game, but came up short in the final two-point conversion attempt which would have sealed homecoming victory for the Aggies.
“Maybe I could have stopped on a dime and ran the other way,” said the junior from Freemont, Calif. “Colorado State is not a good enough team to beat us, I’m sorry. We beat ourselves.”
Up by eight with 2:17 left on the clock in regulation, thoughts of overtime and two-point conversion might-have-beens were not at all what the Aggies were concentrating on. They had just stopped Colorado State on third down, and all USU needed to do to earn a win was field a punt and run the clock out.
Instead, receiver Eric Moats muffed the fair catch and fumbled the ball 15 yards away from the goal. The Rams scored four plays later on a 1-yard run by Chris Nwoke, who finished the game with 85 yards and two touchdowns.
Down two, with 42 seconds in the fourth quarter, Colorado State lined up for the two-point conversion, but a false start penalty backed them up to the 8-yard line. The extra distance was not enough to help the Aggies make a stop, and the game went into overtime, 21-21.
Each team scored two touchdowns in the overtime periods, but Utah State elected to go for the win after the second overtime. Having just scored, and down by one, 35-34, the Aggies lined up for their bread-and-butter two-point conversion play. Quarterback Chuckie Keeton threw to receiver Matt Austin, but the ball was batted away by the Colorado State defense. Luckily for the Aggies, a pass interference penalty was called, and the Aggies got a second chance from one and a half yards out.
Turbin took the handoff on the next play and sprinted to the left edge, only to be stood up by a pair of CSU defenders and wrestled out of bounds, as the Ram coaching staff and players rushed onto the field in celebration.
Turbin said the play will stick with him forever.
“We got a second chance and blew it,” Turbin said. “I blew it. ‘I lost the game,’ was the first thing that kind of ran through my mind.”
The question is, why not kick the extra point and go for two in the third overtime when mandated by the rulebook?
“The reason for going for two was I believe in the team,” USU head coach Gary Andersen said. “I believe we can score from the 3-yard line at any time. I surely believe we can score from the 1 1/2-yard line, the 1-yard line, it doesn’t matter. I’d do it again in a second; I’m always going to coach aggressive.”
Colorado State head coach Steve Fairchild said he wasn’t surprised Andersen called the play to go for the win.
“I am sure that they believe in their offense, and Gary Andersen is a good coach,” Fairchild said. “It’s a good call when it works, and it isn’t when it doesn’t.”
Utah State out-rushed the Rams, 281-124, in the defeat. Andersen said turnovers were key in the game.
“Obviously this was a heart-breaking loss,” Andersen said. “No question about it. I don’t have much further answers other than that. You lose a turnover battle, 4-1, and you’re not going to win games, period. If that’s the case, you’re going to have a hard time winning games.”
The loss drops Utah State to 1-2, but both losses this season have been taken away from the Aggies in the final quarter.
“We played great for three quarters,” USU safety Walter McClenton. “I don’t want to say that history repeats itself, but we saw the same thing against Auburn. We have to make a stop.”
Andersen said all is far from lost.
“It’s just crushing to feel the momentum in the stadium — the fans,” Andersen said. “It’s hard for me to deal with, to swallow. Everyone wants this thing to get flipped, and when I say everyone, I mean Aggie Nation. We’ll come back fighting. It’s the only choice we have.”
Looking forward to next week, the Aggies will face in-state rival Brigham Young University in Provo, Sept. 30.
McClenton said the team will need to let go of the loss and focus on what lies ahead.
“We can’t let Colorado State beat us at the BYU game also,” McClenton said.
– tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu