Offense awakens but Ag sill lose to Bulldogs Saturday
Despite having the best offensive performance of the season, the Aggies were defeated by Louisiana Tech 48-35 on Saturday night, dropping to 1-7 overall and 1-3 in the WAC.
Although the Aggies were able to put together strong scoring drives, the team gave up 570 yards of total offense to a balanced Bulldog attack.
Louisiana Tech quarterback Zac Champion completed 13-of-18 throws for 226 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes and freshman running back Daniel Porter accounted for 178 of his team’s 344 rushing yards as the Bulldogs relentlessly moved the ball up the field.
The Bulldogs were able to capitalize on early mistakes by the Aggies and made big plays to jump out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter with a field goal and a pair of long touchdown passes. The Aggies would threaten but never fully recovered.
“I am tremendously disappointed,” Coach Brent Guy said in a post-game press conference. “You can’t give up 17 points like we did in the first quarter. We lost the game in the first quarter.”
With the help of Kevin Robinson, who had a brilliant game with a career-high 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the Aggies cut into the deficit in the second quarter.
Quarterback Riley Nelson completed a 60-yard reception to Robinson which set up a one-yard touchdown run by Marcus Cross to put Utah State on the scoreboard.
Later in the quarter, Nelson would again connect with Robinson for a 17-yard touchdown pass to cut the Bulldog lead to 24-14 going into halftime.
However, Louisiana Tech would come back strong in the second half, scoring on a 65-yard run by Patric Jackson on their first possession of the third quarter. A three-yard touchdown pass to Josh Wheeler would put the Bulldogs up 38-14.
Nelson, who completed 12-of-28 passes for 249 yards and had two touchdowns and two interceptions, would lead the Aggies back down the field and set up a seven-yard touchdown run for Cross to cut into the lead.
The Aggies defense did all it could to put the team back in the game. Darby Golden recovered a fumble and ran it 46 yards for a touchdown to make it a two possession game with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter, but Louisiana Tech continued to have an answer for every Utah State threat. Porter responded with a five-yard touchdown run for the Bulldogs, putting them ahead 48-28.
With the game out of reach, the Aggies finished the game with a strong scoring drive, going 59 yards in seven plays. Robinson caught his second and final touchdown of the game with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
The Aggies next play Hawaii at home on Nov. 4.