Penalties still haunting Aggies

Utah State was only called for seven penalties against Nevada, but it cost them 65 yards, one turnover and two first downs.

“Penalties got us today,” head coach Brent Guy said. “They were all critical.”

Guy said he didn’t know why they all came at key moments of the game.

“I wish I had the answer,” he said. “One cost us a turnover, one cost us a first down. We’ve got to focus better.”

On Nevada’s first possession of the game, its running fumbled the ball which USU recovered, but the Aggies were called for offsides, giving the ball back to the Wolfpack.

Then on USU’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Kevin Robinson ran the ball for 11 yards, but the Aggies were called for holding, bringing the ball back 10 yards and wiping away the first down.

“We had too many penalties in the first quarter,” Guy said.

Senior Day spoiled

There were 14 Aggie seniors that saw their final game in Romney Stadium end in a loss Saturday.

Guy said he wishes they could have had a taste of something different in their final home game.

“This is what they’ve dealt with their whole career,” he said. “We’ve got to win some games.”

Wide Reciever Tony Pennyman said he’s sad for the seniors.

“I’m a junior, but I feel for them,” he said. “We just got to put it all together and start a winning streak.”

Guy said the seniors still have an opportunity next week at New Mexico State to finish their career with a win.

“They still have a lot to play for,” he said. “We just have to send them out on the road and not at home.”

Hardly a birthday present

Starting quarterback Jerod Walker turned 19 years old last Friday and got to start his first college game on Saturday.

He said his birthday doesn’t make the loss feel any better.

“The loss ruins the whole weekend,” he said.

Walker went 19-for-26 with 226 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran the ball 22 times for 35 yards.

He did not throw an incomplete pass until the final minute of the second quarter. He had completed 16 straight prior to that, dating back to the fourth quarter of the Hawai’i game last Saturday. He was one completion shy of tying the all-time USU record of 17 in a row set by Brent Snyder in 1987.

Other Notes:

Sixteen of Walker’s 19 completions were to either Pennyman or Kevin Robinson.

Pennyman returned three kickoffs for 207 yards and one touchdown. His 99 yard touchdown on a kick return was the third longest in school history and gave him the USU record for most kick returns for touchdowns in a season with two (11 players had one).

Offensive lineman Donald Penn did not start for the first time since his freshman year. He had started 41 consecutive games.

By the numbers:

7,153 – Paid attendance.

99 – Yard kick return for a touchdown for Tony Pennyman in the third quarter.

10 – Yards to go on third down for Nevada with just over two minutes to play when B.J. Mitchell ran the ball up the middle for 11 yards.

7 – Point overtime loss by BYU against Utah in Provo.

5 – Yard run for Jerod Walker as time expired in the first half when USU was on the Nevada 6 yard-line.

2 – Field goals missed by USU, one being blocked and the other going wide right.

0 – Tony Pennymans on the field for Nevada’s final kickoff of the game after Pennyman had returned the previous two kickoffs for a total of 183 yards.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu