Pokes pull away with win
Utah State laid out the welcome mat and made Wyoming feel right at home Saturday, losing 48-21 on Homecoming.
The Cowboys capitalized on sloppy play by the Aggie offense and special teams to take an early lead they never relinquished.
In one second quarter series, Utah State was called for five penalties in a six-play stretch before fumbling at its own 9-yard line. The Aggies also allowed kick and punt returns of 63, 53 and 25 yards.
Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy said the mistakes put too much pressure on the defense.
“We dug ourselves such a hole in the first half,” Dennehy said. “They didn’t have to drive very far or work very hard to get the points that they got. That was absolutely critical.”
Wyoming scored on its first four possessions, reaching the end zone on drives of just 58, 38, 45 and 26 yards. They also added a second quarter field goal when USU turned the ball over with a fumble at the Aggies’ own 9-yard line.
Both teams struggled with penalties, losing a combined 236 yards on 29 penalties.
Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet threw three touchdown passes, completing 13 of 24 for 211 yards.
Jovon Bouknight and Malcom Floyd each caught a touchdown pass and led the Cowboys with 81 and 67 yards receiving. Bouknight also returned two kickoffs for 88 yards, with a 63-yarder in the first quarter.
Utah State quarterback Travis Cox made big plays at times but could not get the offense into a consistent rhythm. Cox completed 16 of 35 passes for one touchdown and one interception.
“It’s really tough when you’re down so far you have to drop back and throw it almost every down in order to get back in it,” Dennehy said. “[Wyoming] is a very good offensive team. We just didn’t have our hands on the ball enough.”
Aggie tight end Chris Cooley caught five passes for 72 yards in his first game back since recovering from a foot injury that sidelined him since the Arizona State contest.
Wide receiver Kenny Coleman also had 72 yards receiving, including a 59-yarder to set up one USU score and a diving grab along the sideline of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. Joel Higginson added 53 yards on five catches for the game.
Running back David Fiefia had a solid all-around game, rushing 15 times for 87 yards, catching 2 passes for 36 yards and adding another 84 yards in kick returns.
Wide receiver Barry Tolli had a 39-yard kick return to open the game, taking a handoff from Fiefia to run a reverse. Tolli later returned the favor, catching a pass from Cox in the flat and connecting with Fiefia for a 38-yard gain that led to a two-yard Fiefia touchdown run.
Coleman said the Aggies self-destructed.
“We killed ourselves on offense,” he said. “When things start going bad, it just snowballs and everything goes bad.”
Despite getting a big lead early in the game, the Cowboys didn’t put the Aggies away for good until the fourth quarter.
Utah State trailed 31-7 before scoring in the final minute of the half. Cox’s 59-yard completion to Coleman moved the ball to the 6 where Cox took the ball in almost untouched on a draw play to make it 31-14.
Aggie Jared Johnstun sacked Bramlet for a 15-yard loss on Wyoming’s first series of the second half to force a punt that gave Utah State its best field position of the day at the Cowboy 48.
Johnstun had two sacks on the night. John Chick, Mike Rosencrans, and Robert Watts also had sacks, with Chick leading the team with nine tackles.
Higginson caught a 23-yard pass and caught a seven-yard, fourth-down conversion to keep the drive alive that eventually led to Coleman’s touchdown reception to bring USU within 10 at 31-21.
That gave Aggie fans hope with 9:02 left in the third quarter, but Utah State’s defense gave up its two longest plays of the year in the fourth quarter, a 47-yard TD run to Derek Armah and a 62-yard pass to Bouknight that brought the Cowboys to the final tally of 48-21.
Both Dennehy and Cox said the Aggies can’t focus on Saturday’s loss.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Cox said. “We can’t hang our heads. Conference is the big thing now that we’ve got to shoot for and forget about this as quick as we can.”
Dennehy said, “We’ve got our league next week, hopefully that will inject a little bit of life into us.”
-royburton@cc.usu.edu
Wyoming defensive end Brandon Casavan attempts to bring down Utah State quarterback Travis Cox during Saturday’s 48-21 Homecoming loss at Romney Stadium. Cox eventually escaped the tackle. (Photo by John Zsiray)
Utah State quarterback Travis Cox prepares to get the ball during Saturday’s 48-21 Homecoming loss to Wyoming. (Photo by John Zsiray)