Special teams lead the way as USU Football knocks off New Mexico
LOGAN — Utah State Football picked up their third Mountain West Conference win against New Mexico 27-10. It was the Aggies’ sixth straight win over New Mexico and their eighth victory in the last 10 matchups with the Lobos.
The Aggies trailed 10-7 four minutes into the second half and after offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on both teams, it looked like USU would try to tie the game with a 23-yard field goal on fourth down and goal. Instead, placekicker Connor Coles ran between the left tackle and left guard and into the end zone on a fake field goal.
Coles said he wished he could share the points with offensive linemen Alfred Edwards and Calvin Knapp.
“They opened up a massive hole,” Coles said. “I just caught the pitch and looked up and the end zone was there, so I just had to walk it in.”
The score gave the Aggies a 14-10 lead and ended up being the winning score as USU’s defense would not allow another point.
Special teams led the way for Utah State throughout the game as New Mexico was downed on their own one-yard line on the opening kickoff after some confusion for the Lobos, punter Stephen Kotsanlee gained 10 yards and a first down on a fake punt in the second quarter and cornerback Jamie Nance recovered a muffed punt to give the Aggies great field position, which led to a field goal in the third quarter.
“What a win,” head coach Blake Anderson said. “Do what you have to. Fake punt. Fake field goal. Whatever bullet you’ve got.”
Along with his fake field goal touchdown, Coles made two field goals and two extra points to become the Aggies leading scorer in the game with 15 points.
“It feels really good just to be able to do my one-eleventh for the team,” Coles said.
Outside of huge plays on special teams, there were some “ugly” plays on offense and defense for the Aggies. USU totaled 12 penalties for 113 yards and tight end Josh Sterzer was ejected from the game after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“There was a lot of ugly,” Anderson said. “It’s the nature of the kind of game it was going to be. But, we made plays that we had to, to win it and overcame a tough day.”
On top of the penalties, the weather soured in the fourth quarter as sheets of rain coated Maverik Stadium. The slickness produced by the rain helped the Aggies force a fumble from Lobo quarterback Justin Holaday. Linebacker AJ Vongphachanh forced the fumble after Holaday scrambled up field and safety Hunter Reynolds recovered the ball and returned it 55 yards for the scoop-and-score.
For Reynolds, the defensive touchdown was redemption from one he felt like he could have had last season against New Mexico.
“Last year against New Mexico, I actually had a fumble recovery, but I could have returned it for a touchdown, but I kinda kicked it and ended up just falling on it,” Reynolds said. “Last year I messed it up, this year I got it right so it’s a good feeling.”
The fumble recovery touchdown was the first defensive score for Utah State since Shaq Bond took a pick-six to the house against San Diego State in 2019.
Reynolds led USU with 10 tackles and the defense combined for three sacks and six tackles-for-loss with linebacker Kaleo Neves and defensive ends Patrick Joyner Jr. and Daniel Grzesiak leading each recording a TFL and sack.
For the Aggie offense, they struggled to pass effectively in windy conditions that lasted the entire game. Despite some incompletions that seemed heavily affected by wind, quarterback Cooper Legas was able to connect with wide receiver Terrell Vaughn for a 38-yard touchdown on USU’s first drive of the game. Legas finished with 149 yards from 13 completions on 27 attempts. Vaughn caught five of those passes for a total of 83 yards.
The Utah State rushing attack was limited to 131 yards, with 16 of those coming from special teams’ plays. Running back Robert Briggs led the team with 82 rushing yards on 19 carries. Running back Calvin Tyler Jr. finished with a mere 23 yards on 10 carries after he left the game with concussion symptoms, according to Anderson.
The Aggies travel to Manoa, Hawaii, next week to take on the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors in a late-night showdown on the islands. The game will be broadcast live on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Paige Johnson.