Stumble, fumble, crumble
“We found out why they’re the number one offense in the country,” Head Coach Brent Guy said Saturday after his Aggies lost 63-10 to the Hawaii Warriors.
The Warriors threw for 486 yards, many of those coming on long gains by running back Nate Ilaoa off shovel passes. USU lost three fumbles and freshman quarterback Riley Nelson threw an interception.
Marcus Cross was pulled from the game after rushing for 11 yards on seven carries. Guy said he had not seen the injury report. In Cross’ stead Antraun McDaniel gained 43 yards and scored a rushing TD but also fumbled. Nelson lead the Ags in rushing with 65 yards but had two fumbles.
“You can’t ever have two fumbles like that. Right now it’s really disappointing to turn the ball over and let the team down like that,” Nelson said.
Alaoa was probably the most impressive player on the field for the high-octane Hawaii offense. He is listed at 5-foot-9 and 248 pounds and led Hawaii in rushing with 55 yards and 9.2 yards per carry. The bowling-ball-like Alaoa did most of his damage catching shovel passes from Colt Brennan, catching six balls for 155 yards and scoring two TDs to lead the Warriors in receiving as well.
Cornerback Drew Pearson, one of the Aggies tasked with bringing Alaoa down, said, “He’s got speed for a secondary guy so I was really surprised at him, plus his size too.”
Brennan, who had six TD passes, did not seem flustered by USU’s aggressive press coverage and blitz package. Though the press coverage did prevent Brennan from making certain throws, he went to his outlet receivers so quickly that USU wasn’t able to pressure him even with players coming unblocked on the blitz.
“We had a different game plan; we showed them some different looks. We pressed a lot more. Everyone had pretty much played off of them all year, play zone and let them work the ball down the field,” Guy said. “The big play that got us in the end was the shovel pass.”
Even when USU’s defense was able to get stops and back Hawaii up, the Warriors found ways to keep drives sustained.
“We got in some trouble on third down, some third-and-longs where we had a chance to stop them and get off the field and they continue drives,” Guy said.
By the fourth quarter both teams had their backup QBs in the game. Tom Graunke threw for 73 yards and a touchdown while Leon Jackson III, getting his first time under center since being benched in favor of Nelson, was 0-for-2.
“We wanted to get Leon in the game at the end because he’s been practicing really well and he’s not having any problems with the pinched nerve anymore so Greg [Offensive Coordinator Stevens] wanted to get him in there and get a little work,” Guy said.
Nelson, who threw for 225 yards, said, “I’ve got to get better. I’ve got a long ways to go.”
Nelson’s leading receiver was Kevin Robinson, who caught five balls for 84 yards. Four other players caught at least two balls from Nelson; Omar Sawyer had 33 yards, Aaron Lesue had 55 yards and a nice reception for a first down on USU’s sole touchdown drive, Rob Myers had 28 yards and McDaniel had 20 yards.
“If we’re in a game and it’s tight, I think Riley plays better. What I see is, if we get behind a little bit Riley starts to press,” Guy said.
One positive for USU was on their first drive, when Bryan Shields hit the first field goal on the year for the Ags, a 46-yarder. USU had been the only school in the nation to not have a field goal yet. On USU’s final possession of the first half, Shields got another chance after Nelson drove his team down to within range but a delay of game penalty backed the attempt up and he missed from the 33-yard line.
Devon Hall and Paul Igboeli tied for the lead in tackles for USU with five each.