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Underappreciated All-Stars: Utah State vs. Wyoming

Blocks thrown on Savon Scarver’s TD return

The main reason Savon Scarver went 99 yards for the score here is speed. Scarver is the fastest player on the field and he knows how to find the lane for a kickoff return. With three kickoff return touchdowns in his career, Scarver now trails only Kevin Robinson (2004-07) for career kickoff return TDs at Utah State. Oh, and Scarver’s only a sophomore. Still, there are several other players responsible for creating the massive runway which Scarver ran through.

First, this wasn’t a key block, but just look at how Dalton Baker and Jacoby Wildman sync up at the onset of the kick return.

In all seriousness, this shows the dedication from each member of the return unit. Contrary to what it may seem, returns are planned plays, and more so than just the “return left” or “return right” you see in Madden. Each player is assigned a specific task to complete and, theoretically, if each player can fulfill that task, the return should go for a large gain.

Scarver is given a clear lane for the return. Both Chase Nelson and Taylor Compton us the speed of the kicking team to their advantage, carrying them back and out of the play. Morian Walker seals the outside with an effective block, and Jalen Greene can basically play fullback on the return, leading the way for Scarver and taking care of any last ditch efforts to make the tackle.

Scarver is hardly touched on this return, if at all. It’s almost flawlessly executed, and came at the perfect time with the offense struggling throughout the second half. Wyoming outgained Utah State 258-52 in the second half, but USU won the points battle 14-13 due to a few huge plays, including Scarver’s masterful kickoff return.

Tipa Galeai

Tipa Galeai has five sacks on the season and 7.5 tackles for loss. He has one interception, which he returned for a touchdown, plus two pass deflections. He already is one of the most dominant defenders we’ve seen at Utah State. But there is still so much of what Galeai does that doesn’t show up in any stat sheet or highlight reel, and a lot of it is just as important as a sack or interception.

For example, look at Wyoming’s field goal drive near the end of the first quarter. Calling it a drive is generous; the Cowboys started at USU’s 10-yard line after Logan Wilson intercepted Jordan Love. With the score at 7-0, it was a prime opportunity for Wyoming to even the score and help a floundering offense try and keep pace with the Aggies. After two runs netted only minimal yardage, the Cowboys faced a 3rd-and-goal from the seven-yard line, basically an obvious passing situation, and Galeai teed up the right side of Wyoming’s offensive line.

Wyoming QB Tyler Vander Waal isn’t that good of a quarterback as it is (he’s averaging only 4.5 adjusted yards per attempt this season), but any QB will struggle with a defensive end barreling in for a possible sack. Vander Waal rushes the throw into double coverage, where Jared Scott was already bumped off his route by cornerback DJ Williams. In short, this throw had almost zero chance of being completed, and Galeai’s ability to rush the QB, even if it doesn’t result in a sack, is a major reason why.

Jordan Love to Aaren Vaughns for the first down on the final drive

Jordan Love played a terrible game and there’s no sugarcoating that. Love’s 53 yards passing are his lowest total ever as a starter, as was his passer rating. Even including Love’s games in which he came in for only short spurts or in garbage time, his 42.9 percent completion percentage was the third-worst mark of his career. Love was nowhere near the standard he’s set for himself in the first six weeks of the season, and USU’s offense struggled mightily because of it. But when the Aggies needed it most, Love delivered.

Led by Sean Chambers, Wyoming had just trimmed USU’s lead to a single possession with a 10-play, 78-yard drive for a field goal, and the Cowboys were threatening to steal the game in the final minutes.

The Aggies faced a 3rd-and-5 from their own 17-yard line with a little over four minutes remaining. A failed conversion gives Wyoming the ball with a legitimate shot to drive for the game-tying touchdown. A conversion allows USU to run several minutes of the clock and virtually seal the game. The problem is that to this point, Utah State has only managed 39 yards of total offense in the second half up to this point (the offense really did not play well at all).

USU lines up with TE Carson Terrell on the left end of the offensive line, Gerold Bright in the backfield with Love, Ron’quavion Tarver and Jalen Greene out wide right, and Aaren Vaughns in the slot on the right. As soon as the ball is snapped, Love knows where he’s going with the ball, and unlike much of the rest of the game, he’s decisive about it. LB Logan Wilson jumps out to the flat to guard Bright, and Vaughns finds a soft spot in the zone and smartly sits right in it. Love fires it as soon as Vaughns finds the opening and (despite a terrible spot at first from the official) picks up the first down.

Love knows he’s had a rough game up to this point. Just like us, he can look at the scoreboard and see USU’s score is much lower than the past five weeks, and he knows his play will be considered one of the main reasons why. It takes a great amount of mental toughness to push that out of your head and execute. Love’s throw here is near perfect. It’s a short throw, yes, but the placement is such that Vaughns can easily haul in the target, protect himself from an incoming hit from the safety, and pick up the extra half-yard to ensure the drive continues.

If you noticed, Wyoming made an interesting decision to put QB Tyler Vander Waal back in for their final drive. That seems a strange decision given how much better the offense looked with Sean Chambers in at QB compared to Vander Waal. This is largely due to Vander Waal’s ability to throw the ball downfield. Chambers threw a total of five passes in the game and is mostly a running threat. With the Cowboys starting their final drive with 1:45 remaining on their own 25-yard line, the coaching staff determined they could not rely on a running game to drive the ball and turned the ball back over to Vander Waal, who failed to complete a single pass on the drive.

That decision might have been different had Wyoming made that stop on third down and gave their offense the ball with four minutes left. Love will improve upon this game. His final throw of the game is evidence of that.

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Aaren VaughansJordan LoveSavon ScarverTipa Galea'iUtah State Football

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