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USU bowls over Wyoming

Utah State took the field Friday in its second straight conference road game, facing adverse weather conditions and a Wyoming offense that notched 45 points against Fresno State just one week ago.

An offensive explosion in the game’s opening minutes and a focused effort from the USU defense ultimately resulted in a 20-3 road victory for the Aggies, who are now bowl eligible for a fourth straight season—a first in program history.

“To be a part of something that’s never been done at your school I think is a special, special deal,” said USU head coach Matt Wells after the victory.

The Aggies, now 4-1 in the Mountain West and 7-3 overall, have been eyeing the road-trip since training camp.

“The coolest thing is we identified these two weeks back in the spring and the summer,” Wells said. “We pointed to them all during summer conditioning and we talked about it and said we have tough games but when you get into the league you’ve got to win games on the road. The two-week stretch from Hawaii to Wyoming on a short week was going take a tremendous toll on their minds and their bodies.”

 Keys to the Aggies victory included two first-quarter touchdowns from junior wideout JoJo Natson.

“Yeah he [JoJo] played well with the ball in his hands and got out on the perimeter,” Wells said. “He can make a guy miss and he’s got the speed to hit a home run.”

Natson scored on an 80-yard punt return just over five minutes into the game, finding the end zone again four minutes later on a career-best 66-yard rush.

“Oh man my offensive line and wide receivers they blocked so well on the perimeter and I just saw a nice lane wide open,” Natson said.

 Natson’s fourth career touchdown return ties Utah’s Steve Smith (1999-2000) for the most in Mountain West history.

“It was a nice feeling you know, finally being able to spring one out,” Natson said. “A lot of teams are not wanting to kick it to me this year, I made the best of it.”

Utah State jumped out to an early advantage over Wyoming, scoring on their first three possessions, building a 17-0 first-quarter lead. The Wyoming defense rebounded, limiting USU’s time of possession to less than three minutes in the second quarter.

Natson said the coaches prepared the team during the break for more of the same in the second half.

 “In the first half we only got five possessions,” Natson said, “and coach told us we’re probably only going to get another five possessions in the second half.”

Wyoming held Utah State to just a field goal in the second half, but the Aggie defense intercepted senior quarterback Colby Kirkegaard twice in the red zone to hold the lead. USU ended the game 20-3, capturing a fourth straight year of bowl eligibility along with the Bridger Rifle which serves as the rivalry’s traveling trophy.

“We had that interception in the red zone that was huge,” said senior defensive end BJ Larsen. “And then my hat goes off to Zach for tipping that pass to me. He was able to get that ball right to me so credit goes out to Zach Vigil on that one. That’s just the Aggie defense, we’ll make plays when we need to and come out with a W here in Laramie.”

“You have to be able to score and hold a lead and that’s what we did,” Wells said. “Two huge red zone turnovers that Deshane had and BJ had I thought really turned the tide in the game.”

While the Aggies continue to force turnovers, recording 17 interceptions in their past nine games, there’s only one defensive stat that stands out to coach Wells.

“It’s all about points,” Wells said. “Points scored is the number one stat on defense, that’s all that matters. If they can’t score they can’t win.”

Wells added that the Aggies’ recent success against conference opponents on the road is an indicator of a special season. USU has now won 13 of its past 14 Mountain West road games.

The game saw linebackers Torrey Green and LT Filiaga leave with injury, the latest in a long string of injured Aggies.

“We have that ‘next man up’ mentality, and we’re gonna play and we’re gonna win with whoever’s on the field,” Larsen said.

The win keeps the Aggies in the hunt for a conference championship, joining Colorado State and Boise State as the only remaining with just one loss in conference.

“Right now basically you don’t control your own destiny,” Wells said. “There’s a logjam with one loss and so you’ve got to keep fighting every week and you’ve got to find a way to win. If you’re in it at the end, you never know what could happen. It’s exactly what happened to us last year. We’re doing it again with an elite defense and another freshman quarterback. But you’ve got to keep finding ways to win and then at the end of the year you look up and wherever you’re at, you’re at.”

logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu

Twitter: @logantj