USU Football: Aggies’ comeback falls short at Boise State

BOISE, Idaho — Utah State Football was a touchdown away from what could have been their first victory at Boise State since 1996 during the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon. Instead, the Broncos made big plays to pull away 42-23. 

“We battled all day, made too many mistakes to beat a good football team,” head coach Blake Anderson said. 

With 5:28 left in the game, Boise State punted while they led 28-23. 

Utah State’s offense raced down the field, getting inside the twenty-yard line on a 41-yard reception by wide receiver Justin McGriff with just over two minutes remaining. 

But that’s when the Bronco defense stepped up. 

On third down, they blew up a designed quarterback run for Cooper Legas, taking him down for a three-yard loss. Then, on fourth and nine, BSU edge Gabe Hunter picked off Legas, stopping what would have been a first-down reception by wide receiver Brian Cobbs. 

“I’m pissed at us as coaches cause,” Anderson said. “When we get them in that situation, we got to find a way to dial it up and get them in and I felt like we, you know, you go back, there’s bound to be things that we could capitalize on that we didn’t.”

Boise State scored a long touchdown on their ensuing possession, and a pick-six on Legas’ next drive sealed things at 42-23. 

At the start of the game, it did not look like USU would get that close. 

After three fruitless drives for both teams, Boise State began to pick apart the Aggie secondary with gains of 41, 50, 29 and 25 yards. The Broncos put up 21 unanswered points through the first 25 minutes. 

Due to injuries, Utah State had little depth in the backfield, forcing guys deep down the depth chart to play crucial downs, including freshman cornerback J.D. Drew. Anderson joked that they were one injury away from asking one of the writers to step in. 

“We were out of bodies, and they fought their tails off,” Anderson said. 

But before halftime, Utah State showed life. They went down the field 75 yards and capped off the 11-play drive with a three-yard touchdown rush by wide receiver Terrell Vaughn, the first rushing touchdown of his career. 

“It was needed,” Vaughn said. “I just know I was quicker than him and just took it.”

Vaughn would go on to have a career day, setting new highs in receiving yards and receptions with 148 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. 

“It felt great,” Vaughn said. “I just know I gotta take advantage of every time I get the ball and show others what I can do at this level.”

In the third quarter, Vaughn nearly threw for a touchdown on a trick play pass to tight end Broc Lane, but he couldn’t hang on to it as he hit the ground. On the next drive, Vaughn scored on a 75-yard house call to answer a Boise State touchdown. 

“He’s playing at an extremely high level at this point,” Anderson said. “I think his confidence has grown every week all year and you saw it today. I feel like he’s a mismatch in the slot for most safeties, and he exposed that when we needed him to today.”

During the same stretch, the Aggie defense tightened up and only allowed one touchdown in the third quarter. 

“We made a couple of busts earlier in the game,” safety Hunter Reynolds said. “But I think as the game went on, guys started calming down, settling down and making plays, which I think is really great to see.”

Unfortunately for USU, another of those busts showed up on Boise State’s final drive, allowing quarterback Taylen Green to score a 91-yard touchdown run. 

Though Anderson was “pissed off” about the loss, he continued to be proud of the effort and resiliency his team has shown this season.

“You gotta be proud of fighting back, making a one-score game,” Anderson said. “With as difficult as it was to move the ball early and as talented as they are in all areas of their football team.”

With the loss, Utah State finishes the regular season at 6-6, 5-3 in conference play. The Aggies will now wait to see what bowl game they will play to conclude their campaign.

Featured image by Phil Weber.