USU Football: Aggies outshoot Falcons for their first 3-0 start since 1978
Utah State football outshot the Air Force Academy 49 to 45 in Colorado Springs on Saturday night. Despite trailing by double digits four separate times, the Aggies improve to 3-0 for the first time has since 1978.
Late game heroics from linebacker Justin Rice, quarterback Andrew Peasley and running back Calvin Tyler Jr. led the Aggies to victory.
Rice stripped Air Force quarterback Haaziq Daniel with less than three minutes to go in the game. This turnover allowed Utah State to run out the clock and secure the victory.
“I saw him loose with the ball and started going after it,” Rice said.
Additionally, Rice tied his career-high with 14 tackles and also added an interception to his turnover total. A former Fresno State Bulldog, Rice knows what teams in the Mountain West Conference have to offer and had confidence in his team coming into conference play.
“It’s always tough to come up here and get a win. Any win’s a good win,” Rice said. “The locker room was insane right after the game. We’re so happy for each other, we’re a really close unit, we’re rolling, we have a lot of confidence and we’re ready to take on this conference.”
After quarterback Logan Bonner was injured early in the third quarter, Andrew Peasley took over for the Aggies. Bonner was injured when he got hit in the back after he threw a 24-yard touchdown strike to Justin McGriff to cut down Air Forces lead to four, 24 to 20.
“I take preparation seriously throughout the week just in case things like this happen,” said Peasley. “Coach talked to me and just said to go out and execute, do your job.”
Peasley fulfilled his role as he led the Aggies’ on their next drive to seven points, capped off with a 5-yard touchdown reception by Carson Terrell, his first of the season. Terrell also had a 5-yard reception on a crucial fourth down during a fourth quarter drive to move the chains and keep the hopes of winning alive. Terrell has been dealing with a concussion and Utah State made sure he was ready before he could play this season.
“He only played limited snaps, but obviously the ones that he played were huge. I think it’s his experience showing up, very similar to Peasley, being ready for the moment when it came,” said Head Coach Blake Anderson. “He’ll get more and more playing time as we move forward. I just think his veteran leadership will do nothing but help us offensively.”
Peasley went on to match his career-high three touchdown passes as he found Brandon Bowling for a 37-yard touchdown and Devon Thompkins Jr. for a 72-yard touchdown.
The winning touchdown for Utah State came from Tyler Jr. as he used his speed to get to the endzone on a 61-yard rush, untouched. Tyler Jr. had two touchdowns on the night and a total of 132 yards on 19 carries.
All of this happened in the second half, but the first two quarters were a completely different story.
The Falcons started off hot scoring 10 points unanswered on their first two drives. The Aggies responded on their second drive piecing together a 71-yard drive ending with a one-yard rush by Tyler Jr.
Utah State picked up their second score of the game after an interception by Rice gave the Aggies the ball at their own seven-yard line. The Aggie offense marched down the field and Bonner found Bowling in the endzone for a six-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked, but Utah State got their first lead of the game, 13 to 10. The Aggie offense didn’t have much success outside of this score as they punted and turned the ball over on downs on their ensuing possessions in the quarter.
Air Force took control during the Aggie scoring drought. They put up two touchdowns, including a long 56-yard touchdown reception by Micah Davis. The Falcons took a 24 to 13 lead into the locker room, but it didn’t hold up.
The game went back and forth as both squads traded blows. Both teams combined for 1,247 yards of total offense and 94 points in an offensively explosive game.
“[Opponents] can drive all the way down to the five-yard line and go 95 yards, but if we hold them to a field goal we’re gonna win games,” Rice said. “We trust our offense to put up points and get touchdowns in the red zone. So that’s kinda our mentality, is a bend don’t break.”
The Aggies may have bent a little too much, but they won the turnover battle which ended up securing a division win over the Falcons.
This win marks the first time in school history that the Aggies have overcome a double-digit deficit and held on to win in three straight games.
Utah State returns home on Sept. 25 to host Boise State at 10 AM.