USU Football gains bowl eligibility, wins on Senior Night
LOGAN — For the second year in a row and 10th time in 12 years, Utah State Football is bowl eligible. The Aggies beat San Jose State 35-31 to cap off Senior Night with a win.
“Super proud. We’re excited to be bowl eligible,” head coach Blake Anderson said. “You always want your seniors to have a night that they’ll remember in a good way.”
But to grab the win, USU had to score after the Spartans took a 31-28 lead — their first lead since the first quarter — on a one-yard touchdown reception with just over six minutes left in the game.
Over the next four minutes, the Aggies marched 75 yards on nine plays to retake the lead. Running back Calvin Tyler Jr. scored the game-winner from three yards out to put USU up 35-31.
“It’s no pressure. We’ve been in these moments. We’ve practiced these moments,” Tyler said. “We pushed the urgency. So it felt great doing that.”
From there, the Utah State defense shut the door by forcing a turnover on downs, ending with a pass breakup by cornerback Ajani Carter, who had not played since the Colorado State game due to injury.
“We knew how bad we wanted it and we know how important that drive was,” defensive tackle Hale Motu’apuaka said. “We have a lot of great players on our defense so I’m happy that a lot of them got to make plays and help us win this game.”
The Aggie front was fearsome as they recorded 4.5 sacks and six tackles-for-loss. Motu’apuka tied his career-highs with two sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss while defensive end Daniel Grzesiak had 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles-for-loss. The group was also able to do it against a “dynamic quarterback” Chevan Cordeiro, limiting him to 15 net rushing yards.
“The most dynamic runner and dual-set quarterback we have in the league,” Motu’apuaka said. “The guy’s the real deal. In order for us to win, we needed to stop him and slow him down. Our defense did a pretty good job with that tonight.”
Through the air, USU was able to break up six of Cordeiro’s passes.
Tyler Jr. was a workhorse for the Aggies totaling 125 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. It was Tyler’s sixth game rushing for over 100 yards this season. His three rushing touchdowns are the most by an Aggie since 2018 when Darwin Thompson and Gerold Bright both had three at Hawai’i.
“It felt great getting a ‘W’ today,” Tyler said. “A win in this conference is hard so I’m thankful for every one we get.”
Tyler was able to do it while playing through injury, according to Anderson.
“He’s been beat up for a while and then he just keeps showing up,” Anderson said. “Calvin got into the endzone when we had to tonight.”
Wide receiver Brian Cobbs boosted the Aggies with 122 yards including 39 yards after catch on 10 receptions.
Quarterback Cooper Legas completed a career-high 23 passes on 35 attempts netting him 244 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Utah State’s special teams unit scored a touchdown for the second time this season. Safety Ike Larsen blocked a punt for the third time this season and cornerback Jaden Smith returned it for the score. It was USU’s first blocked punt for a touchdown since a 2018 matchup against UNLV.
“We felt like we had a legitimate chance to get there on film,” Anderson said. “To get the touchdown, you look at the game, that’s a huge momentum swing and it lifted everybody.”
The Aggies wrap up the regular season on Friday at Boise State, where they have not won since 1996. Kick-off is slated for 10 a.m. and the game will be broadcast on Aggie Radio 92.3 FM.
Featured image by Sam Warner.