USU football team shut out
Utah State lost its third homecoming game of the season on Saturday when the Blue Raiders from Middle Tennessee shut out the Aggies 21-0. This loss makes a winning season for the Aggies out of reach.
The other homecoming games the Aggies lost were their own against North Texas and they lost to Clemson in its homecoming game.
This was the first shut out for the Ags in 58 games. The Aggies’ record dropped to 2-6 while the Blue Raiders improved to 4-4.
Saturday’s shutout marks the first time the Aggies have been shut out since 1999 when then No. 9 ranked Kansas State beat them 40-0.
“It was evident we were struggling today on offense,” head coach Mick Dennehy said. “We needed to protect the passer for a chance to win and we allowed seven sacks, you just can’t do that. Until we get our offense squared away and back on track we are going to continue to struggle. The defense played well enough to win the game.”
Travis Cox threw for just 79 yards on 14-of-23 attempts while Leon Jackson was 4-4 for 47 yards. Seven receptions were completed to Kevin Robinson, gaining 63 yards. No other Aggie receiver gained more than 16 yards.
USU did extend its streak of completing passes to seven different receivers. The first five passes were completed to five different receivers.
The first touchdown of the game came on Middle Tennessee’s second possession when it marched 77 yards, just 2 yards shy of Cox’s total offensive output.
The Blue Raiders scored again on a 58-yard pass from Clint Marks to Kerry Wright in the second quarter putting the score at 14-0. It was the longest scoring play against USU this season as well as the longest in the last 14 games.
“We really got beat one-on-one a couple of times and those turned out to be the big plays by Middle Tennessee,” Dennehy said. “Kerry Wright is an amazing player and we knew we had to cover him. On the big play of his we had a cover too and he just beat it.”
Wright also scored another touchdown and recorded another long reception for 42-yards.
“Kerry Wright is a great player,” USU safety Joe Lindsey said. “He is one of the top receivers in the country and we were considered one of the best secondaries in the conference, and someone had to fall short. Kerry came out and had a great game, and we did all we could to stop him, but he won out.”
Marks completed 22 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies that put him second all time in Mid-Tenn history for most completions in a season.
“I also thought Clint Marks played a great game,” Dennehy said. “He really threw the ball well.”
Along with Utah State’s passing and defensive woes, they only totaled 30 yards of offense on the ground and allowed seven sacks.
The next game for the Aggies is against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 6.
-kcaustin@cc.usu.edu