USU football holds off rain, Rams for 2nd MW win
Utah State football overcame a season-high four turnovers and a weather delay to defeat Colorado State 34-24 on a cold, wet night in Logan, Utah.
The storm moved its way slowly throughout the valley in the evening, bringing lightning as it passed through which delayed the game for just under a half an hour. The game got underway at 6 p.m. and the lightning subsided, but the rain stuck around to see out the final whistle, causing trouble for both schools along the way. However, head coach Gary Andersen did not attribute the poor conditions to any of the Aggies’ four turnovers.
“I don’t think the weather affected any of those turnovers that I saw at all. On either side,” Andersen said. “If you’re going to be where we play football, you better be able to handle weather and you better be able to run the ball effectively late in games. It’s just the way it’s going to be if you’re going to be a consistent team and play some meaningful games in the month of November.”
Utah State struggled to move the ball in the first quarter for the second straight week. And just like at San Diego State, the team earned its first touchdown from means other than through its offense. With 7:01 left in the first quarter, junior receiver and All-American kick returner, Savon Scarver, took a kickoff back across the field, evading defenders and calmly walking untouched into the end zone for the Aggies’ first touchdown. The return was taken eight yards back in the endzone, making it the longest play in Utah State history at 108, although the official distance was recorded as 100 yards. Nonetheless, Utah State regained momentum as the game was starting to pull away, much like the prior week in San Diego.
The quarter ended with the score knotted up at seven a piece, and neither team would find much separation on the scoreboard. Colorado State came into the game third worst in the nation in turnover margin, minus seven through its first four games. But the Rams put pressure on Utah State and forced them into some uncharacteristic turnovers, making it a game of field position that felt like it slowed down the pace far below what the Aggies are used to.
Junior quarterback Jordan Love threw two interceptions, including a 48-yard pick-six early in the second quarter, and failed to find consistency for most of the game.
“Offense didn’t play great. Kind of took a step back,” Bright said. “A lot of turnovers. Execution of the run game was decent, we could do a lot better catching the ball, so we’ve still got a chip on our shoulder to be better than what we played today.”
With Love not playing like his usual self and junior running back Jaylen Warren out with an injury he suffered early in the first half, the keys of the offense were turned over to Gerold Bright. He thrived under the extended workload and took it upon himself to shoulder the load while his teammates struggled and grind out the yards that weren’t coming through the air. He carried the ball 36 times for 179 yards, both career high marks for the senior.
“After Jaylen was out it was the G-Bright show,” Andersen said of running back Gerold Bright. “He’s trained for this, he’s worked for this moment. He wants that ball in his hands in those certain situations. When you have 179 yards and your longest run is 15 yards, that doesn’t happen very often. There’s a lot of grinding yards in the 179 yards.”
The football was still messy, even with Bright’s performance. The Rams used that to their advantage, and Colorado State hung around, probably longer than most people expected the team to. Utah State senior kicker Dominik Eberle converted a 48-yard field goal with 2:56 left in the third to push Utah State’s lead to 27-24. At that point it was still anyone’s win for the taking, and the Rams had a chance to end Utah State’s eight-game home winning streak. However, the defense came in to save the day for the Aggies with a number of impressive stops, sacks and strips.
“They fought, they battled. It was not perfect by any means. There was a lot to work on. The defense continually got put in the worst spots tonight,” Andersen said. “I thought the defense continually got put in poor spots tonight and found a way to keep on fighting and score points themselves. It was great to see the resilience of the football team.”
The hard-earned win was sealed with 9:32 seconds left in the game by junior linebacker David Woodward, when he stripped Colorado State’s running back and ran eight yards into the endzone for his second career touchdown.
“I was relieved, looking around for a penalty just to make sure it counted,” Woodward said. “Our whole defense was pretty much on that tackle and everyone did a great job of holding on long enough for me to get it out. I saw him getting held up but slowly gaining a couple of yards, and I knew that I had a chance to strip it and make a play.”
A win is not a common result when Utah State turns the ball over four or more times. In fact, the program is now just 6-22 in the past two decades when giving the opponents the ball four or more times.
“With that turnover margin, you’re fortunate to win the game,” Andersen said. “We did it. These kids are resilient and I’m proud of them. Looking forward to watching this tape and getting on to the next game.”
Twitter: @dren_sports