USU stampeded by Broncos

Utah State football suffered their fourth season loss on Saturday night, falling 30-62 to Boise State. The Aggies struggled to find footing in the game from the opening kickoff. 

After receiving the opening kick, Utah State went three-and-out before punting to Boise State. On the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage, running back Ashton Jeanty broke off a 63-yard touchdown run to take control of the game. 

“I think they set the tone, and we have some catching up to do … we know what we have to do. We know what the bar is,” said head coach Nate Dreiling after the game. “Our guys competed in the second half, but no one cares about the second half. At that point, the game was already out of hand.”

After a Utah State field goal and another Boise State touchdown, the Aggies pulled within four when quarterback Spencer Petras found receiver Jalen Royals for a 59-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10 for the Broncos. 

Just 12 seconds later, Jeanty found the endzone again for BSU on an impressive 75-yard touchdown run reminiscent of his first TD to go up 21-10. Jeanty finished the first half and did not play in the second half. 

With five minutes left in the half and down 35-10, Petras found Royals deep again for a 75-yard touchdown strike. On the ensuing kickoff, Boise State returned the kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. 

“Football, if you’re playing a good game, is going to come down to four or five plays a game, and that’s going to decide the game,” Dreiling said. “Until you have the consistency in your details to perform play in and play out, you are going to lose your big plays. And right now, we’re losing those big plays way more than we are winning.”

Utah State found themselves with a scoring opportunity late in the first half but could not convert and turned the ball over on downs on the BSU 14-yard line. Boise State finished their dominant first half with 439 total yards, averaging nearly 12 yards per play and up 49-17.  

The second half was more of the same for each team. The Aggies struggled to stop the Broncos, who moved the ball seemingly at will even without Jeanty, adding two field goals and a touchdown in the second half. 

The Aggies found the endzone more in the second half, with Petras finding Otto Tia for a six-yard touchdown and running back Rashul Faison scoring from eight yards out.

In a game where not a lot seemed to go right for the Aggies, a bright spot was found in their passing game, with Royals finishing the game with a career-high 211 yards and two touchdowns and Petras throwing for a career-high 372 yards. Royals’ nine catches put him over 100 catches in his Utah State career as he tallied his fifth career multi-touchdown game. 

“I thought we made some improvements just from the last time we were out, the temple game, where I felt like, starting with me, there was just too many miscommunications and issues,” Petras said. “There’s some confidence that we built today, I’m sure, offensively. But, you know, there’s clearly still a lot to work on.” 

Utah State falls to 1-4 on the season after Saturday’s loss and 0-1 in Mountain West play. The Aggies will look to get back on track against UNLV on Friday in Maverik Stadium at 7 p.m.