Utah State defense stands out in Saturday’s scrimmage

Story by Nathan Dunn

LOGAN — Utah State had its first open scrimmage to the public on Saturday. It was the community’s first opportunity to look at the team and new coaching staff in action since spring. 

The defense, which has played well all camp, had themselves a day on Saturday. They had seven sacks and 19 tackles for loss, including five turnovers, three fumbles and two interceptions. 

New transfer from Michigan, cornerback Hunter Reynolds, and senior safety Jarrod Green both had a team-high seven tackles, while graduate transfer Kyle Mayberry from Kansas had six tackles. Reynolds also added a sack and two tackles for loss. Sophomore defensive end Addison Trupp had a team-high three sacks for the Aggies.

Arkansas State transfer Justin Rice had an impressive interception off of quarterback Andrew Peasley when he jumped the route over the middle and snatched the ball out of the air. Rice also had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a tackle for loss in the game. 

Coach Blake Anderson spoke on his team’s performance after the scrimmage. “The biggest concern, obviously, is turnovers and you can’t have five turnovers in a game and expect to win very often,” he said. “I’m fired up about the defense for creating them and I’m frustrated with the offense for having them. I guess that is the way it goes when you go against yourself.” 

Scrimmage 1️⃣ ✅

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“We came out and gave great effort on defense today,” said Rice. “We were pretty good on our assignments and everyone was running to the football and creating turnovers. We had a lot of turnovers today, and turnovers win games, so we did really well on that front.” 

Despite the five turnovers and multiple sacks, the offense still had an effective day. Piling 609 total yards of offense with 519 passing yards and 90 rushing, the air raid offense was strong. Arkansas State transfer, Logan Bonner, was an efficient 16-20 with 189 yards and had a nice read-option run that went for a huge gain. Cooper Legas was 14-17 for 153 yards, and Andrew Peasley, who started two games for the Aggies last season, was 11-21 for 127 yards.

A noteworthy tidbit, Logan Bonner was the expected starter coming into the season, but at the start of camp, he was splitting third-team reps. However, he has made his way up to first-team reps throughout the week. 

For the receivers, sophomore Kyle Van Leeuwen led the way with 11 catches for 131 yards. Senior Deven Thompkins had six catches for 82 yards, including a back-shoulder catch along the sideline for a 31 yard gain. 

Coach Anderson was impressed with how the team has reacted to fall camp, “We have had really, really good energy from these guys all week. We have not had to beg them to practice, they come prepared and the meetings have been good.”

The Aggies will have their second and final fall camp scrimmage next Saturday, Aug. 21. The first game of the season is at Washington State on Sept. 4.

Follow Nathan on Twitter @NateDunnUSU