Utah State drops conference game to Mean Green
First-half special teams blunders put Utah State’s football team in a hole it couldn’t pull itself out of against North Texas. Running back Patrick Cobbs scored three touchdowns in the first half to lead the Mean Green to a 37-27 victory over the Aggies.
Cobbs rushed for a game-high 205 yards on 36 carries in the Mean Green’s Homecoming game. North Texas fullback Justin Claborn added two touchdowns on catches out of the backfield.
It was the Mean Green’s 14th consecutive conference win.
With Aggie regular deep snapper Matt Wiser out with an injury, bad punt snaps twice gave the Mean Green the ball inside the 10-yard line, leading to easy scores. Utah State also gave up a 65-yard kick return.
“We’ve got to come up with some answers there,” Aggie Head Coach Mick Dennehy said in a post-game radio interview. “We can’t continue to put our football team in jeopardy [on special teams].
USU made an adjustment in the punting game, bringing in short snapper Nick George and moving Chaet closer to the line of scrimmage to get his punts away. Chaet did get off a career-long 70-yard punt in the second quarter. The Mean Green started four of five first-half possessions in Aggie territory scoring on drives of one, 46, 47 and nine yards.
North Texas opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but Utah State’s offense marched down field and scored on a 20-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Travis Cox to tight end Chris Cooley.
The Aggies tied it up when nose guard Ronald Tupea forced a second-quarter fumble that John Chick scooped up and ran 38 yards for the score.
But the Mean Green ran off 20 unanswered points to keep the Aggies out of the game.
On their last series of the half, the Aggies went to a no-huddle offense and moved quickly into UNT territory where Cox found wide receiver Raymond Hicks for a 43-yard touchdown to trail 34-21 at the half.
North Texas got consistant pressure on Cox throughout the game with only a three-man rush, led by two-time Sun Belt defensive player of the year Brandon Kennedy. The Mean Green sacked Cox five times in the game.
Dennehy repeated a familiar refrain, saying once again that it’s time for the Aggies to return to basics.
“We’ve got to get back to believing that fundamentals are how the game is won and lost, and realize that when we line up,” he said.
Cox was 26-of-38 passing on the day for 230 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Aggies moved the ball well in the first half but couldn’t get back on track until late in the game.
David Fiefia ran for 83 yards and caught a career-high eight passes for another 33 yards. Fiefia averaged more than six yards per carry.
Fiefia said the team has to stay focused in order to still have a chance to win the conference.
“We just have to stay positive and hopefully [North Texas] will lose to someone else and we’ll win out and be able to go to New Orleans,” he said.
Cooley also had eight catches and led the team with 78 yards receiving. Utah State held North Texas to a field goal in the second half after allowing the Mean Green to score on five of their first six possessions.
UNT quarterback Scott Hall was 8-of-12 passing for 109 yards in the game. Hall had two TD throws and did not throw an interception.
Safety Terrance Washington led the Aggies’ defense with 10 tackles. Chick and linebacker Nate Putnam each added a sack.
The Aggies moved the ball inside the UNT 20 in the middle of the fourth quarter with a chance to pull within one score but Cooley coughed up the ball at the 15, ending the Aggies’ comeback hopes.
Utah State recovered a fumbled punt at North Texas’ 41-yard line late in the fourth quarter and had success again with the no-huddle offense. The Aggies pulled within 10 with 2:29 remaining on Cooley’s second TD grab of the game, but UNT receiver Johnny Quinn recovered Utah State’s onside kick attempt and the Mean Green ran out the clock for the victory.
-royburton@cc.usu.edu