Utah State escapes Laramie with a 24-16 win over Wyoming
At 7,220 feet, Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium is the highest college football stadium in all of FBS football.
Somehow, Utah State survived the summit.
The offense struggled to a mere 194 yards of total offense, and only a handful of key plays from the defense and special teams unit allowed the Aggies to escape Laramie with a 24-16 win over Wyoming. The win moved USU to 6-1 on the season, ensuring bowl eligibility for the seventh time in the past eight years for the Aggies.
“That’s a ‘finish’ win,” said Utah State head coach Matt Wells. “That’s what we talked about all of training camp is ‘finish’ and find a way to win. That’s a one-score win, and two years ago, we couldn’t win a one score game. That feels good… I think we saw a lot of resiliency by our guys today and a refusal to give up.”
The game started with fireworks, as junior running back Darwin Thompson put the Aggies on the scoreboard only 30 seconds into the game with a 52-yard touchdown run. After the big play, however, neither team’s offense could find any rhythm or success, as the teams combined for only 150 yards of offense over the final 29:30 of the first half.
Matthew Halton Wyoming trimmed USU’s lead with a 27-yard field goal after Wyoming’s Logan Wilson intercepted Love to start the Cowboys’ drive in the red zone. USU junior kicker Dominik Eberle, after missing a 53-yard attempt earlier in the game, knocked a 45-yard attempt through the uprights to give USU a 10-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
The defense and special teams provided a major lift to begin the second half, as senior linebacker Jontrell Rocquemore intercepted a pass from Wyoming QB Tyler Vander Waal, returning it to Wyoming’s 3-yard line. Thompson punched it in for his second TD of the day on the very next play.
“We just got to come out and finish, come out and play,” Rocquemore said of what was said in the locker room at halftime. “I feel like the challenge has been to come out fast in the beginning of the game and the second half. Obviously, when you get a play like that, you come out pretty fast and get the offense rolling. From then on, I think we finished it out.”
Following a field goal from Wyoming to make it 17-6, sophomore wide receiver Savon Scarver returned the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to stretch USU’s lead back up to 24-6.
Chantelle McCall That closed the scoring for USU, however, as the Cowboys scored their first offensive touchdown in the past three games when running back Nico Evans busted a 53-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 24-13. Later, with Wyoming marching into the red zone and threatening to score, the Aggie defense stiffened up to force a 21-yard field goal, the third field goal of the day for Wyoming kicker Cooper Rothe.
“They came out ready to play,” Thompson said. “I’m not going to say they didn’t fight to the end; they were battling with us all game. It was a great win for us.”
Utah State’s offense stagnated again on the ensuing possession, allowing Wyoming a final chance to tie the game. The Cowboys were unable to build any sort of a drive though, as the Aggies forced the offense into a four-and-out to all but ensure the victory for Utah State.
“Defense wins championships, that’s what everyone says,” Wells said. “This game was won by the defense, with the huge play on special teams. Ton of respect and admiration for our defense and the way they played. I thought they spilled their guts out there. They finished on the field. It’s a rewarding win for the defense to be real honest with you.”
Chantelle McCall Sophomore linebacker David Woodward led USU with 16 tackles in the game, plus one pass breakup and a forced fumble. Senior linebacker Chase Christiansen followed shortly behind with 14 tackles on the game. Thompson led the Aggie offense on the ground with 109 yards on 17 attempts with two TDs. It was Thompson’s third game of the year with over 100 rushing yards.
“We will always win as a team and that locker room knows that,” Wells said. “We will win as a team. Whether it’s a game like this where it’s defensively dominated or one game we have to score 60 to win 60-59, it won’t matter. It really won’t matter and you’re going to have some different games like that as the year goes on… I’m proud of that whole locker room.”
Utah State continued to force turnovers at a high rate, with the Aggies forcing Wyoming into two turnovers on the day. The Cowboys had entered the game ranking in the top ten in the nation with only five turnovers in their first seven games.
“We’ve practiced week in and week out since spring ball,” Rocquemore said, “and we’re glad when that weight is on our shoulders. We get excited when games like this come, because now it’s like ‘it’s on us. Let’s show what we do in practice. Let’s step up to the plate.’”
With the victory, USU is assured of at least one more game following the regular season. Under Wells, the Aggies have reached four bowl games, going 2-2.
“That’s a tremendous step,” Wells said. “Seven out of eight years. It’s the best stretch in Utah State history. I’m very, very proud of that… That’s huge when you look at 120 years of football at Utah State. That’s a really really big deal. These guys are in the best era of Utah State football and I’m proud to be a small part of it. But for this team, this isn’t the final step. I promise you that.”
The win kept Utah State at the top of the division standings, and keeping USU in control of their own destiny to make it to the MW title game.
“It was a hard fought win by the Aggies,” Thompson said. “Defense played lights out. Offense, we didn’t play our game, but it was enough to get the win. I think we’ll come back next week, and prepare to go beat whoever is up next on the schedule.”
Utah State will return to Maverik Stadium in Logan next week to take on New Mexico. Kickoff is currently scheduled for Saturday at 2 pm.