Utah State has crummy day in Frisco
“If you get to six or seven wins, you’re a good football team and you get rewarded with a chance to come to an unbelievable atmosphere in a bowl game. That’s special. If you get eight or nine, you’re a great team. If you get to double digits, you’ll be remembered forever and you’re an elite football team.”
That is what Utah State head coach Gary Andersen said at Thursday’s press conference prior to the game. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they weren’t able to reach eight wins with a 51-41 loss to Kent State in the Frisco Bowl Friday night. The Aggies had some chances to end with a “great” season, but fell just short in large part due to stellar execution on the side of Kent State.
In his final game as an Aggie, Jordan Love didn’t disappoint. The junior quarterback arguably had his best game of the season — with the Fresno State win being in strong contention — throwing for 317 yards on 30-of-39 passing. Love threw three touchdowns and his only blemish was an interception that was just as much a fumble. A ball that was caught by Jaylen Warren then immediately popped into the air and into the hands of a Kent State defender ended up being counted in the pick column, his 17th of the season. It may not have been the flashiest performance, but Love did enough to get the Aggies over the line and their head coach felt post-game that his quarterback’s efforts were more than enough on the night.
“Extremely positive, I thought Jordan Love played a great game,” he said. “You saw how he ran the ball, how he scrambled, how he moved around, this game meant the world to Jordan Love. I’m sure he is down there and it is hard for him to deal with, but his legacy will be here forever and we are excited to watch him jump into his next adventure.”
As well as Love played, his counterpart just simply played better. Kent State junior quarterback Dustin Crum looks almost unstoppable at points in the night, leading to a crescendo in the final quarter where he led the Golden Flashes down into the red zone and faced a crucial fourth-and-one. His evasiveness ultimately proved too much to handle on the drive, and on the night, as he wove his way past USU defenders en route to the winning touchdown. Crum did everything for his school, and in the process tallied an impressive stat sheet and brought a trophy back to Ohio, the first in Kent State’s bowl history.
At the end of the first quarter, Crum had already amassed 152 yards of total offense and led the Golden Flashes on two touchdown drives. By the end of the second quarter, Crum had gained 261 yards and was 11-of-15 passing. However, the Aggies corrected and Crum’s impact lessened through the end of the first half until the beginning of the fourth quarter. Utah State forced the Golden Flashes to rely on the kicking game with three field goal attempts and two punts while the Aggies also forced a fumble.
Uncharacteristically, Utah State played poorly on special teams and that potentially cost them a victory. Typically sure-handed receiver/returner Jordan Nathan dropped a punt inside the Aggies’ 10-yard line early in the game, setting Kent State up with excellent field goal position. And although Utah State was able to hold its opponent to a field goal on multiple opportunities, the Golden Flashes’ MAC Special Teams Player of the Year Matthew Trickett converted all five of his attempts.
Crum’s final stat line was more than gaudy, a reflection of his offensive MVP performance. Of Kent State’s 252 yards on the ground, Crum accounted for 147 of them and 289 yards of the 298 yards through the air. He was simply the difference-maker and the Utah State players and head coach didn’t shy away from their disappointment post-game.
“It’s football, football is football, he capitalized on the plays he needed to make and we didn’t make plays,” junior safety Troy Lefeged Jr. said.
“We didn’t play good on defense. I mean 51 points, I know some of those came from bad field positions and some unbelievable things that took place, so we need to be in a position to help our guys be in a better position,” Andersen said.
Other members of Kent State’s offense had solid games too, contributing to the team’s 550 yards of total offense. The opening score for the Golden Flashes came in just that fashion, a 78-yard pass play to receiver Isaiah McKoy who blew past USU cornerback DJ Williams to pick up six. Running backs Will Matthews and Xavier Williams combined for 75 yards and two touchdowns, but still the two fell short of Crum as top rusher on the night.
Senior running back Gerold Bright was one of a handful of seniors that made the most of their last game in an Aggie uniform. Bright led Utah State with 94 yards rushing and scored the contests opening touchdown. He was a constant in the team’s offense throughout the game and really allowed Love the opportunity to have an effective passing game; and in that passing game, no one had more of an impact than Siaosi Mariner. With 113 yards receiving — and two more fantastic touchdown catches — Mariner fell just 13 yards short of 1,000 yards for the season. However, his 10 touchdowns in 2019 moved him into the top-six all-time for Aggies.
Love was also a record breaker, setting multiple single-season, bowl and career marks for a Utah State player. Most notably, Love finished the game with 333 yards of total offense and is the now the school record-holder for total offense in a career with 9,003 yards. The previous record was 8,808 yards of total offense held by Andersen’s previous star quarterback, Chuckie Keeton.