Utah State gridders feeling blue after loss at Middle Tennessee
You can’t finish a season much worse than the way the Utah State football team did Saturday.
In their last game as an Independent, the Aggies fell 45-28 at future Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee State (4-8, 2-5 in Sun Belt) as two USU offensive linemen were ejected midway through the fourth quarter.
After quarterback Jose Fuentes completed a 31-yard pass play to wideout Gary Coleman, the Aggies were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. USU left tackle Jim Newton then picked up the referee’s flag and threw it back at him, earning himself a police escort to the locker room.
On the next play, Fuentes connected with tight end Chris Cooley for 26 yards. USU and MTSU were both flagged for personal fouls after the play before Aggie left guard Luis Trujillo was ejected for making an obscene gesture to a referee.
“It’s very, very embarrassing,” said USU Head Coach Mick Dennehy in a radio interview following the game. “We completely lost our composure. You take a few steps forward [with three wins], but we took a huge step back [Saturday].”
The Blue Raiders collected 21 points on three big plays through the game.
With 7:33 to go in the first quarter, MTSU running back Don Calloway broke through the USU defense for a 63-yard scamper to the end zone and a 14-0 lead.
Five minutes into the third period MTSU wideout Chris Henry was on the receiving end of an Andrico Hines 44-yard touchdown pass for a 24-14 lead.
Then with 9:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, Blue Raider linebacker Dennis Burke scooped up a Kevin Curtis fumble and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown, putting MTSU up 45-20.
“We gave a whole bunch of yardage up on very few plays,” Dennehy said. “We need to learn that the league championship is [going to] be won on the road.”
Hines finished with 176 passing yards, completing 11 of 20 attempts and rushing for one touchdown.
The Aggies (4-7) did have a good showing on offense as Fuentes completed 31 of 53 passes for 426 yards and three touchdowns. He finishes his USU career as the all-time passing leader with 3,268 yards.
Curtis caught two of those, hauling in 13 passes for 177 yards. Curtis finishes his two-year Aggie career as the all-time leader in receptions (174).
For the first time in their past five games the Aggies’ rushing game struggled terribly, netting 11 yards.
Blue Raider running back Dwone Hicks tallied 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns to give him his third consecutive 1,000 yard rushing season (1,011). This is quite an accomplishment considering Hicks missed two games and only had 270 rushing yards after MTSU’s seventh game.
“[Hicks] is one person that I will be glad not to face next year,” Dennehy said. “He is a very talented kid.”
–samhis@cc.usu.edu