Aggies’ MW title hopes obliterated in blowout loss to Boise State
Momentum is a fickle concept. There’s no doubt it can carry a team through a hard stretch to mount a comeback, March Madness being one of the greatest examples of this. For Utah State University football, however, it would be hard to make a case that momentum is something that can be carried over on a week-to-week basis.
After two impressive wins against Fresno State on the road and Wyoming at home — both took until the fourth quarter for the Aggies to pull away — Saturday showed regression to the mean for Utah State, suffering a crushing 56-21 defeat to Boise State.
Much to most people’s surprise, junior quarterback Jordan Love started the game after exiting last week’s game after the third quarter without much of an explanation. Love played a phenomenal second quarter against Wyoming the previous week and was a large reason why the Aggies were in position to win the game — putting up 223 yards of total offense in that single frame.
Whether it be injury, fatigue or just facing a quality opponent, the momentum didn’t carry over for Love against Boise State. His 154 yards passing in the first half was deceiving and the performance was much more of a dichotomy than an endorsement of his talents.
A lengthy 47-yard pass to Deven Thompkins was probably the highlight throw for Love on the night, but his poor decision making was also on display with a pick-six throw taken the distance by cornerback Jalen Walker early in the second quarter. As with most of Love’s interceptions this season, the defender knew exactly what he was going to do before the ball left Love’s hand.
Utah State’s 428 total yards were mostly empty and both second-half touchdowns came too late in the game to really make any impact at all. Love was replaced by sophomore Henry Colombi at the start of the fourth quarter, finishing the game with just 229 yards through the air on 21-36 passing with one touchdown and the one interception. Colombi and senior running back Gerold Bright both rushed for touchdowns in the second half, narrowing the deficit slightly and possibly easing the sting of what could have been a 40-plus point blowout on their home field.
Boise State controlled the game, from start to finish on offense, defense and special teams according to head coach Gary Andersen said.
“(Boise State)’s a great football team. It’s a physical team, it’s a tough team,” he said. “They beat us in all three phases and they obviously deserved to win the football game from the get-go. Our challenge now is to bounce back and battle back and see what we can do to finish this season the right way.”
It was clear after Boise State took its first carry 35 yards that Utah State would struggle to contain the Broncos’ varied rushing attack. The onslaught featured multiple motion sets that frequently caught Utah State off guard. By halftime, the Broncos had amassed 383 yards of total offense, 231 of which came on the ground. Freshman running back George Holani set a career-high by halftime and finished the game with 178 yards, leading Boise State to its highest rushing total of the season, 297 yards. Tackling was, once again, the genesis of Utah State’s problems on defense and allowed the Broncos to run wild and free on them.
Boise State receiver Khalil Shakir celebrates a second-quarter touchdown against Utah State on Saturday, Nov. 23. – Photo by Samuel Woubshet
“There’s a lot of things that go into tackling and I’ll first and foremost say, their running backs were bouncing off our guys pretty good so I think the credit needs to go to them and we need to continue to work on tackling and getting our guys in a position to be able to make those plays,” Andersen said.
Utah State entered the game hoping to get a birth in the Mountain West championship game with a win and an Air Force loss, but left with one of its worst performances in a decade on its resume. There have been just eight occasions since 2000 that Utah State has allowed 56 or more points in a game before Saturday. The last home defeat by that margin was in 2008 against the University of Utah.
Lost in the defeat, unfortunately, will be the fact that it was senior night for Utah State and there have been no short of memorable moments from that group over the past few seasons.
“You don’t go win those five tough conference games that we found a way to win without good leadership, toughness and a team that’s together,” Andersen said. “That’s a hard deal for those seniors to go through that, it’s a hard deal for this team.”
It’s a performance the Aggies would like to soon forget, but with just one game left in the regular season, securing a spot in a bowl game becomes their main priority moving forward.
“Six wins doesn’t guarantee you a bowl game, I’ll tell you that much,” Andersen said. “Six wins gets you bowl eligible, it doesn’t get you an appearance. They have an awful lot to fight for and they need to get themselves ready to go play New Mexico.”