Utah State vs. San Jose State: By the Numbers
2.94 – Total miles the Utah State offense has traveled this season
USU’s 804-yard performance against San Jose State was spectacular, but as Aggie fans know, it’s just another great offensive performance in a season which has been full of them. Before this season, there were 11 total 600-plus yard performances in the history of Utah State football. This game was the fourth time they’ve surpassed that benchmark this season (oh, and they had a 598-yard performance as well). The Aggies now average 517.5 yards per game. Take a step back and remember that 500 yards would typically be viewed as a pretty good offensive game. In 2016, just two seasons ago, Utah State only surpassed 517 yards in a game twice.
33 – First downs earned by the Aggies
Typically in a game like this where a team goes off for an insane amount of yards, you would think there were likely several 75-yard bombs and crazy open field runs. That really wasn’t the case in this one. Utah State just quickly, methodically gave the chain gang the workout of their lives. 33 first downs set a new season high for the Aggies, and was just one shy of tying a program record. For every minute USU possessed the ball in this game, they picked up over 23 yards on average. Think about that. Now, of course San Jose State has a terrible defense, that might be putting it lightly. But boy, has this team been fun to watch.
9 – Aggie players who got two or more receptions
I’m not trying to get ahead of myself here, because there’s still a lot of football left this season. But I do know that for many Aggie fans, one of the biggest concerns about this team moving forward beyond this year is the wide receiver position. Of course the Aggies will be losing studs like Ron’quavion Tarver, Jalen Greene, DJ Nelson and Aaren Vaughns. But all of these blowout games have allowed some younger guys to get opportunities to catch the football. 20 of the 35 USU receptions in this game were made by guys who will be back next season. There is a lot of depth in this group, and even though you may have not heard about some of guys who have spend most of the season watching from the bench, they’re getting valuable in-game experience in games like this.
10:40 – USU’s fourth quarter time of possession
During his post-game press conference, Coach Wells said that he pulled his starters during the third quarter, then jumped to the his third string. He wasn’t exaggerating. The fourth quarter and much of the third quarter was run by almost entirely Utah State’s third string players (largely thanks to the new NCAA redshirt rule). While re-watching the game, there are several points where I paused it, looked at the personnel, and noted that not one single player from the USU two-deep was on the field, while San Jose State was still pressing with starters. In a game like this, your expectations for the bench players are that they go in and melt some clock while taking care of the ball. That’s exactly what they did. Running 19 plays, getting six first downs, and possessing the ball for over two-thirds of the fourth quarter, they were great. And again, it can’t be stressed enough how important those reps are for future years of Aggie football.