Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LOGAN — Utah State's offensive struggles were on full display Thursday night. Thankfully the defensive strength was also out in full force as the Aggies were able to get a tough 12-9 win over Southern Utah.
It started rough for the Aggies when James Cowser recovered a blocked Aggie punt on the Aggies' own 24-yard line. Two plays later Ammon Olsen hit Mike Sharp for a 27-yard touchdown on a ball misplayed by a Utah State corner. The extra point however, was blocked and returned by Torrey Green to get the Aggies on the board.
After the next four drives resulted in three three-and-outs, a 39-yard run by Devonte Mays set up a Brock Warren 30-yard field goal. Just before the end of the second quarter, Southern Utah kicker Keita Calhoun knocked a 39-yard try through. Southern Utah's drive was aided by back-to-back pass interference calls on the Aggies, which allowed SUU to get into field goal range.
Teams were a joint 0 for 17 on third-down conversions in the first half. Things didn't get better in the early stages of the second half. That was stretched to 0 for 21 before Utah State converted a third-and-4 late in the third quarter.
A late hit and a facemask penalty on Utah State's first drive of the fourth quarter seemed to jump-start the Aggie offense, but a 15-yard chop block penalty was too much to overcome.
The highlight of the game came with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Andrew Rodriguez returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown to give the Aggies their first lead of the night. It was all the Aggies needed as they closed out the game for a 12-9 victory.
The woes in Utah State's offense all started up front. The offensive line struggled to move a much-improved Southern Utah defense. This resulted in numerous third-down and very-long situations and never let the offense establish any sort of cohesion or rhythm. In a familiar sight, Chuckie Keeton was often running for his life almost immediately after getting the snap.
Keeton finished the night 16 for 33 for 110 yards and an interception. He added six rushes for 11 yards. Head coach Matt Wells spoke to the need to get Keeton better protection going into next week at Utah. "We have to be able to protect him. We did not protect him very well and we're going to have to shore that up really quick, I can tell you that. Because the next guys we play next week will rush the passer a little bit better."
While the Aggie offense struggled mightily, the defense was good enough to get the win. The biggest struggles on defense were the mental errors. A misplayed ball and two offensive pass interference penalties set up both of Southern Utah's first-half scores.
Nick Vigil looked like a true leader on defense, finishing with 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. While only landing five sacks, the defense was able to make Southern Utah quarterback Ammon Olsen very uncomfortable all night. Vigil spoke after the game about how they were able to stop Southern Utah's running game so effectively. "Starts with the (defensive) line. Just holding their gaps and being able to let us linebackers run free. They did a really good job of that tonight. That's just the motto around here is we have to stop the run first, try to make teams one dimensional. If we can do that we'll give ourselves a chance to win."
Olsen finished 17 for 34 for 111 yards and a touchdown.
The Aggies need to be much better in all aspects of the game, especially on offense, if they hope to pull off an upset in Salt Lake City next week. Parker Robertson is a graduate of Utah State University, a freelance contributor and an avid fan of sports. Follow him on Twitter @ParkerRob78 Email: ParkerRobertson18@gmail.com
