Aggie Analysis: Destruction in the Desert

The Aggies won their first bowl game since 2014 by beating the North Texas Mean Green at Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. UNT’s very talented QB Mason Fine went down early with a hamstring injury and would stay out for the entire contest. It’s extremely unfortunate, as Fine is so fun to watch and Love vs Fine would have been must-watch TV.

Offense:

• Jordan Love won the Offensive Player of the Game honors, and it was well deserved. An end zone interception early in the game could have been a bad omen, but it was a non factor. Love would end up throwing for four TDs and running for another. He showed off his impressive throwing power on multiple big plays.

• The running game made its presence known all day long. Gerold Bright lead the pack with 103 yards and two TDs, followed by Darwin Thompson with 93 yards but no score.
• The receiving corps, like the rest of the offense, played extremely well. Two wideouts, Jalen Greene and Aaren Vaughn’s, broke the 100 yard mark. Mostly due to a single huge yardage play by both players. Still, their talent was unmatched by the UNT secondary.

Defense:

• The run defense was dominant on the day. Allowing only one score early in the game and holding UNT to a total of 120 rush yards.
• The pass rush was here and there, but Tipa Galeai (unsurprisingly) had the only two USU sacks on the day. He didn’t even play in the first half.
• The secondary kept the Mean Green receivers in check aside from a huge 75-yard TD pass from UNT 3rd stringer Kason Martin to WR Jalen Guyton to begin the 2nd half. Take away that play, and the Passing D allows only 117 receiving yards all day.
• The Aggies picked off UNT four times, a New Mexico Bowl record. They also forced a few fumbles but couldn’t cover unfortunately.

Special Teams:

• Dominik Eberle made his only field goal attempt of the day from 42 yards out. He was also successful on all seven PATs.

Final Thoughts:

• It’s really unfortunate we couldn’t see Love vs Fine in this game. This game would’ve been a lot closer if that injury hadn’t occurred, but Fine’s injury doesn’t change how dominant USU’s offense was against UNT’s defense. Big play after big play, consistently gassing the Mean Green for scores all day long. The defense, albeit against four different QBs, performed really well and gave the North Texas offense little to no room to breathe. This was really fun to watch and, with a lot of this team coming back next year, it could be Utah State’s year to break through and capture a Mountain West title. Only time will tell.

What did you think of the game? Let us know in the comments below!