Thanks to resilient play and a little bit of poor clock management, Utah State has now won two straight and is now tied for first place in the mountain division with Air Force, but the Aggies own the all important tie breaker against the Falcons. Colorado State had a chance to win the game but instead of spiking the football, the Rams inexplicably rushed their field goal unit onto the field and tried the field goal attempt, which was far off. The Aggies needed a touchdown late with 35 seconds late to take the lead and secure the victory. Nonetheless, Utah State has now won two straight.

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

TD USU; Logan Bonner 25 yard touchdown pass to Dereck Wright; USU: 7; CSU: 0

TD CSU; David Bailey 4 yard touchdown run; USU: 7; CSU: 7

TD USU; Logan Bonner 38 yard pass to Derek Wright; USU: 14; CSU: 7

TD CSU; David Bailey 2 yard touchdown run; USU: 14; CSU: 14

FG USU; Conner Coles 45 yard field goal good; USU: 17; CSU: 14

FG USU; Conner Coles 30 yard field goal good; USU: 20; CSU: 14

Third Quarter

FG USU; Conner Coles 42 yard field goal good; USU: 23; CSU: 14

Fourth Quarter

FG CSU; Cayden Camper 40 yard field goal good; USU: 23; CSU: 17

FG USU: Conner Coles 34 yard field goal good; USU: 26; CSU: 17

TD CSU; Todd Centeio 13 yard pass to Gary Williams; USU: 26; CSU: 24

Final: Utah State 26; Colorado State 24

Statistics Comparison

First downs: USU: 26; CSU: 26

Third down conversions: CSU: 6-13; USU: 4-18

Total yards: CSU: 472 yards; USU: 344

Passing yards: CSU: 282; USU: 233

Rushing yards: CSU: 190; USU: 111

Penalties: USU: 4-45; CSU: 9-86

Turnovers: USU: 1; CSU: 2

Time of possession: USU: 33:53; CSU: 26:07

Utah State Players of the Game

Offensive Player of the Game

Deven Thompkins really helped Utah State to this win, getting 104 yards on six receptions. He made some significant plays to get Utah State down the field and in a two point game, it made all of the difference.

Defensive Player of the Game

Shaq Bond was important playing in coverage, making 11 tackles, 7 solo and 4 assist. He aided the defense in keeping Colorado State in check just long enough for Utah State to survive the game.

Analysis

In the pregame look at this game, one of the things that was mentioned was that Utah State needed to force turnovers. The Aggies were able to force two turnovers and that absolutely made a difference in this game. The Aggies were also able to avoid turning the ball over themselves late so that was another added bonus.

Logan Bonner wasn’t terribly efficient, going 17-31 and throwing for 233 yards and two touchdowns along with an interception. The offense did just enough overall but two things to notice are that Utah State went 4-18 on third down conversions, which is obviously not very good, and the Aggies also rushed for 111 yards on 48 attempts, averaging 2.3 yards per carry. The Aggies struggled to run the ball and to convert third downs so those are both areas they can improve in.

Overall, it was a hard fought win for Utah State and not great clock management by Colorado State at the end of the game and the ending could have been much different if the Rams had spiked the ball. Up next for Utah State is a home game against a struggling Hawaii team next weekend.