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Utah State Perspective: Aggies down San Jose State

Utah State takes one step closer to Mountain West Championship Game

Syndication: Las Cruces Sun-News BRIANA SANCHEZ/EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK

Utah State traveled to San Jose and came out with a massive victory over San Jose State in a 48-17 game. Utah State went down 14-0 quickly and it didn’t look good as the Aggies had an interception returned for a touchdown and a fumble recovery just after the interception return. Utah State would settle however and was able to dominate the rest of the way to an important victory in the race to win the mountain division.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

TD SJSU; Kenyon Reed 58 yard interception return; SJSU: 7; USU: 0

Second Quarter

TD SJSU; Tyler Neveens one yard rush; SJSU: 14; USU: 0

TD USU; Logan Bonner two yard pass to Savon Scarver; SJSU: 14; USU: 7

TD USU; Logan Bonner four yard pass to Derek Wright; SJSU: 14; USU: 14

TD USU; Elelyon Noa three yard rush; USU: 21; SJSU: 14

FG USU; Conner Coles 32 yard field goal; USU: 24; SJSU: 14

Third Quarter

FG SJSU; Matt Mercurio 44 yard field goal; USU: 24; SJSU: 17

TD USU; Logan Bonner five yard pass to Brandon Bowling; USU: 31; SJSU: 17

Fourth Quarter

TD USU; Logan Bonner 41 yard pass to Derek Wright; USU: 38; SJSU: 17

FG USU; Conner Coles 40 yard field goal; USU: 41; SJSU: 17

TD USU; Calvin Tyler Jr. six yard rush; USU: 48; SJSU: 17

Final score: Utah State: 48; San Jose State: 17

Statistics Comparison

First downs: USU: 23; SJSU: 20

Third down conversions: USU: 8-17; SJSU: 1-12

Total yards: USU: 410 yards; SJSU: 150 yards

Passing yards: USU: 263 yards; SJSU: 138 yards

Rushing yards: USU: 147 yards; SJSU: 12 yards

Penalties: USU: 5-33; SJSU: 8-100He

Turnovers: USU: 2; SJSU: 3

Time of possession: USU: 37:03; SJSU: 22:57

Utah State Players of the Game

Offensive Player of the Game

Logan Bonner made an absolute difference in this game, throwing for 263 yards and four touchdowns on 20-33 passing. He did have the costly interception but was overall able to make a difference in the game.

Defensive Player of the Game

Ajani Carter made a big difference in this game on the defensive side of the ball. He had four tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception against the Spartans. The plays he made played a major difference in stopping San Jose State’s offense from moving forward.

Analysis

This was not a great start for Utah State, in fact it couldn’t have started worse for the Aggies, who had two turnovers that led to two scores. The Aggies were able to calm down and put themselves into good position and as the game went on, Utah State was able to put on one of their best performances of the season.

Two turnovers wasn’t great, especially at the beginning of the game, but Utah State still controls their destiny to get to the championship game. Holding San Jose State to 12 yards rushing was an excellent point of strength for the defense and this needs to be a key area of focus in next weeks game against Wyoming, who likes to run the football. Wyoming is coming of a frustrating loss to Boise State where they weren’t able to run the football at all, so Utah State would benefit from taking a look at that game to figure out how the Broncos slowed the Cowboys down so that the Aggies can stop Wyoming too.