Unlike their 35-7 loss to Weber State, the Aggies weren’t outplayed all over the field in their most recent football game.
In fact, Utah State made considerable strides in a few areas, but a wealth of turnovers and penalties proved to be too much to overcome in a 34-24 loss to UNLV in the Mountain West opener for both teams last Saturday evening at Maverik Stadium.
USU quarterback Logan Bonner threw five interceptions and lost a fumble on a hit from behind late in the fourth quarter, plus the hosts failed to convert on a pair of fourth-down plays in Rebel territory — one in the red zone. Conversely, UNLV played turnover-free football.
Additionally, the Aggies were flagged nine times in the opening half, and three of them were unsportsmanlike penalties that helped the Rebels score a touchdown on one possession and kick a field goal on another. A special teams mistake also loomed large for USU, which will take a three-game losing streak into Thursday’s road matchup against No. 19 BYU.
Indeed, missed opportunities and mistakes ultimately plagued a USU offense that moved the ball a lot better than it did against Alabama and Weber State. Bonner completed 28 of 41 passes for a season-high 313 yards and a season-high-matching three touchdowns as USU finished with 421 yards of total offense.
The Aggies (1-3, 0-1) definitely got better play from their wide receiver group, which contributed with receptions of 39, 40 and 44 yards last weekend. Those three catches went for more yards than any offensive play USU mustered up during its first three games. Justin McGriff, Brian Cobbs, Terrell Vaughn and NyNy Davis all finished with six catches against the Rebels (3-1, 1-0).
“I think we opened things up a little bit,” USU head coach Blake Anderson said during Monday’s press conference. “We got some concepts that we had gotten away from a little bit. We found a couple of matchups that we liked that we had seen formationally earlier in the game. Guys made some great catches. Some of those were contested catches. The catch that Terrell Vaughn makes in the end zone was one of the best catches we've seen in a long, long time. ... I thought we got better as the day went along, maybe a sense of urgency, maybe a sense of kind of playing a two-minute-style of offense. All of those things kind of put us in a rhythm that helped us.”
The touchdown catch by Vaughn was a 10-yarder that took place on a fourth-and-seven play late in the second quarter, and it pared USU’s deficit to 24-16. Vaughn deftly got behind the UNLV secondary for a 39-yard TD in the fourth quarter and, likewise, McGriff burned a defender on a double move on his first-quarter scoring catch.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, they were whistled for a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties in the aftermath of Vaughn’s first TD, meaning they had to kick off from their own 5-yard line. The Rebels were able to take advantage of another short field by converting on a 32-yard field goal less than two minutes after Vaughn’s TD.
The hosts trailed by double digits the rest of the game.
“They weren't real fun for those on the receiving end,” Anderson said when asked about the conversations he’s had with his team about a lack of discipline since Saturday's conference opener. “We've got to show more composure. We had a great frenzied kind of environment, which is what we want. We need that energy and it showed on the field in how physically we played, with the energy level we played with. But obviously we can't cross that line and start having emotional-type penalties, frustration-type penalties.
“We had way too much dialogue with an official. This particular crew had a couple officials that were very talkative back to our sideline, to our players, to our staff. And that's my job to talk to officials. And in this particular case, we didn't respond real well with an official that was very vocal, and our staff's got to do a better job. We can't ask our players to show composure if our coaches don't and, just to me, we're creating opportunities for our players to get the wrong message. And just being transparent, man, we've got to do better, too, from head coach down. And if I see coaches that are screaming and getting in confrontations and arguing with officials, they need to be coaching our players and let me handle that."
And while the Aggies were only penalized twice after halftime, they have, nevertheless, been flagged 11 times in each of their last two games.
"The fact of the matter is right now I don't think we're a very disciplined football team," USU starting center Chandler Dolphin said. "That's something that we're going to continue to work on moving forward. The one thing that coach Anderson preaches is right on the edge of out of control --- playing with frenetic effort, not being out of control in a way that's going to cost or hurt the team. And, clearly, we didn't do a good job of that last week, so that's huge focus this upcoming week too is just to be disciplined ... staying with the bounds of the game."
The struggles and inconsistencies on offense more than offset what was a memorable performance by the Aggie defense. USU limited the Rebels to 320 total yards — 160 below their season average heading into the game. Standout tailback Aidan Robbins had one explosive run of 26 yards, but only managed 55 yards on his other 27 carries. Robbins went off for 229 yards in UNLV’s previous game against North Texas.
Aggie defensive tackle Hale Motu’apuaka returned from his injury and made a huge difference as he came through with single-game career-high tallies in tackles (7.0), tackles for loss (2.5) and sacks (2.0). Veteran linebacker AJ Vongphachanh flashed throughout the game on his way to 10 tackles, including 2.0 for a loss, plus he broke up a pass. Vongphachanh also caught a 12-yard pass for a first down from punter Stephen Kotsanlee on a trick play in the third quarter.
Among USU’s 78 tackles were a season-high 12.0 for a loss, which included a season-high 4.0 sacks. The Rebels did convert on a couple of third-and-long plays, but only 5 of 16 third downs overall.
“I felt like it was our defense's best game of the season,” Anderson said. “With the exception of a couple breakdowns, we played really, really well up front. We played with a physical kind of nasty mentality to stop the run. And to be able to stop UNLV from running the ball as effectively as they had in previous games was a huge task, and our defense stood up to it. ... If we play with that kind of passion, if we play that physical up front — and we'll mix it up in the back end — than we've got a chance to win games as we move forward.”
The special teams gaffe that loomed large for the Aggies took place late in the first quarter. Kotsanlee was able to field a poor snap, but his knee touched the ground in the process. A unsportsmanlike penalty also factored into the disastrous sequence, which allowed UNLV to take over at the USU 5-yard line. The Rebels found paydirt three plays later.
“Special teams I thought did a great job with the exception of the one bad snap and the kneel down creating a short field,” Anderson said. “We blocked a punt, we had several good punt returns, we had another big kickoff return to (nearly) midfield and we covered kicks well. We need to avoid the penalty, we need to avoid the kneel down in that area, (but) those can be avoided with better execution and really just smart play by Jamie Nance. I mean, you can't afford to get the (unsportsmanlike) penalty there.”
The blocked punt Anderson is referring to was executed by Cache Valley native Ike Larsen, who was limited by a knee injury. Nonetheless, the redshirt freshman was still explosive enough to stuff a punt and it was nearly recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. It was the Aggies’ second blocked punt for a safety in their last six games. Additionally, Vaughn was one broken tackle away from a 100-yard kickoff return to the house for the second time in as many games.
As for Bonner's INTs, the first three took place in the second quarter. The first two were poor decisions --- especially the initial one, which was forced into double coverage --- and the third and fifth were inconsequential Hail Mary's on the final play of each half. The fourth pick was a deep 50-50 ball Cobbs was in position to at least break up.
"As we looked at it, he forced two throws early," Anderson said. "After he came out of those two, (he) knew what he did wrong, didn't make those same mistakes again (and) really threw the ball extremely well the rest of the game. Even the picks later in the game, those are 50-50 balls that we either have to catch or we need to break the play up (and) get back to the line of scrimmage."
Anderson took ownership for the aforementioned fourth-down play his team failed to convert on in the red zone. Running back Robert Briggs gained two yards when he needed a short three on a run up the middle early in the fourth quarter. The Aggies marched 86 yards on a drive that ultimately resulted in nothing.
"That's on me," Anderson said of that play. "I sensed some confusion in terms of our formation and what we were trying (to run). We hard-counted them and didn't get a free play. I need to take a timeout there. I feel like if we don't have a perfect play with more options than just running the ball downhill there, I've got to take a timeout."
HOMECOMING
The opening kickoff for USU's Homecoming game against Air Force is scheduled for 5 p.m., the Mountain West announced Monday. The Aggies will host the Falcons on Saturday, Oct. 8, and then hit the road for two straight contests.
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