Utah State football: New season, same result
Well, the Aggies can forget about it, too.
For the fourth time in as many years with Brent Guy as the coach, Utah State opened the season with a loss — this time a 27-17 defeat at the hands of UNLV and an equally desperate-for-a-win bunch of Rebels.
Utah State started the game well, moving the ball with relative ease on offense and forcing the Rebels into punting situations on defense.
But after UNLV — which, like USU, was starting a new quarterback and a slew of other new players — settled down, the Rebels picked apart the Aggie defense with an efficient running game and a passing game that chose its spots to punish Utah State.
"They executed better than we did," Guy said. "And they did not turn the ball over."
Paced by senior tailback Frank Summers and junior receiver Ryan Wolfe, UNLV dominated the field over the final three quarters of the game and never allowed Utah State to mount a serious threat to reclaim control of the contest.
After the Aggies fumbled away their first scoring chance midway through the first quarter when a lateral pass from Setzer to Marquis Charles was dropped, the Rebels got on the board first when quarterback Omar Clayton connected with Wolfe on a 9-yard crossing route.
That play came on the heels of an almost-touchdown a few plays earlier.
Turbin took an inside screen from Sean Setzer and danced around a handful of tacklers before he dove for the pylon on the left sideline and was initially awarded a 24-yard touchdown. UNLV, however, asked for the play to be reviewed because the ball appeared to be coming out of Turbin's hands before he crossed the line. The review, though, showed Turbin stepped on the sideline before fumbling — averting what might have been a demoralizing Utah State turnover.
"If we didn't get it in," Turbin said, "the momentum was going to turn. That was a score that we needed."
The momentum from that series didn't last long, though, as UNLV scored the next 17 points of the game to take control.
Clayton and Wolfe connected again in the third quarter on a 32-yard catch and run to make the score 24-7 with 9:44 to go on the period.
The Aggies, who opened the game with an impressive 130 yards in the first quarter, sputtered offensively for the rest of the game. USU gained just 86 yards in the second and third quarters — combined.
Setzer, who threw for 123 yards on 10-of-17 passing before being replaced by sophomore Diondre Borel early in the third quarter, didn't get back into the game as Guy tried to keep the Rebels off balance with Dorel's running ability.
Recent comments
LETS stop pumping money into the football staduim and Build a new…
USU | Sept. 4, 2008 at 8:01 p.m.
If Guy was really paid what he is worth he may just leave on his…
Black and Blue | Sept. 2, 2008 at 3:18 p.m.
I bet this showing along with increased ticket prices will really…
Not so True Blue | Sept. 2, 2008 at 2:45 p.m.
