USU, BYU football: Plucky Aggies make Cougars work to keep streak alive

In the Cougars' first game at Romney Stadium in six years, the Aggies outscored BYU 14-10 over the final two quarters, but in the end, the Cougars earned a somewhat ugly 34-14 victory Friday night.

"Even though it wasn't our best game, it was a fun game to be a part of," said Cougar quarterback Max Hall. "Utah State did everything in their power to give us everything they could to put points on the board and to stop our offense. It was a great atmosphere and a great game to play in. They battled like crazy and fortunately we were able to come out with a win. It was a fun experience coming up here to Logan."

"Every time we play them, they come in fighting. Utah State comes to play BYU," said defensive lineman Brett Denney. "We definitely respect Utah State and we know this is a rivalry game. This is a big game."

The Cougars, who gave up three turnovers and were whistled for 12 penalties, played sloppy for much of the game. The offense sputtered, struggling to sustain drives.

That aside, BYU (5-0) extended its winning streak to 15 games and won its ninth straight over Utah State (1-4).

"Any time you win a football game, it's satisfying," said Cougar coach Bronco Mendenhall. "What's clear to me now is the expectation of how many you win by and how well you play is important, which has always been important to me, but it's acknowledged now by more. Certainly, it's satisfying to have another win on the road and by a convincing margin. And yet we can play better football than we did. I give Utah State credit. They showed a lot of grit and determination in the second half."

Said BYU wide receiver Austin Collie: "It was a battle out there the last three quarters. We can't expect everybody to just roll over. We took (USU) for granted. We thought Utah State was goIng to lay down for us. They're a good team. We didn't play to our potential. There's a lot more we can get better at."

On the Cougars' first possession, quarterback Max Hall completed a 76-yard touchdown pass to Collie, who stiff-armed USU defensive back Caleb Taylor on his way to the end zone, staking BYU to a quick 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game.

Utah State's next three drives resulted in turnovers as BYU extended its lead to 24-0 at the end of the opening period, highlighted by a 38-yard fumble return by defensive back Brandon Bradley.

"We were really disappointed with the start of that football game," said Utah State coach Brent Guy. "I felt like we could come out and move the football. The turnovers early in the football game were a huge factor. They capitalized on all those like a top 10 team will do to you. We put ourselves in such a huge deficit that when we went in 24-0 at the half, actually we were pretty lucky. It could've been worse, from what happened. They could've scored more points on us."

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