LOGAN – If ever there were a game that exemplifies how special teams wins/loses games, Utah State’s 27-10 win over New Mexico on Saturday at Merlin Olsen Field is the game.
The Aggies ran two fake kick plays – one in field goal formation the other on a punt – and recovered a muffed punt along with some other top-shelf special teams plays. Of the Aggies’ 27 points, 17 can be directly tied to special teams plays either made by the Aggies or mistakes in the third phase by the Lobos.
“Do what you’ve got to. Whatever bullet you’ve got,” USU head coach Blake Anderson said. “With the weather like it was going to be today. With as many guys out, as many young guys playing we felt like we needed every possible opportunity to try to steal a possession here or there. Turns out it was what we needed.”
On the very first play of the game (the real first play of the game, the kickoff) Elliott Nimrod booted the ball five yards deep in the end zone. New Mexico’s returner, Luke Wysong, caught the ball and stood for a moment, was prompted by his teammate to kneel, and then proceeded to apparently try to surprise USU by running. He stepped half a yard out of the end zone and was tackled, giving the Lobos the ball just outside the end zone. Utah State forced a three-and-out, benefitted from a short punt (windy afternoon in Logan) and Cooper Legas threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Vaughn on the Aggies’ second play of the ensuing drive.
With special teams being the only saving grace, USU struggled the rest of the half. Penalties, poor offensive line play and poor tackling allowed New Mexico to gradually sneak ahead 10-7 at halftime (gradually because the Lobos do own the lowest ranked offense in the FBS).
Legas returned to the lineup for the first time since the first half of the Colorado State game, only to run for his life much of the game. New Mexico pressured Legas over and over, keeping him off his spot on dropbacks. Legas had to scramble five times in the game and was sacked four times.
USU had a chance to take control of the game midway through the first quarter. On 3rd and 7 from the UNM 22-yard line, Legas took a QB keeper 15 yards down to the seven. However the potential goal-to-go setup was wiped away by a holding penalty. The Aggies were backed up to 3rd and 17 and settled for a field goal, a 41-yarder that kicker Connor Coles missed.
Penalties were a consistent problem for much of the game with the Aggies being penalized 12 times for 109 yards, including a personal foul penalty that resulted in tight end Josh Sterzer being ejected from the game for throwing a punch.
“Luckily it didn’t cost us the game because I thought we had way too many,” Anderson said. “Just careless penalties. The penalty on Sterzer, ends up not being able to finish, we had to finish the game with one tight end. Gotta walk away from those situations. I can deal with the competitive penalties. I can’t deal with the penalties after the (play) that are just poor decisions. Frustrated there and luckily we survived it because it could have easily been a bigger factor than it was.”
Late in the first half was when the Aggies first brought trickery into the equation. On a 4th and 3 from USU’s own 41-yard line, Stephen Kotsanlee lined up to punt. But instead of kicking it away and into a gusting southerly wind, Kotsanlee held onto the ball and began running. He scampered 10 yards down the field for what was the longest play from scrimmage by the Aggies since the 38-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
“Everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Anderson said of the play. “Don’t know how much more yards we could have gotten. We got just enough. It was really just another opportunity, especially with the wind the way it was, to steal a possession. We were in the wind at the time. We didn’t really want to miss that opportunity.”
While it didn’t produce points, it likely kept New Mexico from scoring. The Lobos were playing their best football of the game in that first half and the Aggies couldn’t stop their rushing attack. When USU eventually punted – pinning its opponent on the four-yard line – New Mexico were up against the clock as it tried to put points on the board before halftime. The Lobos drove down the field but with the clock working against them had to settle for a field goal – which they missed from 52 yards out.
Coming out of the break, Utah State needed a momentum shifting drive. And the team got help from New Mexico itself in moving the ball down the field. The drive was extended by a personal foul penalty on a 3rd and 10 and aided by another Lobo penalty, the second one being for illegal substitution. The Aggies certainly did plenty of work themselves. Legas was 4-for-6 passing on that drive for 31 yards. Robert Briggs, who subbed in as primary running back when Calvin Tyler Jr. left the game after entering concussion protocol, ran the ball for 34 yards. In the end though, the drive stalled on the six-yard line, leading to Utah State sending out the field-goal unit for a game-tying kick.
Well, that’s certainly what New Mexico thought was happening.
The holder, Kotsanlee, took the snap and instead of setting it on the ground for a kick, flipped the ball up into the waiting arms of Coles who ran through a wide-open hole for an easy touchdown.
“I always though if I was going to get a touchdown I’d have to get a strip on kickoff cover or something,” Coles said. “When coach told me we were installing it that week and I was the guy that was running it in, I was a little bit surprised but super-excited.”
The Aggies kept up the pressure via special teams (and the trend of fourth down being the team’s best play apparently) by recovering a muffed punt just a couple of possessions later. Jamie Nance got the loose ball, setting USU up on New Mexico’s 41. The Aggies wound up kicking a field goal to give themselves a 17-10 cushion.
Just as the special teams and offense were working hand-in-hand to put points on the board, Utah State’s defense picked up its game. After giving up 5.8 yards per carry to New Mexico in the first half, the Aggies only allowed 3.3 yards per carry and just 71 yards in the second half overall.
“We didn’t tackle particularly well in the first half,” Anderson said. “A lot of times we were there and couldn’t get the guy on the ground. Struggled a little bit with a mobile quarterback. I think both Max (Alford) and Sione (Moa) were a little overaggressive and overrunning some things. We went into halftime and just talked. We didn’t change a whole lot to be truthful. Really just kind of calmed them down, reminded them of technique that we’ve talked about all week. And then we played much better in the second half.”
The crowning achievement of the defense came in the dying moments of the game. Lobos quarterback Justin Holaday was scrambling away from his pass rush when AJ Vongphachanh poked the ball free from Holaday’s grasp. Hunter Reynolds was right there to scoop the ball up and run 55 yards the other way for his first career touchdown. For Reynolds, it brought back memories of his fumble recovery against the Lobos last year.
“Funny enough, last year against New Mexico I actually had a fumble recovery but I could have returned it for a touchdown and I kind of kicked it and ended up just falling on it,” Reynolds said. “So I looked down at the ground and I was like I’ve got to get this one.”
Reynolds finished with a team-best 10 tackles with Ike Larsen and Alford both adding eight tackles apiece. Larsen led the team in solo tackles with six. On the offensive side, Legas finished 13-of-27 passing for 149 yards, one touchdown and not interceptions. He also had 35 net rushing yards on non-sacks though officially he had 14 rushing yards on 13 carries. Vaughn was the top receiving target with five receptions for 83 yards and the one touchdown. Brian Cobbs added four catches for 31 yards. Briggs finished as the leading rusher with 82 yards on 19 carries. Tyler had 23 yards on 10 carries.
In the end, the victory wasn’t pretty. But the Aggies were able to get a win and it puts them closer to bowl eligibility. The number is now down to two, and USU has three games to get those two wins. Next up will be a road matchup with Hawaii in Honolulu.
