Late TD by Fresno State helps Bulldogs top Utah State 37-32 – Cache Valley Daily

LOGAN — Utah State and Fresno State traded second-half leads in a Friday-night showdown with the Bulldogs making the winning plays at the end of the game, coming out on top 37-31 on Merlin Olsen Field

The Game Flow

Both teams went three-and-out on their respective opening possessions and then traded touchdown drives, Fresno State marching 98 yards on 14 plays with Utah State responding to tie on a 10-play drive of 75 yards. The Aggies drive was capped off by a highlight-reel worthy pitch and catch from Cooper Legas to Jalen Royals.

Mossed? no you just got ROYALED

⚡️ @RoyalsJalen #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/a9tP7MOjXT

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 14, 2023

After responding with a touchdown, USU stepped it up by stopping the Bulldogs on their next possession. The Aggies’ ensuing offensive possession nearly came away with points, but a crushing turn of events turned a 41-yard touchdown into a 30-yard loss.

On a 3rd & 9 on the Fresno State 41-yard line, Legas dropped back to pass and quickly dumped off a running back screen pass to Rahsul Faison. The entire Fresno State defense was unprepared and Faison relatively easily ran 41 yards for what would have been a touchdown. However, a flag was thrown since right tackle Teague Anderson was called for illegal hands to the face. Worse still, left guard Wyatt Bowles was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Since Bowles’ penalty was after the play, the yardage stacked and it resulted in a 71-yard and seven-point swing against the Aggies. Faced with 3rd & 39, USU ran a quick run and then punted.

Penalties again hindered the Aggies and indirectly led to a Fresno State touchdown just before halftime. Following another defensive stop, a block-in-the-back penalty pinned USU on its own four and then a false start put the offense behind the chains early in the drive. The Aggies couldn’t overcome that and punted deep in their own territory, giving Fresno State the ball on the USU 45-yard line.

Fresno State took full advantage of the short field, driving the distance and scoring a touchdown on a seven-yard pass from Logan Fife to Tre Watson. The defense held up well, forcing the Bulldogs to convert on third down three different times, but ultimately couldn’t stop FSU’s offense.

The Aggies had 2:45 on the clock to respond but penalties reared their ugly head again and nearly killed off another scoring drive.

Key word being “nearly.”

Shortly after converting a crucial fourth and short (which fittingly had a flag thrown on the Aggies but it was picked up, preserving the play), Legas completed a 32-yard pass to Robert Briggs that would have put the ball on the 10-yard line with about a minute-and-a-half left in the quarter, but a personal foul on right guard Aloali’i Maui brought the ball back to USU’s 43.

Luckily, two plays later, Royals came to the rescue with a brilliant catch-and-run for a 52-yard touchdown — his eighth touchdown in the last three weeks and seventh of at least 50 yards.

COLD BLOODED AGGIE

⚡️ @RoyalsJalen #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/hX1iLk8Lae

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 14, 2023

Utah State got the ball out of halftime and drove the ball nearly into the red zone but stalled after a sack put the offense behind the chains. The Aggies did take the lead on a 37-yard field goal from Elliott Nimrod, going up 17-14.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, Fresno State went on to score 14 straight points to take a 28-17 lead. The first points, which re-took the lead, came after the Aggies failed a surprise onside kick following the go-ahead field goal. Malik Sherrod scored on a 46-yard run, his second TD of the day. And after a USU failed fourth down conversion, the Bulldogs took the ball 66 yards the other way for another TD.

With a double-digit rally suddenly necessary, the Aggies went to work and started off well, driving 69 yards down the field on just five plays, the money play being Legas’ third touchdown of the day, a 43-yard rainbow to Terrell Vaughn.

TV ➡️ TD!!!

⚡️ @Terrell_Vaughn6 #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/cStCXplm4m

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 14, 2023

The Aggies opted to go for two after this touchdown, favoring a potential three-point deficit to a four-point one given the time left on the clock. USU pulled out some trickery with a reverse pass with Royals, but he pulled off some trickery himself by faking the designed pass and running it in himself.

BUILD THE STATUE

⚡️ @RoyalsJalen with the 2-point conversion#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/0tWqTKoduw

— USU Football (@USUFootball) October 14, 2023

Utah State’s defense needed to keep Fresno State out of the end zone on its next drive, and it did, just barely. The Bulldogs made it to a goal-to-go set of downs but that’s when the Aggies finally stiffened up, forcing a 26-yard field goal and keeping the game within one possession, 31-25.

Despite a three-and-out from its offense on the following possession, Utah State got another chance to take the lead when it forced Fresno State to punt the ball away with a little over six minutes to play. The Aggies then made several massive plays en route to a lead-taking touchdown drive.

Legas was particularly good on this drive, making the most of a couple plays where there was nearly a fumbled snap. One one play he needed several seconds to corral a snap but then scrambled for nine yards. Later he even dropped a snap but then threw a 38-yard pass to Vaughn. The play after Vaughn’s long reception, Faison scored a touchdown on a 24-yard run which gave USU a 32-31 lead.

Two jukes, a broken tackle, and dive to the end zone! With a PAT, @USUFootball takes the lead in Logan 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/cTTL3rQ5fd

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 14, 2023

With 4:35 let in the game, Utah State’s defense needed one more stop that could have potentially won the game. But Fresno State made it look easy, going 72 yards in just five plays to go up 37-32. The Bulldogs tried to go for two, but failed. That gave Utah State 2:19 to go 75 yards for what would almost surly be a game-winning touchdown.

But even though USU cleared a few early hurdles of its final drive, including a fourth-down conversion, it ended with Legas throwing an interception to FSU’s Morice Norris Jr. A couple kneel-downs later and the rest of the time came off the clock, handing the Aggies their fourth loss of the season.

Morice Norris Jr. of @FresnoStateFB with a SNAG to stop Utah State’s late drive ‼️ pic.twitter.com/5BTtRN34Bq

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 14, 2023

Notes and Quotes

Much better first quarter

For just the second time this season, Utah State scored a touchdown in the first quarter. Also for just the second time this year, the Aggies weren’t trailing after the first quarter. Even at halftime the Aggies were tied and not trailing. It’s an improvement for a team that, against FBS opponents, had previously been outscored 77-10 in the first quarter and 121-51 in the first half.

USU head coach Blake Anderson said they didn’t “do something crazy” as far as changes to aid in that better first quarter play.

“Guys just executed better,” Anderson said. “We’ve been focusing on it for a while without trying to make it a huge focal point. Just addressing issues. I though we executed better. We matched up a little bit better with them up front.”

Penalty issues return after brief hiatus

Not since the first week of the season has penalties been such a hinderance to the Aggies. They racked up eight penalties for a total loss of 73 yards. Losing a touchdown to a penalty was perhaps the biggest blow to USU’s chances this game, but others that led to being stuck deep in its own territory or putting the team behind the chains on offense certainly didn’t help matters.

“We did some things tonight that we can’t afford to do,” Anderson. “Felt like we’ve done a good job over the last month of trying to adjust those things and keep them in check. I think the guys knew how big this game was and what it meant and what a test it was. We got out of character a little bit and I addressed that in the locker room. But it cost us in some key areas.”

Aggies struggled to get off the field on third down

Utah State did a good job of getting Fresno State into third down situations but failed to get off the field in said situations. The Bulldogs converted 11 of 18 third down attempts (at one point the Bulldogs were 11 of 15).

“They’re really good at what they do,” Anderson said. “They’ve got really good skill. And we knew that we were going to have to cover extremely well and get pressure. Don’t know that we got as much pressure tonight as we needed to. It didn’t seem like we got as much pressure as we did a week ago and in that sense that could have obviously been part of the issue.”

The key stretch in third down failures was in the late second quarter and early third quarter. Fresno State converted on six straight third downs, keeping multiple eventual touchdown drives alive at several key points.

Most complete game of the year

Anderson’s message to the team after the game was to say he was “disappointed for you, not in you.” And to the media he reiterated his pride in the team several times in his post-game press conference

“That’s the best game we’ve played,” Anderson said. “We didn’t get the result. But we did grow up in a lot of areas today.”

It certainly checks out as one of the best, a narrow loss against a team that only recently fell out of the AP Top 25. The Aggies also put up 32 points and 568 total yards on a defense that came in averaging just 18.2 points and 289.8 yards allowed per game. Defensively, there are improvements to be played, but this was one of the better offense the Aggies will face this season.

Royals wows yet again

Royals once again wowed the crowd, putting up his third straight 100-yard receiving game and his seventh and eighth TDs of the last three games (nine overall on the year). His play, along with that of Micah Davis and Broc Lane, have made this Aggies passing offense one of the best in the country.

“He and Micah have really made the field a lot bigger for defenses to cover,” Anderson said. “We don’t have a problem with taking one-on-ones with anybody. And even tonight we were able to get Broc involved which we’ve been trying for a while and tonight he was explosive. We’re at our best when you have to guard everybody and every inch of the grass.”

Cooper Legas continues his run of form

It wasn’t a perfect performance for USU’s senior QB, but for a second straight game, Legas threw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns. Anderson flat-out called this “one of his best games” and didn’t put much blame on Legas for either of the interceptions he threw, 

“One of the interceptions really wasn’t his fault. We had a bust out on the perimeter and the ball ended up in the defense’s hands,” Anderson said. “The last one there, we were attacking a coverage with one of our best dudes and at that point you’re trying to be aggressive, we’re running out of time and opportunity. I though (Norris) made a good play, I thought he got away with PI, hands down. I thought it should’ve been a flag, but that’s the way the game goes.”

Since stepping in for an injured McCae Hillstead against UConn, Legas has now completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 954 yards (318.0 per game) with 10 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. It raises questions as to whether Anderson will go back to Hillstead who is fairly likely to be healthy by next weeks game at San Jose State.

“It’ll be hard,” Anderson said. “It’s his whole job is to make it difficult. As usual I’m not going to make any statements on what we’re doing there. Either one of those guys could play next week based off of really dissecting the tape and just seeing exactly what kind of decision-making we’ve got. But he did everything I needed him to do. I’ve been really please with how he’s responded. I want to put the guy out there that gives us the best chance to win regardless.”

Stat Leaders

Utah State players are in bold, Fresno State players in italics.

By the Stats

• Cooper Legas has thrown for 300-plus yards in two straight games, the first time he’s done so in his career. Prior to last week, Legas only had one 300-yard passing game in his career.
• Jalen Royals has had three straight 100-yard receiving games and also has multiple touchdown receptions in three straight games. If you counted just those three games, in which he’s had 450 yards and eight touchdowns Royals would still lead the Mountain West in receiving touchdowns and have the eighth-most receiving yards.
• Royals now has nine touchdown receptions on the season which puts him in a tie for first in FBS with two other players (though neither have played yet this week)
• *MJ Tafisi had double-digit tackles for the second-straight game, setting a new career high this week with his 17 tackles
• *Tafisi’s 17 tackles are the most by an Aggie since AJ Vongphachanh had 17 tackles at Nevada during the 2020 season.
• *After forcing 11 turnovers in the last three games, Utah State did not force a turnover against the Bulldogs.
• *Utah State finished with 568 yards of offense (205 rushing, 363 passing) for its fourth game this year with 500-plus yards. Its 568 yards tonight are its third-most this season. It is also the third time this year that USU has rushed for 200-plus yards and it’s the fourth-straight game that it has passed for 300-plus yards. 

*Stat was provided by USU Athletics Media Relations

Mountain West Standings

Standings and results updated though Oct. 13.

Team	This Week’s Opponent	MW Record	Overall Record
Air Force	vs Wyoming	3-0	5-0
Wyoming	@ Air Force	2-0	5-1
Boise State	@ Colorado State	2-0	3-3
UNLV	@ Nevada	1-0	4-1
Fresno State	37-32 W @ Utah State	2-1	6-1
Utah State	37-32 L vs Fresno State	1-2	3-4
Colorado State	vs Boise State	0-1	2-3
New Mexico	vs San Jose State	0-1	2-3
Hawai’i	vs San Diego State	0-1	2-4
Nevada	vs UNLV	0-1	0-5
San Diego State	@ Hawaii	0-2	2-4
San Jose State	@ New Mexico	0-2	1-5

NEXT UP FOR UTAH STATE — Oct. 21 @ San Jose State